skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Material Discovery and High Throughput Exploration of Ru Based Catalysts for Low Temperature Ammonia Decomposition

Journal Article · · Materials
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13081869· OSTI ID:1615093

High throughput experimentation has the capability to generate massive, multidimensional datasets, allowing for the discovery of novel catalytic materials. Here, we show the synthesis and catalytic screening of over 100 unique Ru-Metal-K based bimetallic catalysts for low temperature ammonia decomposition, with a Ru loading between 1–3 wt% Ru and a fixed K loading of 12 wt% K, supported on γ-Al2O3. Bimetallic catalysts containing Sc, Sr, Hf, Y, Mg, Zr, Ta, or Ca in addition to Ru were found to have excellent ammonia decomposition activity when compared to state-of-the-art catalysts in literature. Furthermore, the Ru content could be reduced to 1 wt% Ru, a factor of four decrease, with the addition of Sr, Y, Zr, or Hf, where these secondary metals have not been previously explored for ammonia decomposition. The bimetallic interactions between Ru and the secondary metal, specifically RuSrK and RuFeK, were investigated in detail to elucidate the reaction kinetics and surface properties of both high and low performing catalysts. The RuSrK catalyst had a turnover frequency of 1.78 s−1, while RuFeK had a turnover frequency of only 0.28 s−1 under identical operating conditions. Based on their apparent activation energies and number of surface sites, the RuSrK had a factor of two lower activation energy than the RuFeK, while also possessing an equivalent number of surface sites, which suggests that the Sr promotes ammonia decomposition in the presence of Ru by modifying the active sites of Ru.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AR0000931
OSTI ID:
1615093
Journal Information:
Materials, Journal Name: Materials Vol. 13 Journal Issue: 8; ISSN 1996-1944
Publisher:
MDPI AGCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Switzerland
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 10 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (86)

