FMSG: Electrochemical Upcycling of Waste Nitrates for Eco-Manufacturing of Nitrogen-Based Chemicals

氮基化合物是不可缺少的化学品，对许多工业应用具有重要价值。然而，今天它们是直接或间接地从氨中生产出来的。氨是通过哈伯-博世工艺生产的，需要大量使用化石燃料、高温和压力。这导致了大量的二氧化碳排放。与此同时，大量硝酸盐作为一种臭名昭著的危险污染物在许多工业过程的废水中产生，并作为农业径流产生。为了维持健康的生态系统，往往需要以高昂的代价减轻硝酸盐污染。在爱荷华州立大学的李文珍教授和马克·姆巴-赖特教授，以及威奇托州立大学的顾爽教授的带领下，该团队正在进行“电化学硝酸盐上行循环”的开创性研究。这一过程正在将有害的硝酸盐废物转化为有用的氮基化学品，而不会持续消耗日益减少的化石能源。通过利用廉价和过度发电的风力发电，特别是在中西部农业区，拟议的创新生态制造系统可以为未来分布式、低成本和环保的多功能氮基化学品制造奠定基础。该项目融合了化学工业、发电厂和环境部门的利益，通过帮助应对三大全球挑战：可持续发展、气候变化和清洁水，加强了美国在先进制造业方面的领导地位。该项目由化学部、化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部和既定的促进竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。项目团队由爱荷华州的Li教授、爱荷华州的Mba-Wright教授和威奇托州的Gu教授领导，通过整合他们在硝酸盐浓缩和聚合物科学、选择性硝酸盐还原和硝酸盐电化学、技术经济分析和数据驱动的决策以及设备工程和系统集成方面的专业知识，专注于从废硝酸盐到有价值的羟胺(NH2 OH)及其有用衍生物的理想转化研究。该项目旨在1)获取硝酸盐还原催化剂和硝酸盐交换聚合物的基础材料科学；2)促进对功能过程的科学理解，包括选择性硝酸盐还原、硝酸盐浓缩和羟胺分离；3)研究基于氮基化学品的“电化学硝酸盐循环”的未来制造系统。已取得的研究成果将被纳入现有的选修课。将为当地社区大学生开发一个生态制造教学模块。该团队正在积极与爱荷华州生物经济研究所和电力研究中心合作，长期目标是在先进制造业领域培养新一代劳动力。该项目由化学部、化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nitrogen-based compounds are indispensable chemicals critically valuable to many industrial applications. However, today they are manufactured directly or indirectly from ammonia. Ammonia is manufactured via the Haber-Bosch process and demands heavy use of fossil fuels, high temperature, and pressure. This results in large carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, huge amounts of nitrate are generated as a notorious and hazardous pollutant in wastewaters from many industrial processes and as agricultural run-off. Costly mitigation of nitrate pollution is often required to maintain healthy ecological systems. Led by Professors Wenzhen Li and Mark Mba-Wright at Iowa State University, and Professor Shuang Gu at Wichita State University, the team is conducting pioneering research on “electrochemical nitrate upcycling”. This process is turning harmful nitrate wastes into useful nitrogen-based chemicals, without continuously depleting the dwindling fossil energy sources. By leveraging inexpensive and over-generated wind electricity, especially in Midwest agricultural areas, the proposed innovative eco-manufacturing system could lay the foundation for distributed, cost-effective, and ecofriendly future manufacturing of versatile nitrogen-based chemicals. Fusing the interests from chemical industry, power plants, and environmental sectors, the project is strengthening American leadership in advanced manufacturing by helping address three grand global challenges: sustainability, climate change, and clean water. This project is jointly funded by the Division of Chemistry, the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).The project team led by Professors Li (Iowa State), Mba-Wright (Iowa State), and Gu (Wichita State), focuses its research on the desirable transition from waste nitrate to valuable hydroxylamine (NH2OH) and its useful derivatives, by integrating their expertise across nitrate concentrating & polymer science, selective nitrate reduction & nitrate electrochemistry, techno-economic analysis & data-driven decision making, and device engineering & system integration. This project aims to 1) acquire the fundamental material sciences of both nitrate-reduction catalysts and nitrate-exchange polymers; 2) advance the scientific understanding of functional processes including selective nitrate reduction, nitrate concentrating, and hydroxylamine separation; and 3) examine the promising future manufacturing system based on the “electrochemical nitrate upcycling” for nitrogen-based chemicals. The achieved research outcomes are to be incorporated into existing elective courses. A teaching module on eco-manufacturing is to be developed for local community college students. The team is actively working with the Bioeconomy Institute and Electric Power Research Center at Iowa State, with a long-term goal of producing a new generation workforce in the fields of advanced manufacturing. This project is jointly funded by the Division of Chemistry, the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.