Recent advances in ammonia synthesis show the possibility of ambient pressure operation. One such example is electride-based catalysts. Ruthenium nanoparticles supported on electride surface were found significantly more active for ammonia synthesis under ambient pressure than the traditional alkali-earth-metal-promoted Ru catalysts. This enhanced activity is attributed to the easy electron donation from the electride to the ruthenium nanoparticles, rendering N≡N bond-breaking no longer rate-limiting during ammonia synthesis. In this work, ruthenium nanoparticles supported on mayenite electride with different electron densities were synthesized and characterized using in situ neutron scattering techniques including neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering and reaction kinetics studies including steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA). It is shown that hydride species can readily form under reaction condition but are not likely participating in ammonia synthesis. Kinetic study indicates that hydrogen poison is no longer the case and hydrogenation of atomic nitrogen is kinetically relevant to ammonia formation rates.

On the mechanism and kinetics of ammonia synthesis over electride-based catalysts: In situ neutron scattering and kinetic studies

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.