Abstract
Catalytic decomposition of ammonia has been investigated as a method to produce hydrogen for fuel cell applications. The absence of any undesirable by-products (unlike, e.g., COx, formed during reforming of hydrocarbons and alcohols) makes this process an ideal source of hydrogen for fuel cells. In this study a variety of supported metal catalysts have been studied. Supported Ru catalysts were found to be the most active, whereas supported Ni catalysts were the least active. The supports were found to play a profound role in the ammonia decomposition process. The activation energies for the ammonia decomposition process varied from 17 to 22 kcal/mol depending upon the catalyst employed. The activation energies of the supported Ir catalysts were found to be in excellent agreement with our recent studies addressing ammonia decomposition on single crystal Ir.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
W.L. Guthrie,J.D. Sokol andG.A. Somorjai, Surf. Sci. 109 (1981) 390.
E. Shustorovich andA.T. Bell, Surf. Sci. Lett. 259 (1991) L791.
G. Ertl andM. Huber, J. Catal. 61 (1980) 537.
K. Hashimoto andN. Toukai, J. Mol. Catal. A 161 (2000) 171.
D.G. Loffler andL.D. Schmidt, J. Catal. 44 (1976) 244.
Z. Kowalczyk,J. Sentek,S. Jodzis,M. Muhler andO. Hinrichsen, J. Catal. 169 (1997) 407.
Y.-K. Sun,Y.-Q. Yang,C.B. Mullins andW.H. Weinberg, Langmuir 7 (1991) 1689.
M. Grosman andD.G. Loffler, React. Kinet. Catal. Lett. 33 (1987) 87.
M.C.J. Bradford,P.E. Fanning andM.A. Vannice, J. Catal. 172 (1997) 479.
S.R. Logan andC. Kemball, Trans. Faraday Soc. 56 (1960) 144.
G. Papapolymerou andV. Bontozoglou, J. Mol. Catal. A 120 (1997) 165.
R.W. McCabe, J. Catal. 79 (1983) 445.
W. Tsai andW.H. Weinberg, J. Phys. Chem. 91 (1987) 5302.
C. Egawa,T. Nishida,S. Naito andK. Tamaru, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. I 80 (1984) 1595.
J.R. Rostrup-Nielsen, in: Catalytic Steam Reforming, Science and Engineering, Vol. 5, eds. J.R. Anderson andM. Boudart (Springer, Berlin, 1984).
J.N. Armor, Appl. Catal. 176 (1999) 159.
V.R. Choudhary,B.S. Uphade andA.S. Mamman, J. Catal. 172 (1997) 281.
T.V. Choudhary andD.W. Goodman, Catal. Lett. 59 (1999) 93.
T.V. Choudhary andD.W. Goodman, J. Catal. 192 (2000) 316.
T.V. Choudhary, C. Sivadinarayana, C. Chusuei, A. Klinghoffer and D.W. Goodman, submitted.
T.V. Choudhary, C. Sivadinarayana, A. Klingehoffer and D.W. Goodman, submitted.
A.J. Appleby andF.R. Foulkes, Fuel Cell Handbook (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1989).
R. Metkemeijer andP. Achard, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 19 (1994) 535.
R. Metkemeijer andP. Achard, J. Power Sources 49 (1994) 271.
T.V. Choudhary, C. Sivadinarayna, K. Davis and D.W. Goodman, in preparation.
P.B. Weisz, Chem. Eng. Prog. Series 55 (1959) 29.
F. Delannay, ed., Characterization of Heterogeneous Catalysts (Dekker, New York, 1984).
M. Boudart andH. Hwang, J. Catal. 39 (1975) 44.
J.R. Jennings, ed., Catalytic Ammonia Synthesis: Fundamentals and Practice (Plenum, New York, 1991).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Choudhary, T., Sivadinarayana, C. & Goodman, D. Catalytic ammonia decomposition: COx-free hydrogen production for fuel cell applications. Catalysis Letters 72, 197–201 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009023825549
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009023825549