Plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis beyond thermal equilibrium on Ru-based catalysts in non-thermal plasma

Kevin H.R. Rouwenhorst*, Hugo G.B. Burbach, Dave W. Vogel, Judit Núñez Paulí, Bert Geerdink, Leon Lefferts

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)
50 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Recently it was proposed that plasma-catalytic NH3synthesis with excited N2allows for conversions beyond thermal equilibrium. We show that this is indeed possible with experimental data for Ru catalysts at temperatures above 300 °C, resulting in significant thermal activity for NH3synthesis. The resulting NH3concentration is determined by competition between, on the one hand, dissociative adsorption of ground-state N2and adsorption of plasma-generated N radical species with subsequent hydrogenation to NH3, and on the other hand, thermal-catalytic decomposition of NH3. At temperatures below 300 °C, plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis is attributed to adsorption of N radicals, generated in the plasma, with subsequent hydrogenation to NH3. These findings imply that catalysts with thermal activity are not suitable for plasma catalysis, aiming at conversion beyond equilibrium, as these also catalyze the reverse decomposition reaction.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2834-2843
Number of pages10
JournalCatalysis science & technology
Volume11
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Apr 2021

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