Korean Team Develops 13.0% Efficient Ammonia Catalyst at Room Temperature
Updated
Updated · biz.heraldcorp.com · Aug 20
Korean Team Develops 13.0% Efficient Ammonia Catalyst at Room Temperature
1 articles · Updated · biz.heraldcorp.com · Aug 20
Summary
381.3 micrograms of ammonia per milligram per hour were produced by the new catalyst at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with a 13.0% Faradaic efficiency that the team said is the highest domestic result for pure catalysts without additives.
The advance tackles electrochemical ammonia synthesis's main bottleneck: hydrogen often forms H2 gas before reacting with nitrogen. Instead of repelling hydrogen, the catalyst holds it longer, delaying gas release so it can form ammonia.
Tungsten and vanadium on the catalyst surface were engineered to bind hydrogen and nitrogen simultaneously, a mechanism the researchers named the delayed hydrogen evolution reaction.
30 hours of stable operation and about 80% performance retention after a 30-fold scale-up suggest the approach could move beyond lab conditions toward larger continuous production.
Ammonia production usually needs temperatures above 400C and high pressure, and accounts for 1% to 2% of global energy-sector CO2 emissions; the team said pairing the process with solar or wind power could cut both energy use and emissions.
Could holding hydrogen hostage on a unique catalyst surface finally dethrone the century-old, carbon-heavy Haber-Bosch process for global ammonia production?
As green ammonia demand surges, can this record-breaking Korean catalyst maintain its impressive efficiency when scaled up for industrial maritime fuel?