Environmentally-friendly, localized ammonia and ammonium nitrate/fertilizer production

Researchers in Prof. Thomas Jaramillo's laboratory have developed an electrochemical method for local production of ammonia that simultaneously solves an environmental problem while also producing a valuable chemical product with a massive global market. This technology employs a highly selective electrocatalyst to produce ammonia and ammonium nitrate from recycled waste nitrates using water as a hydrogen source. This could reduce both production and distribution costs because does not rely on the standard Haber-Bosch process (which currently requires over 1 % of the entire global energy supply and 3-5 % of the natural gas supply for pre-requisite hydrogen production). On-site, low volume production of fertilizer also maximizes nitrogen utilization efficiency. Furthermore, the process can be directly coupled to renewable electricity to further lower environmental impact. Ammonia produced with this technology could be used as a chemical precursor, exploited as a fuel alternative or directly converted into fertilizer for agricultural use.

Stage of Research
The inventors have demonstrated that a titanium electrocatalyst for this reaction can achieve over 80% faradic efficiency toward ammonia. They are planning to develop a prototype.