This book presents sustainable synthetic pathways and modern applications of ammonia. It focuses on the production of ammonia using various catalytic systems and its use in fuel cells, membrane, agriculture, and renewable energy sectors. The book highlights the history, investigation, and development of sustainable pathways for ammonia production, current challenges, and state-of-the-art reviews. While discussing industrial applications, it fills the gap between laboratory research and viable applications in large-scale production.
Plasma catalysis is gaining increasing interest for various gas conversion applications, such as CO2 conversion into value-added chemicals and fuels, N2 fixation for the synthesis of NH3 or NOx, methane conversion into higher hydrocarbons or oxygenates. It is also widely used for air pollution control (e.g., VOC remediation). Plasma catalysis allows thermodynamically difficult reactions to proceed at ambient pressure and temperature, due to activation of the gas molecules by energetic electrons created in the plasma. However, plasma is very reactive but not selective, and thus a catalyst is needed to improve the selectivity. In spite of the growing interest in plasma catalysis, the underlying mechanisms of the (possible) synergy between plasma and catalyst are not yet fully understood. Indeed, plasma catalysis is quite complicated, as the plasma will affect the catalyst and vice versa. Moreover, due to the reactive plasma environment, the most suitable catalysts will probably be different from thermal catalysts. More research is needed to better understand the plasma–catalyst interactions, in order to further improve the applications.
Techno-Economic Challenges of Green Ammonia as an Energy Vector presents the fundamentals, techno-economic challenges, applications, and state-of-the-art research in using green ammonia as a route toward the hydrogen economy. This book presents practical implications and case studies of a great variety of methods to recover stored energy from ammonia and use it for power, along with transport and heating applications, including its production, storage, transportation, regulations, public perception, and safety aspects. As a unique reference in this field, this book can be used both as a handbook by researchers and a source of background knowledge by graduate students developing technologies in the fields of hydrogen economy, hydrogen energy, and energy storage. - Includes glossaries, case studies, practical concepts, and legal, public perception, and policy viewpoints that allow for thorough, practical understanding of the use of ammonia as energy carrier - Presents its content in a modular structure that can be used in sequence, as a handbook, in individual parts or as a field reference - Explores the use of ammonia, both as a medium for hydrogen storage and an energy vector unto itself
This book provides a review of worldwide developments in ammonia synthesis catalysts over the last 30 years. It focuses on the new generation of Fe1-xO based catalysts and ruthenium catalysts — both are major breakthroughs for fused iron catalysts. The basic theory for ammonia synthesis is systematically explained, covering topics such as the chemical components, crystal structure, preparation, reduction, performance evaluation, characterization of the catalysts, the mechanism and kinetics of ammonia synthesis reaction. Both theory and practice are combined in this presentation, with emphasis on the research methods, application and exploitation of catalysts.The comprehensive volume includes an assessment of the economic and engineering aspects of ammonia plants based on the performance of catalysts. Recent developments in photo-catalysis, electro-catalysis, biocatalysis and new uses of ammonia are also introduced in this book.The author, Professor Huazhang Liu, has been engaged in research and practice for more than 50 years in this field and was the inventor of the first Fe1-xO based catalysts in the world. He has done a lot of research on Fe3O4 based- and ruthenium based-catalysts, and has published more than 300 papers and obtained 21 patents during his career.
The electrocatalytic process of nitrogen reduction reactions (NRR) offers a promising approach towards achieving sustainable ammonia production, acting as an environmentally friendly replacement for the conventional Haber-Bosch method. Density functional theory calculations have been utilized to design and investigate a set of catalysts known as triple-atom catalysts (TACs) for electrochemical NRR, which are supported on graphite-C3N3 nanosheets. Herein, we have systematically evaluated these TACs using stringent screening to assess their catalytic performance. Among the candidates, supported Pt3, Re3, and Ru3 trimers emerged as highly active with decent selectivity, involving a limiting potential range of -0.35~-0.11 V. According to analysis of electronic properties, we determined that high NRR activity stems from the d-π* electron-accepting and -donating mechanism. Significantly, the correlation between chemical activity of TACs and electronic structure was established as a pivotal physical parameter, which has led to the conclusion that we can precisely control the catalytic behavior of transition metal trimer clusters by selecting appropriate metal elements and designing moderate cluster-substrates interactions. In summary, these theoretical studies not only enhance our understanding of how catalytic properties are governed by metal-support interactions, regulating stability, activity, and selectivity, but also offer a useful method for screening and designing novel TACs for NRR.
Dr. Smil is the world's authority on nitrogenous fertilizer. The industrial synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen has been of greater fundamental importance to the modern world than the invention of the airplane, nuclear energy, space flight, or television. The expansion of the world's population from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to today's six billion would not have been possible without the synthesis of ammonia. In Enriching the Earth, Vaclav Smil begins with a discussion of nitrogen's unique status in the biosphere, its role in crop production, and traditional means of supplying the nutrient. He then looks at various attempts to expand natural nitrogen flows through mineral and synthetic fertilizers. The core of the book is a detailed narrative of the discovery of ammonia synthesis by Fritz Haber—a discovery scientists had sought for over one hundred years—and its commercialization by Carl Bosch and the chemical company BASF. Smil also examines the emergence of the large-scale nitrogen fertilizer industry and analyzes the extent of global dependence on the Haber-Bosch process and its biospheric consequences. Finally, it looks at the role of nitrogen in civilization and, in a sad coda, describes the lives of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch after the discovery of ammonia synthesis.
