Abstract: Using sucrose as the carbon source, urea as the nitrogen source, and cobalt nitrate as the precursor, a nitrogen-doped carbon-supported cobalt nanoparticle catalyst was prepared via a grinding-mixing and high-temperature calcination method. The as-synthesized catalyst was applied for hydrogen production from formic acid in the liquid phase. At 100 ℃, Co@NC-Co0.1-Ur2.3 catalyst achieved a hydrogen generation rate of 350 mL g-1 h-1, exceeding the performance of some noble metal (Pd, Pt) catalysts and non-noble catalysts such as single-atom cobalt. Furthermore, the catalyst remains high activity even after multiple recycles. Characterization results revealed that the abundant porous structure and high specific surface area might facilitate the adsorption of active species such as HCOO* during the reaction, while the Co-N moieties are proposed as the catalytic active sites.

Key words: Formic acid dehydrogenation; Co-N center, N-doped carbon, Co nanoparticle