DOE OSTI · 3024326
Atmospheric-pressure ammonia synthesis on AuRu catalysts enabled by plasmon-controlled hydrogenation and nitrogen-species desorption
Abstract
The Haber–Bosch process for ammonia synthesis contributes up to ~3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Plasmonic catalysts strongly concentrate light and can alter the reaction intermediates via out-of-equilibrium processes, providing the potential for an alternative, less-energy-intensive pathway to synthesize ammonia. Here, in this study, we show that gold-ruthenium (AuRu) bimetallic nanoparticles can synthesize ammonia at room temperature and pressure using visible light. We create AuRu alloys with varying compositions and achieve ammonia production rates of ~60 μmol per gram of catalyst bed per hour. In situ infrared spectroscopy reveals that light accelerates the hydrogenation of nitrogen intermediates compared to conventional thermal catalysis. Through computational modelling, we demonstrate that photo-excited electrons enable associative hydrogenation pathways for nitrogen activation rather than direct nitrogen–nitrogen bond breaking. This light-assisted mechanism requires both hydrogen and light working together to overcome the nitrogen activation barrier, mimicking how biological enzymes produce ammonia naturally and providing fundamental insights for developing sustainable, energy-efficient chemical synthesis.
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Yuan, Lin [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000264260296), Bourgeois, Briley B. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Begin, Elijah [Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)], Zhang, Yirui [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Dai, Alan X. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Cheng, Zhihua [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000190402473), McKeown-Green, Amy S. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)], Xue, Zhichen [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)], Cui, Yi [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000182191856), Xu, Kun [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000305515727), Wang, Yu [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000203071301), Jones, Matthew R. [Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)] (ORCID:000000029289291X), Cui, Yi [Stanford Univ., CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)] (ORCID:0000000261036352), Majumdar, Arun [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000342269705), Bao, Junwei Lucas [Boston Univ., MA (United States)] (ORCID:000000024967663X), Dionne, Jennifer A. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000152874357). 2025-12-05. Atmospheric-pressure ammonia synthesis on AuRu catalysts enabled by plasmon-controlled hydrogenation and nitrogen-species desorption. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01911-9
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