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Production of ammonia via a chemical looping process based on metal imides as nitrogen carriers

Author

Listed:
  • Wenbo Gao

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jianping Guo

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials)

  • Peikun Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qianru Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Fei Chang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qijun Pei

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Weijin Zhang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Lin Liu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Ping Chen

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials)

Abstract

Ammonia is a promising carbon-free energy carrier, but is currently synthesized industrially under harsh conditions. Synthesizing ammonia using lower temperatures and pressures could therefore improve its prospects as a chemical means to store and transport energy. Here we report that alkali and alkaline earth metal imides function as nitrogen carriers that mediate ammonia production via a two-step chemical looping process operating under mild conditions. Nitrogen is first fixed through the reduction of N2 by alkali or alkaline earth metal hydrides to form imides and, subsequently, the imides are hydrogenated to produce NH3 and regenerate the metal hydrides. The oxidation state of hydrogen therefore switches between −1 (hydride), 0 (H2) and +1 (imide and NH3). Late 3d metals accelerate the reaction rates of both steps. The chemical loop mediated by BaNH and catalysed by Ni produces NH3 at 100 °C and atmospheric pressure.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenbo Gao & Jianping Guo & Peikun Wang & Qianru Wang & Fei Chang & Qijun Pei & Weijin Zhang & Lin Liu & Ping Chen, 2018. "Production of ammonia via a chemical looping process based on metal imides as nitrogen carriers," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1067-1075, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:3:y:2018:i:12:d:10.1038_s41560-018-0268-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-018-0268-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Xiaoyu & Su, Mingze & Zhao, Haibo, 2021. "Process design and exergy cost analysis of a chemical looping ammonia generation system using AlN/Al2O3 as a nitrogen carrier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    2. Xiong, Chuhao & Wu, Ye & Feng, Mingqian & Fang, Jing & Liu, Dong & Shen, Laihong & Argyle, Morris D. & A. M. Gasem, Khaled & Fan, Maohong, 2022. "High thermal stability Si-Al based N-carrier for efficient and stable chemical looping ammonia generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    3. Hossein Ali Yousefi Rizi & Donghoon Shin, 2022. "Green Hydrogen Production Technologies from Ammonia Cracking," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-49, November.
    4. Laihao Luo & Xinyan Liu & Xinyu Zhao & Xinyan Zhang & Hong-Jie Peng & Ke Ye & Kun Jiang & Qiu Jiang & Jie Zeng & Tingting Zheng & Chuan Xia, 2024. "Pressure-induced generation of heterogeneous electrocatalytic metal hydride surfaces for sustainable hydrogen transfer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Huize Wang & Ranga Rohit Seemakurthi & Gao-Feng Chen & Volker Strauss & Oleksandr Savateev & Guangtong Hai & Liangxin Ding & Núria López & Haihui Wang & Markus Antonietti, 2023. "Laser-induced nitrogen fixation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-7, December.
    6. S Paramanantham, SalaiSargunan & Brigljević, Boris & Ni, Aleksey & Nagulapati, Vijay Mohan & Han, Gao-Feng & Baek, Jong-Beom & Mikulčić, Hrvoje & Lim, Hankwon, 2023. "Numerical simulation of ball milling reactor for novel ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).

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