Electrochemical wizardry conjures nitrate at room temperature from air

A shockingly efficient way of pulling nitrate straight out of thin air has been developed by researchers in China. The process could enable a less energy-hungry way to produce agricultural fertilisers.

Nitrate (NO₃^-) has a range of uses from fertilisers to pharmaceuticals and is indirectly derived from the Haber–Bosch and Ostwald reactions, energy-intensive industrial processes. However, finding a sustainable production method that doesn’t require high temperatures and pressures has proven difficult.

Kai Dong, the study’s lead author who is now at Adelaide University, Australia, says his interest in exploring a more sustainable way to oxidise nitrogen using renewable electricity was sparked by the hefty environmental drawbacks of traditional methods. ‘These traditional methods require high energy input and result in significant greenhouse gas emissions due to their reliance on high temperatures and pressures,’ Dong says.