Dr. Tao Wang’s group in the Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels at Westlake University recently published a research paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The paper is titled “Toward Sabatier Optimal for Ammonia Synthesis with Paramagnetic Phase of Ferromagnetic Transition Metal Catalysts”.
Ammonia is an important chemical matter but the major process for industrial ammonia synthesis is extremely energy consuming. Therefore, it’s crucial to enhance the reaction efficiency ammonia synthesis. The research focused on regulating reaction performance by leveraging the intrinsic physical and chemical properties of catalysts. The research reported the changes in magnetism also alters its adsorption strength with reactants, and further influence the overall reaction activity. Under identical reaction conditions, the paramagnetic cobalt and nickel catalysts exhibited 100 to 10,000 times higher turnover frequency than their ferromagnetic counterparts, revealing immense potential for near-atmospheric ammonia synthesis. This research integrates classical principles, reactions, and theories from chemistry, physics, and materials science, opening a new avenue for re-evaluating the catalytic performance of the paramagnetic phase in ferromagnetic materials for heterogeneous catalysis.
Ph.D. student Gaomou Xu and Dr. Cheng Cai from Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels at Westlake University is the co-first author. Prof. Tao Wang from Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and Solar Fuels at Westlake University is the corresponding author.