Nitrogen fixation by alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides assisted by plasma

Abstract

The chemical behaviors of alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides including LiH, KH, MgH2, CaH2, and BaH2 under nitrogen plasma differ significantly from one another, exhibiting a trend that contrasts with that observed under thermal conditions. A prominent feature of KH is its ability to facilitate plasma-assisted N2 fixation without generating H2 byproduct, showing high atomic economy in utilization of hydride for N2 reduction.