Cascade N Reduction Process with DBD Plasma Oxidation and Electrocatalytic Reduction for Continuous Ammonia Synthesis.

Due to the extremely high bond energy of N≡N (∼941 kJ/mol), the traditional Haber-Bosch process of ammonia synthesis is known as an energy-intensive and high CO-emission industry. In this paper, a cascade N reduction process with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma oxidation and electrocatalytic reduction as an alternative route is first proposed. N is oxidized to be reactive nitrogen species (RNS) by nonthermal plasma, which would then be absorbed by KOH solution and electroreduced to NH.