Silica Support Affects The Catalytic Hydrogen Evolution By Silver

Silica supported silver nanoparticles, SiO2-Ag-0-NPs, catalyze the hydrolysis of BH4-. A comparison of the isotopic composition of the hydrogen formed in the hydrolysis of BD4- points out that the contribution of hydrides, the Heyrovsky mechanism, rather than that of hydrogen atoms, the Tafel mechanism, to the hydrogen evolution is considerably larger for the SiO2-Ag-0-NPs catalyzed process than for the Ag-0-NPs catalyzed process. This indicates some electron transfer from the SiO2 to the silver that increases the negative charge on the Ag-0-NPs.