Transition metal nitrides as solid carriers for ammonia storage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11958752-B2
Application number	US-202117399656-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2021
Priority date	Aug 13, 2020
Publication date	Apr 16, 2024
Grant date	Apr 16, 2024

Abstract

A system and method of generating ammonia can include an acid and an ammonia precursor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of generating ammonia comprising:
providing an ammonia precursor including a d 6 -d 8 transition metal nitride; and
exposing the ammonia precursor to an acid to generate ammonia.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes an iron nitride or a nickel nitride.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes Fe 2 N or Ni 3 N.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the d 6 -d 8 transition metal nitride is an iron nitride or nickel nitride.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonia precursor is exposed to the acid at a temperature of less than 100 degrees C.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonia precursor is exposed to the acid at a pressure of less than 2 atmospheres.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid is an aqueous acid.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid includes sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, or perchloric acid.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes Fe 2 N or Ni 3 N and the acid includes sulfuric acid.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recovering the ammonia as NH 3 or NH 4 + .

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling an amount of acid to control an amount of ammonia generated.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recovering a transition metal ion released by the ammonia precursor.

13. An ammonia generator comprising:
a reaction chamber including an ammonia precursor;
an acid source adjacent to the reaction chamber; and
an acid delivery device configured to transport an acid from the acid source to the reaction chamber, wherein the ammonia precursor includes a d 6 -d 8 transition metal nitride.

14. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes an iron nitride or a nickel nitride.

15. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes Fe 2 N or Ni 3 N.

16. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , further comprising a temperature controller.

17. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , wherein the acid is an aqueous acid.

18. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , wherein the acid includes sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, or perchloric acid.

19. The ammonia generator of claim 13 , wherein the ammonia precursor includes Fe 2 N or Ni 3 N and the acid includes sulfuric acid.

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology

Inventors

• Shao-Horn Yang
• Roman Yuriy
• Peng Jiayu

Classifications

• C01C1/026 Primary

  Preparation of ammonia from inorganic compounds · CPC title

• B01J19/0013

  Controlling the temperature of the process · CPC title

• C01P2002/72

  by d-values or two theta-values, e.g. as X-ray diagram · CPC title

• C01P2002/82

  by IR- or Raman-data · CPC title

• C01P2002/85

  by XPS, EDX or EDAX data · CPC title