Low-pressure ammonia production could cut fertiliser energy cost
By 
Katrina Krämer2018-01-23T12:58:00
Lanthanum–cobalt catalyst that breaks nitrogen triple bond under mild conditions could revolutionise small-scale ammonia synthesis
Rather than relying on ammonia made by the energy-hungry Haber–Bosch process, local fertiliser synthesis could soon be possible with a catalyst that can break the nitrogen–nitrogen triple bond at ambient pressure. A discovery made by a team led by Hideo Hosono and Junjie Wang from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, allows a lanthanum–cobalt–silicon (LaCoSi) catalyst to break the nitrogen–nitrogen bond at ambient pressure. At 400°C, the catalyst is 10 times more efficient at making ammonia under the same conditions as its closest competitor, a cobalt–molybdenum nitride.