ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Probing disorder in the Li-Sr-N-H ammonia synthesis catalyst system

Abstract: Decarbonisation of ammonia synthesis is vital to comply with the UK?s net-zero targets and to enable its use as a fuel and hydrogen store. The development of novel catalysts is of great importance to this and one such material, strontium lithium nitride-hydride has shown high activity using both looping and catalytic ammonia synthesis. The mechanism is thought to be similar to that of lithium nitride-hydride, where a nitride-hydride-imide solid solution intermediate is the vector by which ammonia is produced. However, in-situ structural characterisation of the strontium lithium system has not resolved the nature of the intermediate species which are present. We request 5 days on MAPS to conduct an investigation into strontium lithium nitride-hydride for looping and catalytic ammonia synthesis. This will inform our understanding of the nature and evolution of the system under different reaction conditions, identify possible deactivation pathways (e.g. hydride formation), and ultimately enable the design of more active catalyst formulations.

Principal Investigator: Dr Josh Makepeace
Experimenter: Miss Ezri McGarrigle
Local Contact: Dr Hamish Cavaye
Experimenter: Miss Bakhtawar Ahmed

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2510217

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2510217

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Josh Makepeace et al; (2026): Probing disorder in the Li-Sr-N-H ammonia synthesis catalyst system, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2510217

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.