Catalytic decomposition of ammonia has been investigated as a method to pro
duce hydrogen for fuel cell applications. The absence of any undesirable by
-products (unlike, e.g., COx, formed during reforming of hydrocarbons and a
lcohols) makes this process an ideal source of hydrogen for fuel cells. In
this study a variety of supported metal catalysts have been studied. Suppor
ted Ru catalysts were found to be the most active, whereas supported Ni cat
alysts were the least active. The supports were found to play a profound ro
le in the ammonia decomposition process. The activation energies for the am
monia decomposition process varied from 17 to 22 kcal/mol depending upon th
e catalyst employed. The activation energies of the supported Ir catalysts
were found to be in excellent agreement with our recent studies addressing
ammonia decomposition on single crystal Ir.