What is it about?
Ammonia plays an indispensable role in global agroeconomics, chemical industries, energy carriers, and other diverse applications. To meet the demand for ammonia in these roles, the artificial synthesis of ammonia has traditionally relied on the well-established Haber–Bosch process that is commercially viable but energy intensive. Recently, the drive for sustainable alternatives has fueled interest in the development of electrochemical nitrogen reduction (eNRR) as a pathway for carbon-free ammonia synthesis. Nevertheless, research in the eNRR field remains elusive, partly because of the ominous presence of reactive nitrogen-containing species (Nr) and the lack of a thorough understanding of eNRR mechanistics. Herein, we provide an overview of efforts highlighting measures to avoid false positives and advancing mechanistic understanding of the eNRR process.
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Perspectives
With this article, we aim to provide the readers an overview of challenges in the eNRR field, especially the challenge of developing a clear understanding of the underlying mechanism of the reaction. We observed that past reviews often provide a cursory overview of the field, whereas a critical review demands an in-depth review of the seminal works. Here, after an exhaustive literature review of mechanistic studies on eNRR, we present our observations and highlight areas which must be revisited to develop a strong understanding of the underlying mechanisms for eNRR.
Usman Bin Shahid
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Electrochemical nitrogen reduction: an intriguing but challenging quest, Trends in Chemistry, February 2022, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.trechm.2021.11.007.
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