The limitation of the Balandin-Sabatier maximum arises from the multi-purpose catalyst, which must balance the kinetics of competing reaction steps (activation, desorption, etc.). One strategy to exceed this maximum is to decouple the reaction phenomena and physically disassociate sequential chemistries. The physical reaction dissociation approach was recently demonstrated with ammonia synthesis, whereby gas-phase activation of N 2 occurred via plasma, and metals catalyzed hydrogenation of nitrogen to ammonia with rapid desorption . Deconvoluted control of individual reactions (activation with plasma and hydrogenation with a metal catalyst) permits independent system tuning to yield an overall rate potentially in excess of the Balandin-Sabatier maximum in conventional catalytic reactors.