Commercial Fe- or Co-containing carbon nanotubes as catalysts for NH 3 decomposition journal January 2007
COx-free hydrogen production via decomposition of ammonia over Cu–Zn-based heterogeneous catalysts and their activity/stability journal August 2017
Why the optimal ammonia synthesis catalyst is not the optimal ammonia decomposition catalyst journal March 2005
Alloyed Ni-Fe nanoparticles as catalysts for NH3 decomposition journal December 2012
Effects of CeO2 addition on Ni/Al2O3 catalysts for the reaction of ammonia decomposition to hydrogen journal April 2008
Fe particles on the tops of carbon nanofibers immobilized on structured carbon microfibers for ammonia decomposition journal November 2013
Physicochemical Characterization and H2-TPD Study of Alumina Supported Ruthenium Catalysts journal April 2008
Influence of alkali promoters in the selective hydrogenation of 3-methyl-2-butenal over ruthenium/silica catalysts journal July 1992
Catalytic activity of Ru/Al2O3 for ozonation of dimethyl phthalate in aqueous solution journal January 2007
Potassium promoted C–O bond weakening on Ru(001). I. Through‐metal interaction at low potassium precoverage journal March 1985
Preparation, characterization and activities of the nano-sized Ni/SBA-15 catalyst for producing COx-free hydrogen from ammonia journal March 2008
Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with hydrogen on supported Pd: Enhancement by hydrogen spillover journal March 2016
Ammonia decomposition over Ru and Ni catalysts supported on fumed SiO2, MCM-41, and SBA-15 journal December 2005
Atomic-Resolution in Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy of a Promoter of a Heterogeneous Catalyst journal November 2001
Towards an efficient CoMo/γ-Al 2 O 3 catalyst using metal amine metallate as an active phase precursor: Enhanced hydrogen production by ammonia decomposition journal August 2014
A novel reactor system for high throughput catalyst testing under realistic conditions journal November 2003
Hydrogen spillover in the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: An analysis of platinum as a promoter for cobalt–alumina catalysts journal March 2016
Low-temperature ammonia decomposition catalysts for hydrogen generation journal June 2018
Investigation on the catalysis of COx-free hydrogen generation from ammonia journal June 2004
Infrared studies of metal additive effects on carbon monoxide chemisorption modes on silicon dioxide-supported rhodium-manganese, -titanium and iron catalysts journal April 1985
High-Throughput Screening Using Fourier-Transform Infrared Imaging journal June 2015
Ni–Nb–O mixed oxides as highly active and selective catalysts for ethene production via ethane oxidative dehydrogenation. Part I: Characterization and catalytic performance journal January 2006
Hydrogen adsorption on supported cobalt, iron, and nickel journal January 1991
An infrared study of the influence of CO adsorption on the topology of supported ruthenium journal January 1989
Effects of Alkaline Earth Metal Amides on Ru in Catalytic Ammonia Decomposition journal January 2016
Hydrogen generation by ammonia decomposition using Co/MgO–La2O3 catalyst: Influence of support calcination atmosphere journal April 2016
Structure sensitivity of ammonia synthesis over promoted ruthenium catalysts supported on graphitised carbon journal April 2005
A study of the ruthenium–alumina system journal June 1998
Assessment of Overall Rate Expressions and Multiscale, Microkinetic Model Uniqueness via Experimental Data Injection: Ammonia Decomposition on Ru/γ-Al 2 O 3 for Hydrogen Production journal June 2009
Carbon nanotubes-supported Ru catalyst for the generation of COx-free hydrogen from ammonia journal September 2004
Individual Fe−Co Alloy Nanoparticles on Carbon Nanotubes: Structural and Catalytic Properties journal September 2008
Catalyst Design by Interpolation in the Periodic Table:  Bimetallic Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts journal August 2001
First-Principles Insights into Ammonia Decomposition Catalyzed by Ru Clusters Anchored on Carbon Nanotubes: Size Dependence and Interfacial Effects journal April 2018
Vibrational spectroscopy and theory of alkali metal adsorption and co-adsorption on single-crystal surfaces journal November 2013
Large Oblate Hemispheroidal Ruthenium Particles Supported on Calcium Amide as Efficient Catalysts for Ammonia Decomposition journal May 2018
Hydrogen spillover effects on Pt–Rh modified Co–clay catalysts for heavy oil upgrading journal October 2003
Anomalous C-O Bond Weakening of Side-On-Bonded Carbon Monoxide on a Potassium-Promoted Ru(001) Surface journal May 1984
MCM-41 supported Co Mo bimetallic catalysts for enhanced hydrogen production by ammonia decomposition journal October 2012
The strong influence of potassium on the adsorption of carbon monoxide on platinum surfaces: a TDS and HREELS study journal February 1982
Tuning the size and shape of Fe nanoparticles on carbon nanofibers for catalytic ammonia decomposition journal January 2011
Kinetics of NH3Decomposition over Well Dispersed Ru journal December 1997
Cobalt nanoparticles embedded in a porous carbon matrix as an efficient catalyst for ammonia decomposition journal January 2017
Ammonia decomposition over commercial Ru/Al2O3 catalyst: An experimental evaluation at different operative pressures and temperatures journal January 2014
