Description du projet
Des catalyseurs rentables pour la synthèse de l’ammoniac
L’ammoniac, un composé d’azote et d’hydrogène, est essentiellement utilisé pour fabriquer des engrais synthétiques. Traditionnellement, la production d’ammoniac s’effectue au moyen du procédé Haber-Bosch et, bien qu’il soit efficace, il s’avère onéreux à cause du fait qu’il nécessite des températures élevées. Afin de réduire les températures de réaction, les chercheurs se sont intéressés au ruthénium, un métal de transition considéré comme un catalyseur efficace pour la synthèse de l’ammoniac dans la mesure où il fonctionne dans des conditions plus douces que les catalyseurs traditionnels à base de fer. Au vu du coût de commercialisation élevé du ruthénium, il y a lieu de mener des recherches supplémentaires sur la conception de catalyseurs moins coûteux. Financé par le programme Actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie, le projet CATALYSTNH3SYNTHESIS exploitera le potentiel des composés intermétalliques, qui, jusqu’à présent, ont suscité peu d’attention par rapport aux métaux et aux alliages, en tant que catalyseurs pour la production d’ammoniac.
Objectif
Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) exhibit unique structural features accompanied by appropriate changes in the electronic properties. IMCs with their unique magnetic and electric properties have been studied for the superconductivity, shape-memory effects, hydrogen storage capability and for topological insulator applications. However, their catalytic properties have been overlooked so far compared to metals and alloys. These electronically and geometrically tuned structures were found to be excellent catalysts for selected chemical reactions such as semi-hydrogenation of alkynes, hydrogenation of CO and CO2 and unsaturated compounds. Only few works exist on IMCs in the activation of inert molecule N2 but they appear to be promising in this direction. Activation of N2 is a significant step in the synthesis of ammonia (NH3). Even after 100 years of discovery, the same old high-energy consuming Fe based catalytic process is still operated commercially.5 The absence of significant success towards a further development of Fe based catalysts stipulates to look at alternative totally different catalysts. In this regard, Ruthenium(Ru) based catalyst supported on carbon emerged as second-generation catalysts for the ammonia synthesis at the end of 20th century.6 Considering the high cost of Ru for commercialization, further research and development towards the design of less costly catalysts is necessary. In this project, we propose to explore and evaluate nano intermetallic compounds for the activation of N2 molecule, thereby supporting the efficiency and competiveness towards ammonia synthesis. The main objective of the project is to design, optimize and explore the potentiality of novel nano Intermetallic Compound (IMC) supported catalysts for the NH3 synthesis. This project will in particular study the role of electronic and geometrical factors displayed by IMCs in the catalytic process through various characterization techniques including the in situ and operando.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
1348 Louvain La Neuve
Belgique