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Updated: Jun 22, 2025

Ammonia Synthesis at Low Pressure
Published on: August 23, 2017
Solar-Powered Gram-Scale Ammonia Production from Nitrate
Paulraj Gnanasekar1, Karthik Peramaiah2,3, Huafan Zhang1
1Photonics Laboratory, Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
The photoelectrochemical (PEC) method has the potential to be an attractive route for converting and storing solar energy as chemical bonds. In this study, a maximum NH3 production yield of 1.01 g L-1 with a solar-to-ammonia conversion efficiency of 8.17% through the photovoltaic electrocatalytic (PV-EC) nitrate (NO3 -) reduction reaction (NO3 -RR) is achieved, using silicon heterojunction solar cell technology. Additionally, the effect of tuning the operation potential of the PV-EC system and its influence on product selectivity are systematically investigated. By using this unique external resistance tuning approach in the PV-EC system, ammonia production through nitrate reduction performance from 96 to 360 mg L-1 is enhanced, a four-fold increase. Furthermore, the NH3 is extracted as NH4Cl powder using acid stripping, which is essential for storing chemical energy. This work demonstrates the possibility of tuning product selectivity in PV-EC systems, with prospects toward pilot scale on value-added product synthesis.
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