To address the high energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the Haber-Bosch process, this study demonstrated efficient ammonia synthesis using nonthermal plasma (NTP) catalysis with cobalt or nickel nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped zeolite-templated carbon (ZTC). The optimized catalyst, ZTC-13X-N800(5%) with 5 wt % metal loading, achieves an ammonia production rate of 31,268 μmol·g–1·h–1 with an energy yield of 1.2 gNH3·kWh–1. The catalytic performance surpassed the predicted additive contributions of the individual components by 51% for Co and 44% for Ni. This synergy primarily originated from the Mott–Schottky effect at the metal–carbon interface. Mott–Schottky analysis confirmed a 28% increase in charge carrier concentration and a reduction in space charge region width (W2/W1 = 0.83) upon metal loading. This interfacial electronic redistribution facilitated N2 dissociation and optimized the adsorption kinetics of key intermediates (*N and *NH3). Additionally, nitrogen doped (5 wt %) modulated the electronic structure, suppressing ferromagnetism and creating beneficial Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites. Collectively, these effects established a synergistic interactions of plasma-carbon–metal ternary system that effectively overcame limitations imposed by the plasma Debye length. This work provided the pivotal role of metal–support electronic interactions, specifically the Mott–Schottky effect, in plasma catalyzed ammonia synthesis, offering a pathway toward sustainable and modular ammonia production.
Ren et al. (Mon,) studied this question.