Efficient Ru/Y2O3 Catalyst Derived from Ru Nanoparticles on Yttrium Carbonate for Production of Hydrogen from Ammonia Decomposition

Abstract Hydrogen production from the decomposition of ammonia is one of the promising methods to solve the problem of hydrogen storage and transportation. Currently, ruthenium‐based catalysts are widely recognized as highly active catalysts for ammonia decomposition reactions. Here, Ru nanoparticles (NPs) on yttrium oxide derived from yttrium carbonate precursor (c‐Y 2 O 3 ) was successfully prepared by the impregnation method. A hydrogen production rate up to 31.5 mmol g cat −1 min −1 can be obtained over the 5% Ru/c‐Y 2 O 3 catalyst at 450 °C with a weight hour space velocity (WHSV) of 30000 mL g cat −1 h −1 , and the activity is stable during a test period of 120 h. The catalysts were characterized by a series of techniques such as TEM, CO‐chemisorption, XPS, and CO 2 ‐TPD. Characterization results reveal that high metal dispersion of Ru NPs, strong metal support interaction, high concentration of oxygen vacancies, and suitable basicity of Ru/c‐Y 2 O 3 catalyst all strongly influence on the catalytic performance in ammonia decomposition. NH 3 temperature‐programmed surface reaction (NH 3 ‐TPSR) results indicate that a strong NH 3 adsorption activation and binding desorption of nitrogen ability on the surface of Ru/c‐Y 2 O 3 catalysts are also beneficial for the high activity. These results provide a reference for the design of efficient Ru‐based ammonia decomposition catalysts for hydrogen production by tuning the precursor of Y 2 O 3 support.