Ammonia on demand: Catalytic N2 reduction on photo-charged tailored TiO2 aerogels

在本项目中，系统地研究了一种可持续和廉价的按需制氨过程的概念。该项目将提出一种在光照射下在纳米结构半导体（TiO2气凝胶）中充电和存储电子的策略，然后可以在黑暗中与N2一起放电以催化生成氨。这使得在任何时间按需生产氨成为可能。此外，将开发反应器概念，以分散的方式执行和研究按需氨合成。该反应器允许将光收集和实际的N2还原分离，从而能够对每个反应步骤的反应条件进行独立调查。此外，光带电气凝胶的中间储存的可能性为N2还原反应器的设计提供了自由度，这可以有益地用于现场和按需生产肥料的高效化工厂的设计。

In the present project, a concept for a sustainable and inexpensive process to generate ammonia on-demand is systematically investigated. This project will present a strategy to charge and store electrons upon light irradiation in a nanostructured semiconductor (TiO2 aerogels), which can be then discharged in the dark with N2 to form ammonia catalytically. This enables the production of ammonia on demand at any time. Moreover, a reactor concept will be developed to perform and investigate the on-demand ammonia synthesis in a decentralized way. This reactor allows for a separation of light-harvesting and the actual N2 reduction, enabling an independent investigation of the reaction conditions for each reaction step. Furthermore, the possibility of intermediate storage of a photocharged aerogel opens up degrees of freedom for the design of the N2 reduction reactor, which can beneficially be utilized for the design of efficient chemical plants that produce fertilizers on-site and on-demand.