Light-driven nitrogen fixation routes for green ammonia production

Abstract

The global goal for decarbonization of the energy sector and the chemical industry could become a reality by a massive increase in renewable-based technologies. For this clean energy transition, the versatile green ammonia may play a key role in the future as a fossil-free fertilizer, long-term energy storage medium, chemical feedstock, and clean burning fuel for transportation and decentralized power generation. The high energy-intensive industrial ammonia production has triggered researchers to look for a step change in new synthetic approaches powered by renewable energies. This review provides a comprehensive comparison of light-mediated N2 fixation technologies for green ammonia production, including photocatalytic, photoelectrocatalytic, PV-electrocatalytic and photothermocatalytic routes. Since these approaches are still at laboratory scale, we examine the most recent developments and discuss the open challenges for future improvements. Last, we offer a technoeconomic comparison of current and emerging ammonia production technologies, highlighting costs, barriers, recommendations, and potential opportunities for the real development of the next generation of green ammonia solutions.

Graphical abstract: Light-driven nitrogen fixation routes for green ammonia production

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
12 Feb 2024
First published
10 Oct 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Soc. Rev., 2024, Advance Article

Light-driven nitrogen fixation routes for green ammonia production

L. Collado, A. H. Pizarro, M. Barawi, M. García-Tecedor, M. Liras and V. A. de la Peña O'Shea, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D3CS01075A

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