Citation: Xuanbei Peng, Xiaohu Hu, Ruishao Mao, Mengqi An, Jiaxin Li, Yangyu Zhang, Tianhua Zhang, Ming Chen, Yanliang Zhou, Jun Ni, Lirong Zheng, Xiuyun Wang, Lilong Jiang. Electronic interactions and hydrogen migration over C₆₀-modified Ru catalyst enhance ammonia synthesis[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(7): 111820. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111820 shu

Electronic interactions and hydrogen migration over C₆₀-modified Ru catalyst enhance ammonia synthesis

Xuanbei Peng ^{a, b, 1} ,
Xiaohu Hu ^{c, 1} ,
Ruishao Mao ^{b, 1} ,
Mengqi An ^b ,
Jiaxin Li ^b ,
Yangyu Zhang ^b ,
Tianhua Zhang ^b ,
Ming Chen ^b ,
Yanliang Zhou ^{a, b} ,
Jun Ni ^{b, *,} ,
Lirong Zheng ^d ,
Xiuyun Wang ^{a, b, *,} ,
Lilong Jiang ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Qingyuan Innovation Laboratory, Quanzhou 362801, China
b.
National Engineering Research Center of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350002, China
c.
Institute of Molecular Plus, Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
d.
Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

nj@fzu.edu.cn

xywangfzu@163.com

jll@fzu.edu.cn

Received Date: 20 May 2025
Revised Date: 23 August 2025
Accepted Date: 10 September 2025
Available Online: 10 September 2025

Figures(6)

The potential use of ammonia (NH₃) as a hydrogen energy carrier has generated significant interest in developing efficient catalysts for producing NH₃ under mild conditions. The main obstacles for NH₃ synthesis are the activation of the N≡N bond and the desorption of NH₃ from the catalyst surface. Here, we report the use of C₆₀ to overcome these challenges. Through electron transfer, migration, and feedback between C₆₀ and Ru, there is a balance of electronic density at the Ru active sites and a shift in the d-band center. This simultaneously satisfies the electronic requirements for enhancing N₂ activation while weakening NH₃ adsorption, thereby circumventing the bottlenecks in NH₃ synthesis under mild conditions. Meanwhile, anchoring of C₆₀ accelerates hydrogen spillover and enhances the exchangeability of hydrogen species in the ZrH₂ support, as well as expose a greater number of B₅ sites of Ru entities, resulting in the co-optimization of hydrogen migration and nitrogen activation. As a consequence, the NH₃ synthesis rate of the C₆₀-Ru/ZrH₂ catalyst is approximately twice that of the Ru/ZrH₂ catalyst at 400 ℃ and 1 MPa. This study shows that doping C₆₀ represents a fundamentally different approach compared to traditional promoters for catalytic NH₃ synthesis. We anticipate that this strategy may be generalized to generate widespread interest in the catalysis of NH₃ synthesis.
- N₂ activation,
- Carbon clusters,
- Ru catalysts,
- Hydrogen spillover,
- NH₃ desorption
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Electronic interactions and hydrogen migration over C60-modified Ru catalyst enhance ammonia synthesis

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

Electronic interactions and hydrogen migration over C₆₀-modified Ru catalyst enhance ammonia synthesis