Ammonia as a carrier for hydrogen production by using lanthanum based perovskites

Abstract LaNiO3 and LaCoO3 perovskites synthesized by self-combustion were characterised and studied in the ammonia decomposition reaction for obtaining hydrogen. Both the fuel to metal nitrates molar ratio and calcination temperature were found to be crucial to synthesize perovskites by self-combustion. Moreover, generating non-precursor species during synthesis and small metal size were two factors which significantly influenced catalytic activity. Hence, with a citric acid to metal nitrates molar ratio equal to one a LaNiO3 perovskite was obtained with suitable physicochemical properties (specific surface area, lower impurities, and basicity). In addition, a lower calcination temperature (650 °C) resulted in small and well-dispersed Ni0 crystallite size after reduction, which in turn, promoted the catalytic transformation of ammonia into hydrogen. For cobalt perovskites, calcination temperature below 900 °C did not have a significant influence on the size of the metallic cobalt crystallite size. The nickel and cobalt perovskite-derived catalysts, calcined at 650 °C and 750 °C, respectively, yielded excellent H2 production from ammonia decomposition. In particular, at 450 °C almost 100% of the ammonia was converted over the LaNiO3 under study. Furthermore, these materials displayed admirable performance and stability after one day of reaction.