Direct ammonia synthesis from the air via gliding arc plasma integrated with single atom electrocatalysis



Wu, Angjian, Yang, Ji, Xu, Bo, Wu, Xiao-Yu, Wang, Yuhang, Lv, Xingjie, Ma, Yichen, Xu, Aoni, Zheng, Jiageng, Tan, Qinhuai
et al (show 10 more authors) (2021) Direct ammonia synthesis from the air via gliding arc plasma integrated with single atom electrocatalysis. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 299. p. 120667.

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Abstract

Industrial ammonia synthesis revolutionized global agriculture and industry, but it consumes significant amounts of energy and releases vast quantities of CO2. One alternative, electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction generally suffers from a low ammonia yield rate and poor selectivity. Here, a tandem “plasma-electrocatalysis” strategy was proposed to harvest ammonia from the air. An ammonia yield rate (~1.43 mgNH3 cm-2 h-1) with almost 100% faradaic efficiency was achieved during over 50 hours of stable operation at -0.33 V vs. RHE. The ammonia yield rate reached up to ~3.0 mgNH3 cm-2 h-1 with a faradaic efficiency of ~62% at -0.63 V vs. RHE. This marked performance is achieved by separating activation of stable nitrogen molecules via non-thermal plasma, followed by selective ammonia synthesis via a cobalt single-atom electrocatalyst. This strategy may rival the Haber-Bosch process and the aspirational electrochemical nitrogen reduction at a distributed small-size ammonia production based on a techno-economic analysis.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Ammonia synthesis, Plasma-electrocatalysis, Co single atom, Reaction mechanism
Divisions: Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 03 Sep 2021 08:25
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 21:30
DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120667
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3135726