Abstract
I HAVE recently found that when a film which has been sputtered from a nickel cathode in an atmosphere of nitrogen is afterwards heated to 150° C. or more in hydrogen, ammonia is produced. The process undoubtedly consists in the reduction of a nitride of nickel formed in sputtering: the quantity of ammonia—10–20 mgm. for a film of perhaps 200 sq. cm.—checks reasonably well with the amount of nitrogen absorbed in sputtering. Heating in a large excess of hydrogen, with added nitrogen, has not as yet been found to increase appreciably the yield of ammonia, so the process does not appear to be catalytic in the ordinary sense—for the pressures and temperatures tried so far.
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INGERSOLL, L. Sputtered Nickel Films and the Synthesis of Ammonia. Nature 126, 204 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/126204a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/126204a0
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