Surface structure sensitivity of manganese oxides for low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH3 journal January 2011
Ru-Based Catalysts for H2 Production from Ammonia: Effect of 1D Support journal November 2018
Selective CO Methanation on Ru/TiO 2 Catalysts: Role and Influence of Metal–Support Interactions journal October 2015
Steady-state decomposition of ammonia on the ruthenium(001) surface journal September 1987
Spatially and Size Selective Synthesis of Fe-Based Nanoparticles on Ordered Mesoporous Supports as Highly Active and Stable Catalysts for Ammonia Decomposition journal October 2010
Dissociative adsorption of N on ru(0001): A surface reaction totally dominated by steps journal June 2000
Effect of preparation conditions and promoters on the structure and activity of the ammonia decomposition reaction catalyst based on nanocrystalline cobalt journal April 2016
The Kinetics of Ammonia Synthesis over Ruthenium-Based Catalysts: The Role of Barium and Cesium journal January 2002
In-situ H2 production via low temperature decomposition of ammonia: Insights into the role of cesium as a promoter journal May 2014
Kinetic study of NH3 decomposition over Ni nanoparticles: The role of La promoter, structure sensitivity and compensation effect journal December 2005
Alkali promotion of alumina-supported ruthenium catalysts for hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone journal March 2017
Potassium perruthenate-treated carbon nanotube sheets for flexible supercapacitors journal January 2012
Enabling Catalyst Discovery through Machine Learning and High-Throughput Experimentation journal November 2019
Correlation between catalytic activity and bonding and coordination number of atoms and molecules on transition metal surfaces: Theory and experimental evidence journal April 1985
Structure sensitivity of supported ruthenium catalysts for ammonia synthesis journal December 2000
FTIR Studies of CO Adsorption on Al 2 O 3 - and SiO 2 -Supported Ru Catalysts journal January 2006
Catalytic ammonia decomposition: miniaturized production of COx-free hydrogen for fuel cells journal March 2005
Ammonia decomposition on (1 1 10) and (0 0 1) surfaces of ruthenium
  • Egawa, Chikashi; Nishida, Tetsuya; Naito, Shuichi
  • Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions 1: Physical Chemistry in Condensed Phases, Vol. 80, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1039/f19848001595
journal January 1984
Investigation on modification of Ru/CNTs catalyst for the generation of COx-free hydrogen from ammonia journal October 2004
Correlating Particle Size and Shape of Supported Ru/γ-Al 2 O 3 Catalysts with NH 3 Decomposition Activity journal September 2009
Mesoporous Ru/MgO prepared by a deposition-precipitation method as highly active catalyst for producing COx-free hydrogen from ammonia decomposition journal August 2017
La, V, and Fe promotion of Rh/SiO2 for CO hydrogenation: Effect on adsorption and reaction journal October 2009
Rational nanoparticle synthesis to determine the effects of size, support, and K dopant on Ru activity for levulinic acid hydrogenation to γ-valerolactone journal June 2015
Hydrogen from ammonia over cobalt incorporated silicate structured catalysts prepared using different cobalt salts journal April 2016
A Priori Catalytic Activity Correlations: The Difficult Case of Hydrogen Production from Ammonia journal July 2004
Characterization of K-Promoted Ru Catalysts for Ammonia Decomposition Discovered Using High-Throughput Experimentation journal June 2008
Influence of Structural Disorder on Hollandites A x Ru 4 O 8 (A + = K, Rb, Rb 1– x Na x ) journal March 2016
Electronic characterization of alkali ruthenium hollandites: KRu4O8, RbRu4O8 and Cs0.8Li0.2Ru4O8 journal September 2004
Ammonia decomposition over the carbon-based ruthenium catalyst promoted with barium or cesium journal September 2003
Methanation of CO2 over alkali-promoted Ru/TiO2 catalysts: II. Effect of alkali additives on the reaction pathway journal November 2018
Synthesis and characterization of potassium-modified alumina superbases journal January 2001
Highly Efficient Ru/MgO Catalyst with Surface‐Enriched Basic Sites for Production of Hydrogen from Ammonia Decomposition journal April 2019
Catalysis of nickel nanoparticles with high thermal stability for ammonia decomposition journal February 2015
Role of Steps in N 2 Activation on Ru(0001) journal August 1999
Towards an ammonia-mediated hydrogen economy? journal January 2006
Influence of basic dopants on the activity of Ru/Pr6O11 for hydrogen production by ammonia decomposition journal December 2014
Surface Studies by Optical Second-Harmonic Generation: The Adsorption of O 2 , CO, and Sodium on the Rh(111) Surface journal January 1984
Size structure–catalytic performance correlation of supported Ni/MCF-17 catalysts for CO x -free hydrogen production journal January 2018
A mini-review on ammonia decomposition catalysts for on-site generation of hydrogen for fuel cell applications journal December 2004
Theoretical surface science and catalysis—calculations and concepts book January 2000
Chromium oxide catalysts for COx-free hydrogen generation via catalytic ammonia decomposition journal May 2009
H2 Production via Ammonia Decomposition Using Non-Noble Metal Catalysts: A Review journal July 2016
Low temperature H2 production from ammonia using ruthenium-based catalysts: Synergetic effect of promoter and support journal August 2015

Similar Records

Related Subjects