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Ru/CeO2/MgO Catalysts for Enhanced Ammonia Synthesis Efficiency

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Abstract

Ammonia is used as a feedstock in the fertilizer industry and is CO2-free hydrogen (H2) and energy carrier. The Haber-Bosch process industrially used for ammonia synthesis is an energy-intensive process. Therefore, developing such efficient catalysts that can effectively synthesize ammonia at mild reaction conditions is highly required. In this study, efficient 1 wt-% Ru/CeO2/MgO catalysts were fabricated in various Ce/Mg molar ratios. At first, CeO2 was impregnated on MgO, and then these prepared CeO2/MgO were used as support to fabricate 1 wt-% Ru catalysts. Among all the Ru/CeO2/MgO catalysts, the catalysts with Ce/Mg molar ratios 0.1 and 0.3 showed the highest ammonia yields at 400 °C, which was even higher than that attained with pure CeO2 supported Ru catalyst. The measurement of activation energies and NH3, H2, and N2 reaction orders showed that the catalysts with Ce/Mg molar ratios 0.1 and 0.3 had the lowest activation energies and positive values for the H2 order. Moreover, H2-TPR analysis presented a relatively higher value for H2 consumption at lower temperatures indicating these catalysts with higher efficiency for Ru reduction than others.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Renewable Energy Research Center, Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST, 2-2-9 Machiikedai, Koriyama, Fukushima, 963-0298, Japan

    Rahat Javaid & Tetsuya Nanba

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  1. Rahat Javaid
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Correspondence to Rahat Javaid.

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Javaid, R., Nanba, T. Ru/CeO2/MgO Catalysts for Enhanced Ammonia Synthesis Efficiency. Top Catal 66, 452–460 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11244-023-01789-5

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