Identification and elimination of false positives in electrochemical nitrogen reduction studies

2020/11/03 by Jaecheol Choi, Bryan H. R. Suryanto, Da-Bin Wang +5 · 6 citations
Chemical Engineering · Materials Science · #Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction #Hydrogen Storage and Materials #Catalytic Processes in Materials Science

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19130-z

openalex publication_date 2020/11/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

Abstract Ammonia is of emerging interest as a liquefied, renewable-energy-sourced energy carrier for global use in the future. Electrochemical reduction of N 2 (NRR) is widely recognised as an alternative to the traditional Haber–Bosch production process for ammonia. However, though the challenges of NRR experiments have become better understood, the reported rates are often too low to be convincing that reduction of the highly unreactive N 2 molecule has actually been achieved. This perspective critically reassesses a wide range of the NRR reports, describes experimental case studies of potential origins of false-positives, and presents an updated, simplified experimental protocol dealing with the recently emerging issues.

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