High-productivity electrosynthesis of ammonia from dinitrogen
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High-productivity electrosynthesis of ammonia from dinitrogen

Ryan Miller August 26, 2021

The so-called lithium redox-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction presents the only known process enabling genuine electrochemical conversion of N2 to ammonia. Notwithstanding the rapidly increasing investigative efforts, the commonly reported performances of the Li-mediated N2 electroreduction, viz. yield rate, current-to-ammonia (faradaic) efficiency and durability in operation, still pertain to the domain of academic research rather than practical development. Our most recent work focused on redesigning the key components of the electrolytic N2 reduction cell enabled breakthroughs in all the key metrics of the process. Specifically, we have introduced a stable proton shuttle based on the phosphonium cation that delivers protons to…

Whither Aqueous Electro-reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia?
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Whither Aqueous Electro-reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia?

Ryan Miller November 18, 2020

Electrochemical reduction of N 2 (NRR) is widely recognised as an alternative to the traditional Haber-Bosch production process for ammonia. The high-energy efficiency, low-cost variant of this process involves an aqueous electrolyte and there is now a substantial literature on this topic. However, though the challenges of NRR experiments have become better understood, the reported rates in these aqueous solution studies are often too low to be convincing that reduction of the highly unreactive N 2 molecule has actually been achieved. Unfortunately, there are many possible impurity sources that can interfere with robust measurements. In this presentation we will discuss…

Panel discussion on next-generation ammonia synthesis
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Panel discussion on next-generation ammonia synthesis

Ryan Miller December 03, 2020

This year’s Ammonia Energy Conference included a panel discussion on next-generation ammonia synthesis, moderated by Sarb Giddey (CSIRO, Australia), and featuring panelists Doug MacFarlane (Monash University, Australia), Karthish Manthiram (MIT, United States), and Michael Stoukides (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece). The

Monash team publishes Ammonia Economy Roadmap
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Monash team publishes Ammonia Economy Roadmap

Ryan Miller May 28, 2020

Earlier this month, Doug MacFarlane and his team of researchers at Monash University published A Roadmap to the Ammonia Economy in the journal Joule. The paper charts an evolution of ammonia synthesis “through multiple generations of technology development and scale-up.”

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Progress and challenges in ammonia synthesis by electrochemical processes

Ryan Miller August 22, 2019

Efficient production of ammonia from renewable energy represents an important technology for future means of global transportation of renewable energy from remote land and marine areas where it can be generated inexpensively at massive scale. The direct electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR), coupled with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), is an attractive approach to the generation of ammonia from renewables and this talk will overview the technology options in respect of this process. The eNRR as carried out in traditional solvents is of relatively low efficiency under ambient conditions compared to other energy storage mechanisms and this is currently limiting…

The global quest to decarbonize ammonia production
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The global quest to decarbonize ammonia production

Ryan Miller June 20, 2019

NEWS BRIEF: The industrial process for ammonia production is increasingly being recognized as a target for decarbonization - by researchers, investors, regulators, and the producers themselves. Demonstrating this shift in awareness, Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN), one of the flagship

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High Efficiency Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia from Nitrogen at Ambient Temperature and Pressure

Ryan Miller October 2, 2017

Ammonia as well as being an important fertiliser is being increasingly considered as an easily transported carrier of hydrogen energy. However, the traditional Haber-Bosch process for the production of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen and fossil fuels is a high temperature and pressure process that is energy intensive. Newer technology is being investigated to produce sustainable ammonia from green energy. An ambient temperature, electrochemical synthesis of ammonia is an attractive alternative approach, but has, to date, not been achieved at high efficiency. Researchers from Monash University have obtained faradaic efficiency as high as 60% using liquid salt electrolytes under ambient conditions,…