New ruthenium supported electride catalyst (Ru/RScSi) for ammonia synthesis at low pressures. Mechanistic insight

his work addresses the improvement of sustainable ammonia catalytic synthesis via the Haber-Bosch process by using ruthenium supported electride-like intermetallics (Ru/RScSi) as novel catalysts. The influence of the nature of the rare earth element (R=rare earth: La, Ce, Pr, Gd, Nd) for the NH3 synthesis reaction has been studied at 400°C from 1 to 5 bar. Compared to the reference Ru/MgO catalyst, the ammonia synthesis rate is doubled to quadrupled from 1 to 5 bar for the best formulation. Additionally, remarkable results are obtained from 300°C with significant NH3 formation while the Ru/MgO material is inactive.