Kwiyong Kim

Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from water and nitrogen catalyzed by nano-Fe2O3 and CoFe2O4 suspended in a molten LiCl-KCl-CsCl electrolyte

Nano-Fe2O3 and CoFe2O4 were suspended in molten salt of alkali-metal chloride (LiCl-KCl-CsCl) and their catalytic activity in electrochemical ammonia synthesis was evaluated from potentiostatic electrolysis at 600 K. The presence of nanoparticle suspension in the molten chloride resulted in improved production of NH3, recording NH3 synthesis rate of 1.78×10−10 mol s−1 cm−2 and 3.00×10−10 mol s−1 cm−2 with CoFe2O4 and Fe2O3, which are 102% and 240% higher than that without the use of a nanocatalyst, respectively. We speculated that the nanoparticles triggered both the electrochemical reduction of nitrogen and also chemical reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen that was produced from water electro-reduction on cathode. The use of nanocatalysts in the form of suspension offers an effective way to overcome the sluggish nature of nitrogen reduction in the molten chloride electrolyte.

Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia from Water and Nitrogen: A Lithium-Mediated Approach Using Lithium-Ion Conducting Glass Ceramics

Lithium-mediated reduction of dinitrogen is a promising method to evade electron-stealing hydrogen evolution, a critical challenge which limits faradaic efficiency (FE) and thus hinders the success of traditional protic-solvent-based ammonia electro-synthesis. A viable implementation of the lithium-mediated pathway using lithium-ion conducting glass ceramics involves i) lithium deposition, ii) nitridation, and iii) ammonia formation. Ammonia was successfully synthesized from molecular nitrogen and water, yielding a maximum FE of 52.3 %. With an ammonia synthesis rate comparable to previously reported approaches, the fairly high FE demonstrates the possibility of using this nitrogen fixation strategy as a substitute for firmly established, yet exceedingly complicated and expensive technology, and in so doing represents a next-generation energy storage system.