Activating nano-bulk interplays for sustainable ammonia electrosynthesis

Li, Meng; Hua, Bin; Wu, Wei; Wang, Lu-Cun; Ding, Yong; Welander, Märtha M.; Walker, Robert A.; Ding, Dong

doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2022.09.011

Title: Activating nano-bulk interplays for sustainable ammonia electrosynthesis

Journal Article · Fri Oct 07 04:00:00 UTC 2022 · Materials Today

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2022.09.011 · OSTI ID:1984673

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^[1]; Ding, Yong ^[2]; Welander, Märtha M. ^[3]; Walker, Robert A. ^[3];

^[1]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (United States)

Small changes in a catalyst’s composition, modification, and/or integration into a reactor can have significant yet often poorly understood effects on (electro)catalysis. Here we demonstrate the careful tailoring of Ru/La_0.25Ce_0.75O_2-x catalysts through the post-synthesized hydrothermal treatment together with control over the Ru loadings to create hydroxyl groups and electronic restructuring for ammonia electrosynthesis. When integrated into a protonic ceramic electrolyzer, the in situ formed Ce³⁺-OH/Ru sites facilitate both the N≡N decoupling and N—H formation at 400 °C and 1 bar of N₂, boosting the ammonia production rate (2.92 mol h^-1 m^-2) up to 100-fold higher than the current state-of-the-art electrolyzers. Moreover, such catalysts and electrolyzer design concepts can be readily tuned to more complex applications such as coproducing ammonia and other chemicals with hydrocarbons as direct hydrogen sources. Here, the creation of coordinated saturated support –OH/metal sites in the advanced electrolyzer offers an attractive approach for future clean-energy and green-chemical industries.

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Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 1984673

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU-20-59635-Rev001

Journal Information:: Materials Today, Journal Name: Materials Today Journal Issue: - Vol. 60; ISSN 1369-7021

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Activating nano-bulk interplays for sustainable ammonia electrosynthesis

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