ALBA Synchrotron
Researchers from Stockholm University, ALBA, and DESY have determined the chemical state of ammonia catalyst during the reaction for the first time.
These results, partially obtained at the DESY light source in Germany, show the huge potential of the 3Sbar beamline currently under construction at the ALBA Synchrotron.
Ammonia production is required to make fertilizers, with 110 million tonnes manufactured annually. Over 2% of all the world's energy is spent on this reaction, and without artificial ammonia, there would only be enough food for half the world's population.
A group of researchers, led by Anders Nilsson from Stockholm University, determined the ammonia catalysts' chemical state during the reaction for the first time. Results have been recently published in Nature.
Understanding the process of ammonia production will make it possible to make more efficient catalysts and reduce energy consumption. Christopher Goodwin, who led the study at Stockholm University and is now a beamline scientist at the 3Sbar beamline at ALBA, said "Catalysts for the Haber-Bosch process are the most important catalysts developed yet. Billions of lives and three Nobel prizes, yet the exact operation was still unknown. The mystery of this reaction is the first of many mysteries that will be answered with the new tools developed."
The 3Sbar beamline (Surface Structure and Spectroscopy at 1 bar) will be the next step in studying many of the most important reactions. It will be a hard X ray micro-spot beamline that will perform core level ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) and Surface X ray diffraction (SXRD) simultaneously at pressures over one atmosphere. Inspired by the instrument at DESY, 3Sbar will be a cutting-edge beamline, the first of its type, that aims to provide fundamental understanding of a wide range of surface science processes of solid-liquid and solid-gas interfaces. 3Sbar will answer essential questions on batteries, catalysis, electrocatalysis, corrosion and sensors, contributing to more efficient, clean and environmentally friendly technologies.
3Sbar will be the 14th beamline at ALBA and the first optimised for the future 4th generation synchrotron light source, ALBA II. It is funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan within the framework of the NextGenerationEU, and is expected to enter operation in 2026.
Illustration by David Degerman, postdoctor, Department of Physics, Stockholm University.
