My question concerns the ammonia synthesis mechanism proposed by Ertl in 1980, for which he got the Nobel Prize in 2007.
In this mechanism, an activation energy barrier of 38 kJ/mol has to be crossed to convert 1/2 N2 physisorbed to N chimisorbed onto the catalyst. However, how to cross this energy barrier? It is not possible to do it only with thermal energy as the temperature needed would be equal to 38000/(1.38x10^-23*6.02x10^23)=4500 K. So how to cross this barrier?
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