Electrochemistry leads the way toward green ammonia synthesis

• Published in: Research Features no. 150; pp. 62 - 65
• Main Author: Kubota, Jun
• Format: Journal Article Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Stonehouse Research Outreach 2023
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Ammonia; Carbon; Decomposition; Efficiency; Electricity; Electricity distribution; Electrochemistry; Electrolysis; Electrolytes; Emission standards; Emissions; Energy consumption; Equilibrium; Global economy; Greenhouse gases; High temperature; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; Industrial plant emissions; Lithium; Methods; Microorganisms; Nitrogen; Renewable energy; Renewable resources; Sustainable practices; Japan
• ISSN: 2399-1534; 2399-1542; 2399-1542
• DOI: 10.26904/RF-150-5546755999

* Ammonia is a crucial chemical, with its production approaching 180 million tonnes per year. * Traditionally, ammonia is produced from nitrogen in air and hydrogen from fossil resources through catalytic reactions that require high temperature and pressure. * Ammonia can also be synthesised using the combination of water electrolysis with renewable electricity and catalytic reactions, but this combination isn't suitable for conditions of fluctuating electricity. * Professor Ryuji Kikuchi at Hokkaido University and Professor Jun Kubota at Fukuoka University, Japan are developing new electrochemical routes to produce ammonia sustainably. * Their ammonia synthesis approach makes effective use of surplus renewable energy that would otherwise be thrown away. Innovations in ammonia production methods can lead to substantial advancements in sustainable practices, positively impacting the global economy and environmental sustainability. Since 2014, Professor Ryuji Kikuchi of Hokkaido University and Professor Jun Kubota of Fukuoka University have been exploring new electrochemical approaches that can overcome the limitations of current methods for ammonia synthesis. In Kikuchi's approach, the aim is to achieve high current efficiency in hydrogen production by discovering reaction selectivity that allows direct interaction between protons generated from water electrolysis and nitrogen. [...]Kubota's method employs catalytic reactions, which are subject to chemical equilibrium constraints similar to the Haber-Bosch process. [...]efforts are made to combine it with strategies such as ammonia separation from the product gas and recycling of unreacted gases to work towards practical implementation.