Operando XAS study of promoted Ru/Cs/MgO catalyst for ammonia synthesis

Existing studies of Haber-Bosch catalysts for synthesis of ammonia were so far not performed anywhere near operation conditions which makes the real structure of catalytically active species and promotors largely unknown. This proposal aims at studying the structure of Ru and Cs by X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the as-received, activated, and working promoted Ru/Cs/MgO and unpromoted Ru/MgO catalysts during NH3 synthesis at high pressure. As a result, correlations between structure of Ru and Cs species and their performance in the NH3 synthesis, also in deactivating gas mixtures containing O2 impurities, will be obtained. This will allow knowledge-based design of the new generation catalysts with lower energy requirements and enabling decentralized ammonia synthesis.