氨合成催化剂100年:实践、启迪和挑战

Haber-Bosch发明的氨合成催化剂创立已经100周年. 介绍了氨合成催化剂在理论和实践方面的发展、成就及其启迪,展望了氨合成催化剂的未来和面临的新挑战. 催化合成氨技术在20世纪化学工业的发展中起着核心的作用. 一个世纪以来,氨合成催化剂经历了Fe3O4基熔铁催化剂、Fe1-xO基熔铁催化剂、Ru基催化剂等发展阶段,以及钴钼双金属氮化物催化剂的发现. 实践表明,氨合成催化剂是多相催化领域中许多基础研究的起点和试金石,没有别的反应象氨合成反应一样,能够把理论、模型催化剂和实验连接起来. 催化合成氨反应仍然是多相催化理论研究的一个理想的模型体系. 理解该反应机理并转换成完美技术成为催化研究领域发展的基本标准. 这个永不结束的故事仍然没有结束. 除了关于反应的基本步骤、真实结构、亚氮化物这些问题之外,催化合成氨在理论上一个新的挑战是关于在室温和常压下氨合成的预测,包括电催化合成氨、光催化合成氨和化学模拟生物固氮以及包括氮分子在内的催化化学研究中几种最稳定的小分子的活化方法等.

Ammonia synthesis catalyst 100 years:Practice,enlightenment and challenge

Ammonia synthesis catalyst found by Haber-Bosch achieves its history of 100 years. The current understanding and enlightenment from foundation and development of ammonia synthesis catalyst are reviewed, and its future and facing new challenge remained today are expected. Catalytic ammonia synthesis technology has played a central role in the development of the chemical industry during the 20th century. During 100 years, ammonia synthesis catalyst has come through diversified seedtime such as Fe₃O₄-based iron catalysts, Fe_1-xO-based iron catalysts, ruthenium-based catalysts, and discovery of a Co-Mo-N system. Often new techniques, methods, and theories of catalysis have initially been developed and applied in connection with studies of this system. Similarly, new discoveries in the field of ammonia synthesis have been extended to other fields of catalysis. There is no other practically relevant reaction that leads to such a close interconnection between theory, model catalysis, and experiment as the high-pressure synthesis of ammonia. Catalytic synthesis ammonia reaction is yet a perfect model system for academic research in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Understanding the mechanism and the translation of the knowledge into technical perfection has become a fundamental criterion for scientific development in catalysis research. The never-ending story has not ended yet. In addition to questions about the elementary steps of the reaction and the importance of the real structure and subnitrides for the catalyst efficiency, as well as the wide-open question about new catalyst materials, there are also different challenges thrown down by theory for the experimentalist in the prediction of a biomimetic ammonia-synthesis path at room temperature and atmospheric pressure including electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and biomimetic nitrogen fixation.