Active nitrogen mediated selective ruthenium migration on ceria for high pressure ammonia decomposition
- Gunjoo Kim
- Gahong Kim
- Hyunsik Hwang
- Eunseong Yoo
- Jae-eon Hwang
- Jae Won Lee
- Hae Ryeong Lee
- Keunsoo Kim
- Hyangsoo Jeong
- Yongmin Kim
- Suk Woo Nam
- Sungeun Yang
- Andreas T. Güntner
- Hyunjoo Lee
- Keun Hwa Chae
- Hyung Chul Ham
- Hyuntae Sohn
2026-06-15
Precise stabilization of atomic structures under reaction environments remains a central challenge in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we demonstrate that ammonia (NH 3 ) serves as a chemically active nitrogen source to derive the selective migration of ruthenium (Ru) atoms onto ceria (CeO 2 ) domains, forming a durable atomically dispersed structure. During ammonia decomposition, nitrogen-containing intermediates promote atomic redistribution of Ru and anchor the atoms selectively at CeO 2 , yielding stable Ru-ceria interfaces. The resulting catalyst exhibits high activity in high-pressure ammonia decomposition for hydrogen production, attributed to its lowered activation energy and mitigated hydrogen poisoning. Furthermore, both the catalytic performance and the atomic Ru structure are preserved during long-term high-pressure operation, confirming the exceptional structural stability of the designed configuration. This study establishes active-nitrogen-driven migration as an effective strategy for constructing robust and reaction-friendly catalyst surface.