• Electron and proton storage on separate Ru and BaO domains mediated by conductive low-work-function carbon to accelerate ammonia
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  • 2025-03-13 09:23:37|
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ㅇ [Title]  Electron and proton storage on separate Ru and BaO domains mediated by conductive low-work-function carbon to accelerate ammonia synthesis


ㅇ [Journal]  Nature Catalysis                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                      
ㅇ [Author]  Yaejun Baik, Seunghyuck Chi, Kyeongjin Lee, DongHwan Oh, Kyungho Lee & Minkee Choi*
 

ㅇ [Abstrct] 

Ammonia (NH3) has gained attention as a carbon-free fuel and hydrogen carrier, making its energy-efficient production increasingly important. Here, we demonstrate that Ru and BaO, connected by conductive carbon, can separately store e– and H+, like a chemical capacitor under NH3 synthesis conditions. H atoms generated on the Ru surface by H2 activation polarize into H+/e– pairs. Subsequently, H+ migrates over the carbon surfaces to neutralize basic BaO, while e– accumulates in conductive Ru/carbon. As the work function of carbon decreases, Ru gradually becomes enriched with e–, facilitating N2 activation via π-backdonation and alleviating H2 poisoning. Thus, an optimised catalyst synthesized using N-doped MWNT with the lowest work function, exhibited 7.4 times higher activity than a reference Ba-Ru/MgO catalyst. The results show that charge distribution within catalysts can be significantly altered under reaction conditions, and its rational control can enable the design   of active NH3 synthesis catalysts.


 
 




<Schematic illustration of hydrogen-aided electron donation of BaO to Ru during NH3 synthesis>
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