Robust Copper-Based Nanosponge Architecture Decorated by Ruthenium with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Performance for Ambient Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia.

Electrochemical conversion of nitrogen to green ammonia is an attractive alternative to the Haber-Bosch process. However, it is currently bottlenecked by the lack of highly efficient electrocatalysts to drive the sluggish nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Herein, we strategically design a cost-effective bimetallic Ru-Cu mixture catalyst in a nanosponge (NS) architecture a rapid and facile method.

Manufacturing demonstration of microbially mediated zinc sulfide nanoparticles in pilot-plant scale reactors.

The thermophilic anaerobic metal-reducing bacterium Thermoanaerobacter sp. X513 efficiently produces zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles (NPs) in laboratory-scale (≤ 24-L) reactors. To determine whether this process can be up-scaled and adapted for pilot-plant production while maintaining NP yield and quality, a series of pilot-plant scale experiments were performed using 100-L and 900-L reactors.