Development of ammonia synthesis systems from nitrogen and hydrogen molecules

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24655040
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Inorganic chemistry
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: YAMAUCHI Miho 九州大学, カーボンニュートラル・エネルギー国際研究所, 准教授 (10372749)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: アンモニア / ナノ合金 / 光触媒 / 水素発生

Outline of Final Research Achievements

CuPd alloy and Ru nanoparticles were produced by chemical reduction method and photocatalysts were prepared by mounting these nanoparticles on TiO2, an oxide semiconductor support (CuPd/TiO2, Ru/TiO2). We performed hydrogen evolution reactions by irradiating UV light to the prepared catalysts in the presence of methanol as a sacrifacial reagent. Next, ammonia synthesis on Ru/TiO2 was conducted. Under UV irradiation, ammonia concentrations were found to increase with reaction time in the reaction solution with N2 bubbling, while little increase was observed without irradiation. Moreover, we confirmed ammonia generation on CuPd/TiO2 under similar conditions as mentioned above. These results suggest that ammonia can be prepared from nitrogen gas and photocatalytically generated hydrogen on photocatalysts.

Free Research Field

固体化学、ナノ科学、触媒化学