NH3 Synthesis with Ca2NH supported Ru catalyst under mild conditions

Calcium nitride-hydride supported Ru has demonstrated superior catalytic performance among Ru-based catalysts according to literature. This work explores the impact of Ca 2 NH synthesis precursors on the catalytic performance of Ru–Ca 2 NH in ammonia synthesis, with the goal of gaining deeper insight into their role. For this reason, β-Ca 2 NH was synthesized using CaH 2 and N 2 , which is different from reported in the literature. The structure of the synthesized material was carefully analysed and confirmed via XRD. Subsequently, Ru–Ca 2 NH catalysts were prepared at varying percentages, ranging from 1 % to 10 %, to determine the optimum amount of Ru. The performance of these catalysts was investigated in ammonia synthesis reactions conducted under the continuous gas flow at 340 °C and 0.1 MPa. UV–Vis spectrometry was carried out to determine total ammonia production rate, and was calculated as 1.6 mmol/g cat. h. This production rate was higher than the performance of most of the reported Ru-based catalysts. • β-Ca 2 NH support material was synthesized successfully starting from CaH 2 and N 2 for Ru-based catalyst preparation. • 2 % and 5 % Ru loadings exhibited the most effective catalytic activity among tested samples. • 5 % Ru-loaded Ca 2 NH catalyst represented a promising ammonia production rate of 1.6 mmol/g cat. h. • The cumulative ammonium amount significantly increased when 5 % Ru–Ca 2 NH + BaH 2 was used for the reaction. • BaH 2 can be accepted as a solution for achieving higher and more stable NH 3 production.