Catalytic ammonia decomposition: COx-free hydrogen production for fuel cell applications

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.