Breakthrough photothermal ammonia decomposition via low-barrier Ni-CeO2-x interfaces on carbon nanotubes
Abstract
Abstract Efficient ammonia decomposition is crucial for hydrogen economy, but inexpensive Ni catalysts require excessively high temperatures due to limited N-N coupling. Here, we overcome this challenge by constructing a photothermal catalyst with closely interfaced, defect-rich CeO 2-x nanodomains and electron-rich Ni nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. The Ni-CeO 2-x /CNTs catalyst achieves a hydrogen production rate of 298.4 mmol g cat -1 min -1 under full-spectrum light irradiation, which exceeds that of most reported Ru catalysts, and maintained stable activity for over 50 h in continuous-flow operation. The high performance arises from the synergistic effect of thermally promoted photocatalytic N-H bond cleavage and a largely reduced N-N coupling barrier, enabled by efficient photothermal conversion of carbon nanotubes and the up-shifted d-band center of the Ce-Ov-Ni interface (Ov = oxygen vacancy).
Article Details
Authors (8)
Ruike Tan
State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry
Xiaowei Mu
Center of Energy Storage Materials & Technology, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures
Xinhui Wang
Yuxiang Kong
State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun 130012, P. R. China
Qing Ji
Qingyun Zhan
State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry
Qingchuan Xiong
Lu Li