Ni-Supported Pd Nanoparticles with Ca Promoter: A New Catalyst for Low-Temperature Ammonia Cracking

In this paper we report a new nanometallic, self-activating catalyst, namely, Ni-supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd_NPs/Ni) for low temperature ammonia cracking, which was prepared using a novel approach involving the transfer of nanoparticles from the intermediate carrier, i.e. nano-spherical SiO₂, to the target carrier technical grade Ni (t-Ni) or high purity Ni (p-Ni) grains. The method that was developed allows a uniform nanoparticle size distribution (4,4±0.8 nm) to be obtained. Unexpectedly, the t-Ni-supported Pd NPs, which seemed to have a surface Ca impurity, appeared to be more active than the Ca-free (p-Ni) system. A comparison of the novel Pd_NPs/Ni catalyst with these reported in the literature clearly indicates the much better hydrogen productivity of the new system, which seems to be a highly efficient, flexible and durable catalyst for gas-phase heterogeneous ammonia cracking in which the TOF reaches a value of 2615 mmol_H2/g_Pd min (10,570 mol_NH3/mol_Pd(NP) h) at 600°C under a flow of 12 dm³/h (t-Ni).