Ce0.6Zr0.3Y0.1O2 solid solutions-supported Ni Co bimetal nanocatalysts for NH3 decomposition

Ammonia has become an attractive source for COx-free hydrogen production for fuel cell applications. The catalytic performance of Ce0.6Zr0.3Y0.1O2 solid solutions supported Ni, Co and NiCo bimetallic catalysts are evaluated in the temperature range of 300–600 °C at atmospheric pressure. Due to the synergistic effect between Ni and Co, CZY supported NiCo bimetallic catalysts show higher ammonia decomposition activity compared to Ni or Co monometallic samples. The NiCo bimetallic catalyst with the Ni/Co mass ratio of 1/9 exhibits the highest NH3 conversion with the GHSV of 6000 mL h−1 gcat−1, which reaches 100% conversion at 600 °C. Moreover, the Ni1Co9/CZY catalyst shows good thermal stability during the 72 h reaction time. The Ni1Co9/CZY have the highest total H2-uptake of 0.35 mmol‧g−1 and the highest TOFH2 value (40.57 min−1) at 350 °C among all the catalysts. Our characterization confirms the formation of NiCo alloy is responsible for the high activity of Ni1Co9/CZY catalyst for the ammonia decomposition.