MELBOURNE, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia have developed a new electrode design that could improve the energy efficiency of producing ammonia using renewable electricity.
The new approach has overcome a fundamental energy limitation of the technology, opening new possibilities for cleaner and potentially more cost-effective production of one of the world's most important chemicals, according to a recent statement of Australia's Monash University.
Researchers have developed a new type of lithium-alloying electrode that significantly reduces the energy required to convert nitrogen gas into ammonia, a breakthrough that could help advance the transition away from fossil-fuel-based ammonia production, the statement said.
Instead of producing lithium metal on a conventional electrode, the researchers used gallium-based materials that combine with lithium, allowing the reaction that converts nitrogen gas into ammonia to occur at substantially more favorable electrical potentials.
Ammonia is vital for nitrogen fertilizers and is increasingly explored as a carbon-free fuel, but conventional production relies on large, centralized facilities that cannot readily use dispersed or stranded renewable energy, according to the study published in Cell Press Blue.
Under optimized experimental conditions, the researchers achieved a faradaic efficiency of 96 ± 6 percent, meaning almost all the electrical current was directed towards producing ammonia.
The findings could support future electrochemical ammonia production with an estimated energy efficiency of at least 22 percent, although further improvements are required to reach proposed commercial targets, the researchers said.
The next step is to integrate the new lithium-alloying cathodes into electrolyzer prototypes, scaling up the materials and demonstrating long-term ammonia production at competitive energy efficiency, they said. ■
