Synergy of DBD plasma and Fe-based catalyst in NH3 decomposition: Plasma enhancing adsorption step

The synergy between catalyst and plasma has dramatically improved the efficiency of some plasma chemical processes. In this paper, the role of the electronically excited state NH3 (NH3*) in the synergy of a DBD plasma and a Fe-based catalyst for NH3 decomposition has been studied by in situ optical emission spectra diagnostics, as well as adsorption and desorption experiments. Results reveal that, the NH3* species could adsorb on the catalyst surface with higher adsorption capacity and stronger strength in comparison with ground-state NH3. The ammonia conversion increased by nearly 40% due to the contribution of NH3* species. Here, the acceleration of the surface adsorption step with excited reactants is proved to be another role of plasma in synergy with heterogeneous catalyst.