Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia Using Proton Conducting Solid Electrolyte and Ru-doped BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ Electrode Catalyst

The effect of ruthenium (Ru) addition to yttrium doped barium cerate (BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ) used as a cathode catalyst for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia in a double chamber reactor cell has been studied. The BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-δ (BCY) and BaCe0.8Y0.1Ru0.1O3-δ (BCYR) powders were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The Ni-BCY and Ni-BCYR cermet were employed as a cathode and the Ni-BCY cermet was also used as an anode. As an electrolyte, the BCY pellet was synthesized by the sintering at 1300 ºC with small amount of NiO as a sintering aid. Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from dry nitrogen and wet hydrogen was conducted at 500 ºC using each fabricated cell. The maximum production rate of ammonia was 5.30 × 10-10 mol s-1 cm-2 at applied voltage of -0.6 V vs open circuit voltage using the Ni-BCYR|BCY(NiO)|Ni-BCY cell, indicating the positive effect of Ru addition to BCY.