Neodymium Boosting the Performance of Ammonia Decomposition for Hydrogen Production Over Attapulgite Supported Cobalt‐Based Catalysts

ABSTRACT A‐ATP was obtained by alkalizing attapulgite (ATP) with a NaOH solution, and then xCo/A‐ATP and xCoyNd/A‐ATP catalysts were prepared by the sol‐gel method. The prepared catalysts were structurally characterized by TEM, XPS, and TPR/D. Their ammonia decomposition performance for hydrogen production was assessed in a fixed‐bed reactor under atmospheric pressure. The results show that in xCoyNd/A‐ATP, an appropriate content of Nd improves the ammonia decomposition performance. 35Co5Nd/A‐ATP has the best ammonia decomposition activity, achieving an ammonia conversion rate of 94% and hydrogen production rate of 31.66 mmol g cat −1 min −1 at 600 °C. The ammonia conversion rate at 600 °C decreased by only 2% after 120 h of reaction. The introduction of Nd facilitates the formation of oxygen vacancies and Co 3 + , which favors the cleavage of N─H bonds, and thus enhances the catalytic activity. Nd 2 O 3 inhibits the transformation of Co 3 O 4 to Co during the reaction, enhancing the stability of the catalyst.