Ru Nanoparticles on Pr2O3 as an Efficient Catalyst for Hydrogen Production from Ammonia Decomposition

Development of efficient catalysts for ammonia decomposition is crucial for hydrogen production from ammonia. Herein, Ru nanoparticles (NPs) highly dispersed on Pr2O3 (Ru/Pr2O3) were prepared and investigated as catalyst for ammonia decomposition reaction. Under relatively high weight hourly space velocity (WHSV = 30,000 mL gcat−1 h−1), the Ru/Pr2O3 achieves a H2 production rate of 20.9 mmol gcat−1 min−1 at 450 °C, which is superior to Ru/Pr6O11 and many other typical oxides supported Ru catalysts. Detailed characterization results demonstrate that Pr2O3 has high density of basic sites, abundant oxygen vacancies, and strong interaction with Ru, which can modulate electronic properties of Ru NPs and enhance the intrinsic activity of the catalyst, making the catalyst highly active for ammonia decomposition. Moreover, the Ru/Pr2O3 catalyst also exhibits excellent stability and can maintain its high activity for over 100 h. The use of Pr2O3 as support offers opportunity to improve the catalytic performance of Ru-based catalysts for ammonia decomposition. The high density of basic sites, abundant oxygen vacancies of Pr2O3, and the strong metal–support interaction effectively promote the electron donation to Ru nanoparticles, enabling the superior catalytic performance of Ru/Pr2O3 for ammonia decomposition.