Plasma-catalysis has been proposed as a potential alternative
for
the synthesis of ammonia. Studies in this area focus on the reaction
mechanisms and the apparent synergy existing between processes occurring
in the plasma phase and on the surface of the catalytic material.
In the present study, we approach this problem using a parallel-plate
packed-bed reactor with the gap between the electrodes filled with
pellets of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), with this ferroelectric
material modified with a coating layer of alumina (i.e., Al2O3/PZT) and the same alumina layer incorporating ruthenium
nanoparticles (i.e., Ru-Al2O3/PZT). At ambient
temperature, the electrical behavior of the ferroelectric packed-bed
reactor differed for these three types of barriers, with the plasma
current reaching a maximum when using Ru-Al2O3/PZT pellets. A systematic analysis of the reaction yield and energy
efficiency for the ammonia synthesis reaction, at ambient temperature
and at 190 °C and various electrical operating conditions, has
demonstrated that the yield and the energy efficiency for the ammonia
synthesis do not significantly improve when including ruthenium particles,
even at temperatures at which an incipient catalytic activity could
be inferred. Besides disregarding a net plasma-catalysis effect, reaction
results highlight the positive role of the ferroelectric PZT as moderator
of the discharge, that of Ru particles as plasma hot points, and that
of the Al2O3 coating as a plasma cooling dielectric
layer.
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