Ammonia synthesis over Ru/C catalysts with different carbon supports promoted by barium and potassium compounds Original Research Article

Ammonia synthesis over ruthenium catalysts supported on different carbon materials using Ba or K compounds as promoters has been investigated. Ba(NO3)2, KOH, and KNO3 are used as the promoter or promoter precursor, and activated carbon (AC), activated carbon fiber (ACF), and carbon molecular sieve (CMS) are used as the support. The activity measurement for ammonia synthesis was carried out in a flow micro-reactor under mild conditions: 350–450°C and 3.0 MPa. Results show that KOH promoter was more effective than KNO3, and that Ba(NO3)2 was the most effective promoter among the three. The roles of promoters can be divided into the electronic modification of ruthenium, the neutralization of surface functional groups on the carbon support and the ruthenium precursor. The catalyst with AC as the support gave the highest ammonia concentration in the effluent among the supports used, while the catalyst with ACF as the support showed the highest turnover-frequency (TOF) value. It seems that the larger particles of Ru on the carbon supports are more active for ammonia synthesis in terms of TOF value.