【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Teams led by Deng Dehui and Yu Liang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have achieved efficient synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2) via thermal catalysis under normal temperature and pressure conditions

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Recently, a research team led by researchers Deng Dehui and Yu Liang from the Center for Small Molecule Catalysis in Energy and Environment at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researcher Cui Yi from the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a new study in the journal Chem titled “Am-8-moni-a synthesis at metallic Li/Ru interfaces under ambient conditions”. This study reports new advances in the thermocatalytic synthesis of ammonia under ambient conditions. The team deposited lithium (Li) atoms on the surface of ruthenium (Ru) metal to create a new type of catalyst featuring a highly active Li/Ru interface, enabling the efficient synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2) under normal temperature and pressure conditions via thermal catalysis. This achievement provides new ideas for developing ammonia synthesis technology with low energy consumption under mild conditions. Ammonia is an important raw material for producing agricultural fertilizers and industrial chemicals, and the ammonia synthesis reaction is considered one of the most important chemical reactions in human history. Due to the high stability of the N≡N triple bond in N2 molecules (bond energy = 945 kJ mol-1), the industrial synthesis of ammonia primarily relies on the Haber-Bosch process, which converts N2 and H2 into ammonia at high temperatures (350 °C to 500 °C) and high pressures (10 to 30 MPa); this method is energy-intensive and results in high carbon emissions. Developing a thermal catalytic process for the efficient synthesis of ammonia from N2 and H2 under mild conditions is of great significance for establishing green ammonia synthesis technology, and it is also highly challenging. Among them, the development of efficient ammonia synthesis catalysts is key. However, constrained by the Sabatier principle, increasing the activity of the catalytic sites zwar facilitates the adsorption, activation, and dissociation of N2 and H2 under mild conditions, but it also leads to excessive binding of nitrogen-containing species to the sites, thereby inhibiting the hydrogenation step and the desorption of ammonia. How to overcome this constraint is the key to breaking through the limitations on ammonia synthesis activity under mild conditions.