Due to easy storage and transportation, liquid hydrogen carriers will play a significant role in diversifying the energy supply pathways by transporting hydrogen on a large scale. Thus, in this study, amorphous carbonaceous materials have been employed for hydrogen production via ammonia decomposition under non-thermal plasma (NTP) conditions. The adsorption and splitting of ammonia over carbons differing in the chemical structure of surface functional groups have been investigated by in situ spectral studies directly under NTP conditions. As a result of NH3 physical and chemical sorption, surface species in the form of ammonium salts, amide and imide structures decompose immediately after switching on the plasma environment, and new functionalities are formed. Carbon catalysts are very active for NH3 splitting. The determined selectivity to H2 is close to 100% on N-doped carbon material. The data obtained indicate that the tested materials possess excellent catalytic ability for economical, COx-free hydrogen production from NH3 at a low temperature.
Keywords: ammonia splitting; carbon film; catalysis; non-thermal plasma.