Site items in: Content by Author Alexandr Simonov

Nitrogen Reduction Reaction at High Current-to-Ammonia Efficiency
Presentation

Apart from its use in the fertiliser and chemical industries, ammonia is currently attracting our community as a potential carbon-neutral fuel and as an energy carrier for worldwide transportation of renewable sources. To achieve this goal, replacements of the conventional hydrocarbon deposit-based technology for NH3 production require to be a green but inexpensive and scale-flexible technology, namely the only genuine electrochemical lithium-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction (Li-NRR). Reported by many research groups around the world, the process had so far been hampered by poor yield rates and efficiencies. At Monash University, we introduced a compact ionic assembly arranged in the electrode-electrolyte…

High-productivity electrosynthesis of ammonia from dinitrogen
Presentation

The so-called lithium redox-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction presents the only known process enabling genuine electrochemical conversion of N2 to ammonia. Notwithstanding the rapidly increasing investigative efforts, the commonly reported performances of the Li-mediated N2 electroreduction, viz. yield rate, current-to-ammonia (faradaic) efficiency and durability in operation, still pertain to the domain of academic research rather than practical development. Our most recent work focused on redesigning the key components of the electrolytic N2 reduction cell enabled breakthroughs in all the key metrics of the process. Specifically, we have introduced a stable proton shuttle based on the phosphonium cation that delivers protons to…

Presentation

Ammonia as well as being an important fertiliser is being increasingly considered as an easily transported carrier of hydrogen energy. However, the traditional Haber-Bosch process for the production of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen and fossil fuels is a high temperature and pressure process that is energy intensive. Newer technology is being investigated to produce sustainable ammonia from green energy. An ambient temperature, electrochemical synthesis of ammonia is an attractive alternative approach, but has, to date, not been achieved at high efficiency. Researchers from Monash University have obtained faradaic efficiency as high as 60% using liquid salt electrolytes under ambient conditions,…