Atomic Clusters with Unusual Structure, Bonding and Reactivity: Theoretical Approaches, Computational Assessment and Applications reviews the latest computational tools and approaches available for accurately assessing the properties of a cluster, while also highlighting how such clusters can be adapted and utilized for the development of novel materials and applications. Sections provide an introduction to the computational methods used to obtain global minima for clusters and effectively analyze bonds, outline experimental approaches to produce clusters, discuss specific applications, and explore cluster reactivity and usage across a number of fields.Drawing on the knowledge of its expert editors and contributors, this book provides a detailed guide to ascertaining the stability, bonding and properties of atomic clusters. Atomic clusters, which exhibit unusual properties, offer huge potential as building blocks for new materials and novel applications, but understanding their properties, stability and bonding is essential in order to accurately understand, characterize and manipulate them for further use. Searching for the most stable geometry of a given cluster is difficult and becomes even more so for clusters of medium and large sizes, where the number of possible isomers sharply increase, hence this book provides a unique and comprehensive approach to the topic and available techniques and applications. - Introduces readers to the vast structural and bonding diversity that clusters show and reflects on their potential for novel application and material development - Highlights the latest computational methods and theoretical tools available for identification of the most stable isomers and accurate analysis of bonding in the clusters - Focuses on clusters which violate the rules established in traditional chemistry and exhibit unusual structure, bonding and reactivity
The phenomenon of catalysis is found in many homogeneous and heterogeneous systems undergoing chemical change, where it effects the rates of approach to the equilibrium state in processes as diverse as those found in the stars, the earth's mantle, living organisms, and the various chemistries utilized by industry. The economies and the living standards of both developed and developing countries depend to varying degrees upon the efficacy of their chemical industries. Con sequently, this century has seen a wide exploration and expansion of catalytic chemistry together with an intensive investigation of specific, essential processes like those contributing to life-supporting agricultures. Prime among the latter must surely be the "fixation" of atmospheric nitrogen by catalytic hydrogenation to anhydrous ammonia, still the preferred synthetic precursor of the nitrogenous components of fertilizers. In each decade contemporary concepts and techniques have been used to further the understanding, as yet incomplete, of the catalyst, the adsorbates, the surface reactions, and the technology of large-scale operation. The contributors to the present volume review the state of the art, the science, and the technology; they reveal existing lacunae, and suggest ways forward. Around the turn of the century, Sabatier's school was extending the descriptive catalytic chemistry of hydrogenation by metals to include almost all types of multiple bond. The triple bond of dinitrogen, which continued to be more resistant than the somewhat similar bonds in carbon monoxide and ethyne, defied their efforts.
During these early years, the chronic toxicological properties of chemicals were often completely unknown and many unwittingly became indispensable tools of the trade. Early pioneers in green chemistry included Trost (who developed the atom economy principle) and Sheldon (who developed the E-Factor). These measures were introduced to encourage the use of more sustainable chemistry and provide some benchmarking data to encourage scientists to aspire to more benign synthesis. Green chemistry is essentially the design of chemical processes and procedures that reduce or eliminate the use, or the generation, of hazardous substances. Green chemistry is a growing area of research and an increasing number of researchers are now involved in this field. The number of publications has dramatically increased and new recognition of advances made is necessary with respect to other research areas.
Graphdiyne Discover the most cutting-edge developments in the study of graphdiyne from a pioneer of the field In Graphdiyne: Fundamentals and Applications in Renewable Energy and Electronics, accomplished chemist Dr. Yuliang Li delivers a practical and insightful compilation of theoretical and experimental developments in the study of graphdiyne. Of interest to both academics and industrial researchers in the fields of nanoscience, organic chemistry, carbon science, and renewable energies, the book systematically summarizes recent research into the exciting new material. Discover information about the properties of graphdiyne through theoretical simulations and experimental characterizations, as well as the development of graphdiyne with appropriate preparation technology. Learn to create new graphdiyne-based materials and better understand its intrinsic properties. Find out about synthetic methodologies, the controlled growth of aggregated state structures, and structural characterization. In addition to demonstrating the interdisciplinary potential and relevance of graphdiyne, the book also offers readers: A thorough introduction to basic structure and band gap engineering, including molecular and electronic structure, mechanical properties, and the layers structure of bulk graphdiyne Explorations of Graphdiyne synthesis and characterization, including films, nanotube arrays and nanowires, nanowalls, and nanosheets, as well as characterization methods Discussions of the functionalization of graphdiyne, including heteroatom doping, metal decoration, and absorption of guest molecules Rigorous treatments of Graphdiyne-based materials in catalytic applications, including photo- and electrocatalysts Perfect for organic chemists, electronics engineers, materials scientists, and physicists, Graphdiyne: Fundamentals and Applications in Renewable Energy and Electronics will also find its place on the bookshelves of surface and solid-state chemists, electrochemists, and catalytic chemists seeking a one-stop reference on this rising-star carbon material.
