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Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics discovers an unconventional, highly active chromium-based ammonia synthesis catalyst. According to a report from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in November 2021, a team led by researchers Chen Ping and Guo Jianping from the Institute’s Research Group on Composite Hydride Materials, in collaboration with Professor Weidenthaler from the Max Planck Institute for Coal Chemistry in Germany and Associate Professor Wu Anan from Xiamen University, discovered a Ba-Cr tetranitride-hydride catalyst that enables the catalytic synthesis of ammonia under relatively mild conditions. The team designed a new ammonia synthesis catalyst by preparing a barium-chromium quaternary nitridohydride catalyst from the amino compounds of barium and chromium; the active phase of the catalyst is Ba5CrN4H. This unique structure can endow lattice nitrogen and lattice hydrogen (hydride) with high reactivity, enabling the catalytic synthesis of ammonia under mild conditions. For example, at 573 K and 10 bar, the ammonia synthesis rate of this catalyst is 6.8 mmol NH3 cat-1h-1. Compared to chromium nitride catalysts, this value increases by more than three orders of magnitude, which is approximately four times that of Cs-Ru/MgO catalysts. This research further enhances our understanding of the role of hydrides in ammonia synthesis catalysis, and it also provides new insights for the development of novel ammonia synthesis catalysts, particularly for the design of pre-transition metal catalysts which are generally considered to have lower activity. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics emphasizes both basic and applied research, combines applied research with technology transfer, and drives discipline development through specific tasks. For example, research on methanol-to-olefins has yielded many results, and multiple methanol-to-olefins plants have been built.