Amorphous cobalt phosphates were synthesized with their distinct morphology by controlling the amount of base in the synthetic condition. The crystallinity and morphology of cobalt phosphates were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared cobalt phosphates were applied as a heterogeneous catalyst for generating hydrogen gas from the hydrolysis reaction of sodium borohydride. We found that the catalyst prepared using the least amount of base condition at room temperature showed a plate shape with less than 10 nm thickness, which resulted in the best catalytic activity among all catalysts due to the large surface area.

본 연구에서는 실온에서 간단히 염기의 양을 조절함으로서 세 가지 종류의 서로 다른 형태의 비결정질의 cobalt phosphate를합성하였다. 합성된 샘플의 결정성과 형태를 X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)과, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)를통하여 확인하였으며, sodium borohydride의 수소발생 불균일 촉매로서 적용하였다. 촉매들 중에서 실온에서 합성한비결정질의 cobalt phosphate 중에서 염기의 양이 가장 적은 10 nm 이하의 얇은 판상 형태의 촉매가 표면적이 넓어가장 좋은 수소 발생 촉매활성을 보였다.