Dr. Ivan Ermanoski has been working towards creating a thermochemical reactor for the purposes of hydrogen production for several years. After testing the initial design, there were found to be several areas in which possible improvements could be made. It is the purpose of this thesis project to look over the shortcomings of the previous reactor design and make improvements. The primary focus of these improvements centers around increasing the heat retention of the reactor, with a secondary focus on improving the workability and ease of construction for the reactor.

Ammonia is one of the most critical chemical commodities produced and is integral to a number of current industries such as agriculture as well as a key part to future sustainability areas such as clean H2 production. However, the current production methods for ammonia are largely unsustainable and produce large amounts of CO2 emissions. This combined with the current dependence on fossil energy for production has led to researchers attempting to develop a clean and sustainable method for ammonia production. This method involves the thermochemical looping of a nitride compound with H2, and the renitridation of the compound with N2. This thermochemical loop would significantly reduce pressure requirements for ammonia production in addition to only being reliant on renewable inputs. This paper expands and complements this research by detailing the methods for the synthesis of nitride compounds as well as confirming their structure through material characterization. The nitride compounds as well as their oxide precursors were synthesized through Pechini synthesis and co-precipitation, and their structure was confirmed through the use of X-ray diffraction analysis. The XRD patterns of the synthesized nitrides matched those previously synthesized as well as those found in literature. In addition, observation of the spectra for the oxide CoMoO4 showed a marked similarity to that of the oxide precursor for (NixCox)2Mo3N. However, further testing is necessary regarding the phase-purity of synthesized nitrides, as well as the reduction and renitridation capability of nitrides in the line of (NixCox)2Mo3N.