The development of alternative approaches to the conventional Haber–Bosch ammonia synthesis process is an imperative but very challenging task. Extrinsic stimuli such as plasma could provide greater flexibility in materials selection and process innovation for nitrogen fixation. Hydride (hydrogen anion, H‾)-containing materials have recently shown promise in thermal ammonia synthesis, whereas the interactions of hydrides and N₂ under plasma have rarely been investigated. Herein we explore plasma-driven nitrogen fixation to NH₃ mediated by an inexpensive and common reagent sodium hydride, which does not react with N₂ under normal thermal conditions. Nitrogen plasma can produce reactive nitrogen species and also induce the dehydriding of NaH, which result in the activation and hydrogenation of N₂ to surface NaNH₂ species. The subsequent thermal-hydrogenation of NaNH₂ produces NH₃ facilely. The stepwise chemical loop prevents ammonia from plasma-induced cracking. This NaH-mediated chemistry broadens the scope of hydrides as well as many other materials for N₂ fixation, and also has prospect for other chemical transformations.

中文翻译：

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等离子体驱动的氢化钠固氮

开发传统哈伯-博世氨合成工艺的替代方法是一项势在必行但极具挑战性的任务。等离子体等外在刺激可以为固氮的材料选择和工艺创新提供更大的灵活性。_{含氢化物（氢阴离子，H‾）的材料最近在热氨合成中显示出了前景，但氢化物与N 2}在等离子体下的相互作用却很少被研究。在此，我们探索了由廉价且常见的氢化钠试剂介导的等离子体驱动的对 NH _{3 的}固氮，该试剂不与 N _{2发生反应}在正常热条件下。氮等离子体可以产生活性氮物种并且还诱导NaH脱氢，这导致N ₂活化和氢化为表面NaNH ₂物种。_{随后NaNH 2}的热氢化很容易产生NH ₃。逐步的化学循环可防止氨因等离子体引起的裂纹。这种NaH介导的化学反应拓宽了氢化物以及许多其他用于N ₂固定的材料的范围，并且也具有其他化学转化的前景。