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Highly efficient ammonia synthesis at low temperature over a Ru-Co catalyst with dual atomically dispersed active centers.

ABSTRACT: The desire for a carbon-free society and the continuously increasing demand for clean energy make it valuable to exploit green ammonia (NH₃) synthesis that proceeds via the electrolysis driven Haber-Bosch (eHB) process. The key for successful operation is to develop advanced catalysts that can operate under mild conditions with efficacy. The main bottleneck of NH₃ synthesis under mild conditions is the known scaling relation in which the feasibility of N₂ dissociative adsorption of a catalyst is inversely related to that of the desorption of surface N-containing intermediate species, which leads to the dilemma that NH₃ synthesis could not be catalyzed effectively under mild conditions. The present work offers a new strategy via introducing atomically dispersed Ru onto a single Co atom coordinated with pyrrolic N, which forms RuCo dual single-atom active sites. In this system the d-band centers of Ru and Co were both regulated to decouple the scaling relation. Detailed experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrate that the d-bands of Ru and Co both become narrow, and there is a significant overlapping of t_2g and e_g orbitals as well as the formation of a nearly uniform Co 3d ligand field, making the electronic structure of the Co atom resemble that of a "free-atom". The "free-Co-atom" acts as a bridge to facilitate electron transfer from pyrrolic N to surface Ru single atoms, which enables the Ru atom to donate electrons to the antibonding π* orbitals of N₂, thus resulting in promoted N₂ adsorption and activation. Meanwhile, H₂ adsorbs dissociatively on the Co center to form a hydride, which can transfer to the Ru site to cause the hydrogenation of the activated N₂ to generate N₂H _x (x = 1-4) intermediates. The narrow d-band centers of this RuCo catalyst facilitate desorption of surface *NH₃ intermediates even at 50 °C. The cooperativity of the RuCo system decouples the sites for the activation of N₂ from those for the desorption of *NH₃ and *N₂H _x intermediates, giving rise to a favorable pathway for efficient NH₃ synthesis under mild conditions.

SUBMITTER: Peng X

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8153211 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Ammonia is an important feedstock for producing fertiliser and is also a potential energy carrier. However, the process currently used for ammonia synthesis, the Haber-Bosch process, consumes a huge amount of energy; therefore the development of new catalysts for synthesising ammonia at a high rate under mild conditions (low temperature and low pressure) is necessary. Here, we show that Ru/La0.5Ce0.5O1.75 pre-reduced at an unusually high temperature (650 °C) catalysed ammonia synthesis at extremely high rates under mild conditions; specifically, at a reaction temperature of 350 °C, the rates were 13.4, 31.3, and 44.4 mmol g-1 h-1 at 0.1, 1.0, and 3.0 MPa, respectively. Kinetic analysis revealed that this catalyst is free of hydrogen poisoning under the conditions tested. Electron energy loss spectroscopy combined with O2 absorption capacity measurements revealed that the reduced catalyst consisted of fine Ru particles (mean diameter < 2.0 nm) that were partially covered with partially reduced La0.5Ce0.5O1.75 and were dispersed on a thermostable support. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectra measured after N2 addition to the catalyst revealed that N2 adsorption on Ru atoms that interacted directly with the reduced La0.5Ce0.5O1.75 weakened the N 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 1111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 1111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 1111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000000 N bond and thus promoted its cleavage, which is the rate-determining step for ammonia synthesis. Our results indicate that high-temperature pre-reduction of this catalyst, which consists of Ru supported on a thermostable composite oxide with a cubic fluorite structure and containing reducible cerium, resulted in the formation of many sites that were highly active for N2 reduction by hydrogen.

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Highly efficient ammonia synthesis at low temperature over a Ru-Co catalyst with dual atomically dispersed active centers.

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