Solar-Powered Gram-Scale Ammonia Production from Nitrate.
Paulraj GnanasekarKarthik PeramaiahHuafan ZhangIbrahim G AlsayoudAnand S SubbiahMaxime BabicsTien Khee NgQiaoqiang GanStefaan De WolfKuo-Wei HuangBoon S OoiPublished in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) (2024)
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 NH 3 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 (NO 3 - ) reduction reaction (NO 3 - 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 NH 3 is extracted as NH 4 Cl 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.
Keyphrases
- room temperature
- perovskite solar cells
- nitric oxide
- drinking water
- anaerobic digestion
- ionic liquid
- human health
- quantum dots
- solar cells
- stem cells
- study protocol
- cell therapy
- gram negative
- clinical trial
- sensitive detection
- risk assessment
- mass spectrometry
- current status
- visible light
- atomic force microscopy
- gold nanoparticles