Development of functional porous particulates for green ammonia production

Ammonia is one of the most important chemicals used in modern society and the production of ammonia is estimated to be doubled by 2050 due to the population increase and growth of the economy. Ammonia is also a promising zero-carbon energy vector for long-term renewable energy storage and a green fuel through direct combustion. Today, ammonia is mainly produced from N2 and H2 on a large scale through the centralised Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, which is typically carried out at high temperatures (450 - 600 oC) and high pressures (150 - 300 bar). However, this well-developed and energy-intensive process consumes 1 - 2% of the world's primary energy supply and emits over 300 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Therefore, developing new revolutionised technologies for decentralised 'green ammonia production' using renewables is urgently needed due to the constantly increasing demand for ammonia in both agricultural and green fuel applications.

This proposal aims to develop a breakthrough approach using innovative functional porous particulates and an emerging plasma technology for decentralised ammonia production using local excessive renewable electricity, which is otherwise curtailed from generation due to low demand and/or transmission constraints. In this project, we will demonstrate the synthesis of highly porous lithium foam particulates to intensify the nitrogen fixation reaction and the non-thermal plasma-assisted flexible lithium hydroxide decomposition reaction.