Researchers suggest electrodriven chemical looping ammonia synthesis mediated by lithium imide

Ammonia (NH₃) is a promising vitality vector for the storage and utilization of renewable energies. Artificially synthesizing NH₃ from its parts requires harsh response situations (400-500 °C, 10–30 MPa) as a result of N₂ is inert and nonpolar with a powerful N≡N bond. The synthesis of NH₃ beneath gentle situations continues to be difficult.

Lately, Assoc. Profs. Cao Hujun, Gao Wenbo and their collaborators from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese language Academy of Sciences (CAS) have proposed a brand new course of for ammonia synthesis utilizing Li₂NH as an N service by way of the tactic of electrodriven chemical looping.

This research was revealed in ACS Vitality Letters.

The researchers carried out this electrodriven chemical looping ammonia synthesis (ECLAS) in a LiCl-NaCl-KCl eutectic electrolytic cell utilizing a nickel foam as electrode.

Electrical vitality enter not solely improved the hydrogenation price of Li₂NH, but in addition promoted the nitrogen fixation response of LiH. As well as, the typical ammonia manufacturing price of this ECLAS course of was practically eight occasions greater than that of the thermal-driven CLAS course of.

They discovered that the method contained two electrochemical reactions, one was the nitridation of LiH to kind Li₂NH, and the opposite was the hydrogenation of Li₂NH to provide ammonia and regenerate LiH. This was completely different from the reported Li₃N-mediated electrochemical ammonia synthesis course of, which included three-step reactions: Li ion was diminished to Li, Li mounted dinitrogen to kind Li₃N, and Li₃N was then protonated to provide ammonia and Li⁺.

“This ECLAS course of has a low theoretical working voltage than the Li₃N-mediated electrochemical ammonia synthesis course of, and it might work beneath as low voltages as 2.0 V,” mentioned Cao.