Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement
Abstract The Haber-Bosch process is used for industrial ammonia production worldwide, and it accounts for ~2% of the global energy consumption and 1.3% anthropogenic carbon footprint. Ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions with minimum carbon emission is highly desired, but it is still in the in...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63145-3 |
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| author | Keran Lv Mengqian Xu Li Yang Chenghu Wei Jikai Sun Xu Fang Tie Yu Zhenyu Li Weiqiao Deng |
| author_facet | Keran Lv Mengqian Xu Li Yang Chenghu Wei Jikai Sun Xu Fang Tie Yu Zhenyu Li Weiqiao Deng |
| author_sort | Keran Lv |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The Haber-Bosch process is used for industrial ammonia production worldwide, and it accounts for ~2% of the global energy consumption and 1.3% anthropogenic carbon footprint. Ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions with minimum carbon emission is highly desired, but it is still in the initial stage. Herein, we report a cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia continuous synthesis under ambient conditions via mechanochemistry. To describe mechanochemistry of ammonia synthesis, density functional theory (DFT) calculation was carried out and a transient confinement was discovered. 5 dual side models with Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag have been set up and the Co dual side model exhibits the highest transient confinement effect with the maximum energy barrier reducing from 1.3 eV to 0.62 eV. The experiment confirmed cobalt powders in mechanochemical synthesis of ammonia showed the highest catalytic activity. By using the Co catalyst, up to 13.7 μmol·gcat −1·h−1 ammonia has been achieved under ambient conditions, and the cobalt-based catalyst can maintain its activity more than 350 h without deactivation. This represents the longest lifespan for ammonia synthesis among all the various methods reported under room temperature and atmospheric pressure to the best of our knowledge, which is also 10 times longer than the recent reported FeCs catalysts via mechanocatalysis under ambient conditions. This study suggests that continuous mechano-synthesis of ammonia under ambient condition is valuable. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-17b3a705696a45748d8a2c2fa22f4037 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-17b3a705696a45748d8a2c2fa22f40372025-08-24T11:39:17ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-08-011611910.1038/s41467-025-63145-3Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinementKeran Lv0Mengqian Xu1Li Yang2Chenghu Wei3Jikai Sun4Xu Fang5Tie Yu6Zhenyu Li7Weiqiao Deng8Institute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityKey Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of ChinaInstitute of Frontier Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniversityAbstract The Haber-Bosch process is used for industrial ammonia production worldwide, and it accounts for ~2% of the global energy consumption and 1.3% anthropogenic carbon footprint. Ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions with minimum carbon emission is highly desired, but it is still in the initial stage. Herein, we report a cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia continuous synthesis under ambient conditions via mechanochemistry. To describe mechanochemistry of ammonia synthesis, density functional theory (DFT) calculation was carried out and a transient confinement was discovered. 5 dual side models with Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag have been set up and the Co dual side model exhibits the highest transient confinement effect with the maximum energy barrier reducing from 1.3 eV to 0.62 eV. The experiment confirmed cobalt powders in mechanochemical synthesis of ammonia showed the highest catalytic activity. By using the Co catalyst, up to 13.7 μmol·gcat −1·h−1 ammonia has been achieved under ambient conditions, and the cobalt-based catalyst can maintain its activity more than 350 h without deactivation. This represents the longest lifespan for ammonia synthesis among all the various methods reported under room temperature and atmospheric pressure to the best of our knowledge, which is also 10 times longer than the recent reported FeCs catalysts via mechanocatalysis under ambient conditions. This study suggests that continuous mechano-synthesis of ammonia under ambient condition is valuable.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63145-3 |
| spellingShingle | Keran Lv Mengqian Xu Li Yang Chenghu Wei Jikai Sun Xu Fang Tie Yu Zhenyu Li Weiqiao Deng Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement Nature Communications |
| title | Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| title_full | Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| title_fullStr | Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| title_short | Cobalt-based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| title_sort | cobalt based catalyst for ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions via transient confinement |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63145-3 |
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