catalysts shown in table 1 the identity of each catalyst in fig1 corresponds to the numerical ranking in table 1 which ranks catalytic activity in a buffered solution ph 11 the pigment catalyst powder is added to water and then followed by the addition of solid sodium borohydride the vessel is immediately sealed except for a thin tube leading to an inverted graduated cylinder for gas measurement it is seen that after an initial quick rise in h 2 volume the curves tend to level out after about ten minutes this is due to the depletion of the borohydride content of the vessel as it decomposes and due to rising ph which adversely affects the h 2 evolution rate thus it is noted that the non buffered variably alkaline solution used in fig1 affects the rate at which each catalyst influences hydrogen generation in the non buffered 0 1 m nabh 4 solution indanthrene gold orange no 2 catalyzes the generation of 800 ml of hydrogen in approximately ten minutes and can sustain the 800 ml volume of hydrogen gas generation for a period of at least sixty minutes the organic pigment catalyst 3 4 9 10 perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride also known as perylene tcda no 11 catalyzes the generation of 500 ml of hydrogen in approximately ten minutes and the volume of hydrogen generated increases to approximately 700 ml over a period of 60 minutes likewise pigment catalyst no 3 ditridecyl 3 4 9 10 perylenetetracarboxylicdiimide 95 also known as perylene diimide outperforms cobalt a prior art catalyst and the.