Chemical looping ammonia synthesis (CLAS) is a promising technology for reducing the high energy consumption of the conventional ammonia synthesis process. However, the comprehensive understanding of reaction mechanisms and rational design of novel nitrogen carriers has not been achieved due to the high complexity of catalyst structures and the unrevealed relationship between electronic structure and intrinsic activity. Herein, we propose a multistage strategy to establish the connection between catalyst intrinsic activity and microscopic electronic structure fingerprints using density functional theory computational energetics as bridges and apply it to the rational design of metal nitride catalysts for lattice nitrogen-mediated ammonia production. Molybdenum-based nitride catalysts with well-defined structures are employed as prototypes to elucidate the decoupled effects of electronic and geometrical features. The electron-transfer and spin polarization characteristics of the magnetic metals are constructed as descriptors to disclose the atomic-scale causes of intrinsic activity. Based on this design strategy, it is demonstrated that Ni3Mo3N catalysts possess the highest lattice nitrogen-mediated ammonia synthesis activity. This work reveals the structure–activity relationship of metal nitrides for CLAS and provides a multistage perspective on catalyst rational design.
Zhao Sun,Ke Li,Sam Toan,Rongjun Zhang,Hongwei Li,Yu Wu,Zhiqiang Sun
Redox nitrogen fixation-nitride hydrolysis looping provides a promising pathway for ammonia synthesis; however, high N fixation temperature and low N 3− lattice supplement efficiency limit its further development and application. In this regard, a two-step chemical looping ammonia synthesis route, chromium-based nitrogen carrier enabled low-temperature N fixation and nitrogen carrier hydrolysis, is proposed to intensify ammonia generation. In the N fixation step, the effects of carbon species on the carbothermal reduction performance are investigated. Results reveal that decreasing the graphitization degree of the carbon species can effectively reduce the nitrogen activation temperature from 1054 °C to 948 °C. Meanwhile, the C/Cr 2 O 3 ratio required is correlated with the amount of oxygen in carbon species, and the appropriate active carbon/biochar-to-Cr ratios are 4.00 and 3.25, respectively. In the ammonia synthesis step, the nitrogen carrier hydrolysis rate is mainly limited by the diffusion of reactive species. The ammonia formation rate reaches 0.127 mmol·h −1 ·g −1 nitrogen carrier at 1100 °C. XRD retrieve refinement results reveal that the utilization of the lattice nitrogen decreases with the increase in the ammonia releasing temperature. This study provides new implications for advanced nitrogen carrier exploitation, which will substantially promote the development of chemical looping ammonia synthesis technologies with lowered energy consumption.
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