Minimizing energy demand and environmental impact for sustainable NH3 and H2O2 production—A perspective on contributions from thermal, electro-, and photo-catalysis

Justin S.J. Hargreaves; Young Min Chung; Wha Seung Ahn; Takashi Hisatomi; Kazunari Domen; Mayfair Kung; Harold H. Kung

doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2020.117419

Minimizing energy demand and environmental impact for sustainable NH₃ and H₂O₂ production—A perspective on contributions from thermal, electro-, and photo-catalysis

Justin S.J. Hargreaves^*, Young Min Chung, Wha Seung Ahn, Takashi Hisatomi, Kazunari Domen, Mayfair Kung, Harold H. Kung

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is an urgent need to provide adequate and sustainable supplies of water and food to satisfy the demand of an increasing population. Catalysis plays important roles in meeting these needs by facilitating the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide that is used in water decontamination and chemicals production, and ammonia that is used as fertilizer. However, these chemicals are currently produced with processes that are either very energy-intensive or environmentally unfriendly. This article offers the perspectives of the challenges and opportunities in the production of these chemicals, focusing on the roles of catalysis in more sustainable, alternative production methods that minimize energy consumption and environmental impact. While not intended to be a comprehensive review, the article provides a critical review of selected literature relevant to its objectives, discusses areas needed for further research, and potential new directions inspired by new developments in related fields. For each chemical, production by thermal, electro-, and photo-excited processes are discussed. Problems that are common to these approaches and their differences are identified and possible solutions suggested.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	117419
Journal	Applied Catalysis A: General
Volume	594
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2020.117419
State	Published - Mar 25 2020

Funding

H.H. Kung and M.C. Kung acknowledge support from the Institute of Catalysis for Energy Processes , which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DOE DE-FG02-03-ER15457. Y.-M, Chung and W.-S. Ahn acknowledge support from Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education ( 2016R1D1A3B02006928 ) and the C1 Gas Refinery Program ( 2016M3D3A1A01020783 ) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT . T. Hisatomi and K. Domen acknowledge financially support from the Artificial Photosynthesis Project of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (no. 18H05156 ) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) . J.S.J. Hargreaves acknowledges support from the EPSRC through grants GR/S87300/01 , EP/J018384/1 and EP/L02537X/1 for work in the area of N 2 activation and ammonia synthesis.

Keywords

Ammonia synthesis
Catalyst selectivity
Catalyst stability
Electrocatalysis
Hydrogen peroxide synthesis
Photocatalysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Catalysis
Process Chemistry and Technology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.apcata.2020.117419

Cite this

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title = "Minimizing energy demand and environmental impact for sustainable NH3 and H2O2 production—A perspective on contributions from thermal, electro-, and photo-catalysis",

abstract = "There is an urgent need to provide adequate and sustainable supplies of water and food to satisfy the demand of an increasing population. Catalysis plays important roles in meeting these needs by facilitating the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide that is used in water decontamination and chemicals production, and ammonia that is used as fertilizer. However, these chemicals are currently produced with processes that are either very energy-intensive or environmentally unfriendly. This article offers the perspectives of the challenges and opportunities in the production of these chemicals, focusing on the roles of catalysis in more sustainable, alternative production methods that minimize energy consumption and environmental impact. While not intended to be a comprehensive review, the article provides a critical review of selected literature relevant to its objectives, discusses areas needed for further research, and potential new directions inspired by new developments in related fields. For each chemical, production by thermal, electro-, and photo-excited processes are discussed. Problems that are common to these approaches and their differences are identified and possible solutions suggested.",

keywords = "Ammonia synthesis, Catalyst selectivity, Catalyst stability, Electrocatalysis, Hydrogen peroxide synthesis, Photocatalysis",

author = "Hargreaves, {Justin S.J.} and Chung, {Young Min} and Ahn, {Wha Seung} and Takashi Hisatomi and Kazunari Domen and Mayfair Kung and Kung, {Harold H.}",

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Minimizing energy demand and environmental impact for sustainable NH₃ and H₂O₂ production—A perspective on contributions from thermal, electro-, and photo-catalysis. / Hargreaves, Justin S.J.; Chung, Young Min; Ahn, Wha Seung et al.
In: Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol. 594, 117419, 25.03.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

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AU - Ahn, Wha Seung

AU - Hisatomi, Takashi

AU - Domen, Kazunari

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AU - Kung, Harold H.

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AB - There is an urgent need to provide adequate and sustainable supplies of water and food to satisfy the demand of an increasing population. Catalysis plays important roles in meeting these needs by facilitating the synthesis of hydrogen peroxide that is used in water decontamination and chemicals production, and ammonia that is used as fertilizer. However, these chemicals are currently produced with processes that are either very energy-intensive or environmentally unfriendly. This article offers the perspectives of the challenges and opportunities in the production of these chemicals, focusing on the roles of catalysis in more sustainable, alternative production methods that minimize energy consumption and environmental impact. While not intended to be a comprehensive review, the article provides a critical review of selected literature relevant to its objectives, discusses areas needed for further research, and potential new directions inspired by new developments in related fields. For each chemical, production by thermal, electro-, and photo-excited processes are discussed. Problems that are common to these approaches and their differences are identified and possible solutions suggested.

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