The History of the Development of Ammonia Synthesis

Abstract

The synthesis of ammonia from its elements ranks as one of the most important discoveries in the history of the science of catalysis, not only because of its industrial application in which synthetic fertilizers have contributed enormously to the survival of mankind, but also from the viewpoint of fundamental science. Even today, some eighty years after the first demonstration of ammonia synthesis, many original scientific papers on the mechanism of the catalytic synthesis of ammonia are still published. Every time a new method, technique, or concept has appeared in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, it has been applied to this reaction. Specific examples of these applications over the years include the concepts of gas equilibrium,⁽¹⁾ activated adsorption,⁽²⁾ structure sensitivity,⁽³⁾ stoichiometric number and kinetic studies,⁽⁴⁾ nonuniform surfaces,⁽⁵⁾ the measurements of surface area,⁽⁶⁾ surface composition and promoter distributions,⁽⁷⁾ and the use of isotopic and spectroscopic techniques.⁽⁸⁾ In particular, various surface science techniques have been applied successfully to this reaction system over well-defined single crystal surfaces in recent years. In this way the effect of promoters on the iron catalyst has been elucidated.⁽⁹⁾ Accordingly, the history of ammonia synthesis parallels not only that of industrial catalysis, but also the development of the science of catalysis.