Photochemistry and a new catalyst could make fertilizer more sustainable

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Engineers at Georgia Tech are investigating methods to render fertilizer use more eco-friendly. They aspire to achieving sustainability starting from the production phase until the eventual reuse of excess after application. Two newly conducted studies propose potential opportunities at either end of this process.

One study describes a means by which nitrogen, water, carbon, and light can collaborate with a catalyst. This interaction results in the production of ammonia under normal temperature and pressure. This approach consumes significantly less energy compared to current methods. Another study introduces a steadfast catalyst that can turn unnecessary fertilizer into non-polluting nitrogen. This could possibly be repurposed to generate new fertilizer in the future.

Although both methods require further improvement, Marta Hatzell, the lead author of the two scientific papers, believes these findings bring us closer to a more sustainable cycle that caters to the world's increasing population needs.

Ammonia rich in nitrogen is crucial for international food production. However, its manufacturing process demands a substantial quantity of petrol-based energy and is mostly limited to nearly a hundred large-scale facilities worldwide. Hatzell and her fellow professionals at Georgia Tech have discovered light-reactive catalysts' essential function for a low-energy action that combines nitrogen and hydrogen to create ammonia. The results of their research have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society Au (JACS Au).

Their studies focus on photochemical reactions, which could incorporate solar energy instead of gasoline. This would also enable a decentralized manufacturing procedure for ammonia. A potential procedure at normal atmospheric pressure and heat - about 25° C - would be noticeably more convenient.

In collaboration with other professionals from Georgia Tech, the research team generated a palladium copper alloy. This material is capable of restoring wasted nitrogen to non-polluting nitrogen. This can be harmlessly emitted into the atmosphere or potentially reprocessed to produce fertilizer using the photochemical reaction as explained in the JACS Au study.

With collaborative contributions from several researchers, these studies represent a broader effort within the College of Engineering to reduce nitrogen pollution and establish a circular nitrogen economy. This includes capturing and reproducing nitrogen-based fertilizers in a decarbonized cycle. The ambitious 10-year plan aims to refine and integrate diverse processes and technologies. These would be later implemented at agricultural and wastewater treatment locations.

More details can be obtained from the respective publications: "Formation of Carbon Induced Nitrogen Centered Radicals on Titanium Dioxide under Illumination" in JACS Au and "Atomically Ordered PdCu Electrocatalysts for Selective and Stable Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction" in ACS Energy Letters. This updated information was provided by the Georgia Institute of Technology.