A physical catalyst for the electrolysis of nitrogen to ammonia.

ABSTRACT: Ammonia synthesis consumes 3 to 5% of the world's natural gas, making it a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Strategies for synthesizing ammonia that are not dependent on the energy-intensive and methane-based Haber-Bosch process are critically important for reducing global energy consumption and minimizing climate change. Motivated by a need to investigate novel nitrogen fixation mechanisms, we herein describe a highly textured physical catalyst, composed of N-doped carbon nanospikes, that electrochemically reduces dissolved N₂ gas to ammonia in an aqueous electrolyte under ambient conditions. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) achieves 11.56 ± 0.85% at -1.19 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, and the maximum production rate is 97.18 ± 7.13 μg hour^-1<

SUBMITTER: Song Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5922794 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature