Achievement

Research from an I-STAR team resulted in a patent application for the production of ammonia. The importance of the industrial synthesis of ammonia for nitrogen fertilizer can not be overstated. Ammonia-based fertilizers enabled the Green Revolution of the twentieth century. At present, over 100 million metric tons of ammonia are produced annually. Conventional ammonia production consumes a significant portion of the world's annual natural gas production. The invention will allow economical ammonia production using sunlight, air, and water. The invention is a group of new compositions of matter produced from a transition metal, various concentrations of two non-metals (oxygen and nitrogen or carbon respectively), and a suitable cation. The invention relates in particular to the synthesis of ammonia (NH3) from dinitrogen (N2) and water (H2O). The patent application is currently under review.