Abstract:

Ammonia is an important chemical raw material in fertilizer, coating and other fields, and it is the second highest production of commercial chemical. At present, more than 90% of ammonia comes from the Haber-Bosch process. This process requires high temperature and high pressure conditions, high energy consumption, and relies on the use of fossil fuels to produce a large amount of CO₂ emissions. In the new era of advocating energy conservation and environmental protection, the process is facing serious energy consumption and pollution problems. The electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction process for ammonia synthesis is a kind of energy saving process driven by electric energy, and the raw materials are H₂O and N₂. The process is expected to replace the traditional ammonia synthesis process. However, there are some technical difficulties to be broken through in this process. Its ammonia production rate and Faraday efficiency are not high, and there is a big gap between the process and commercial industrial production. In this paper, the technical difficulties of the process are analyzed and summarized. Based on the optimization strategies in this field, the improvement measures for the electrochemical system of synthetic ammonia and the research progress reported in recent years are summarized. Finally, the future development of this field is prospected.

Key words: electrochemistry, catalysis, chemical processes, nitrogen reduction reaction, ammonia synthesis, electrochemical system

摘要：

氨是化肥、涂料等领域中重要的化工原料，是产量第二高的商用化学品。目前，90%以上的氨均来自Haber-Bosch法，该工艺需要高温、高压条件，能耗较高，且依赖化石燃料的使用，产生大量CO₂排放，在倡导节能环保的新时代下，该工艺面临严重的能耗及环保问题。电催化氮还原合成氨工艺是一种采用电能驱动的节能工艺，且原料为绿色环保的H₂O和N₂，其有望替代传统合成氨工艺。但是目前该工艺存在一些技术难点有待突破，使其产氨速率、法拉第效率等性能不高，距离商用化生产差距较大。分析总结了该工艺的技术难点，围绕该领域的优化策略，重点综述了针对合成氨电化学系统的改进措施，以及近几年文献报道的研究进展，最后对该领域的未来发展进行展望。

关键词: 电化学, 催化, 化学过程, 氮还原反应, 氨合成, 电化学系统