A team from Amsterdam has 3D printed a catalyst made entirely of stainless steel and aluminium that works extremely well for borohydride hydrolysis. Unexpectedly, it performs even better than a previous version made with cobalt, they report in ChemSusChem.

The field of catalysis is constantly looking for catalysts that do not contain expensive and rare metals, for example for the storage and release of (green) hydrogen. While trying to improve a specific cobalt catalyst, Frances Pope, Gadi Rothenberg and colleagues at the University of Amsterdam discovered by chance that the base material for their catalyst actually works even better without cobalt.