ELECTROCHEMICAL NITROGEN REDUCTION TO AMMONIA USING MOLYBDENUM DISULFIDE-BASED NANOCATALYSTS

Abstract

Ammonia is the basis for producing fertilizers for food production. The Haber Bosch process is the main method to produce ammonia. Because of the energy and environmental problems associated with the Haber-Bosch process, extensive research is being explored for other ammonia production methods, including electrochemical methods based on nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). In this thesis, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanocatalysts (~4 nm) on carbon fibers were synthesized by hydrothermal reactions. The resulting composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical properties of the composites were measured by using linear sweep voltammetry, cyclic voltammetry, and controlled potential electrolysis to evaluate their NRR performances and effectiveness in the production of ammonia. Ammonia was produced with a yield rate of 1.5810-10 mole s −1 cm−2 and Faradaic efficiency 9.39% for NRR, both of them were higher than or close to those in literatures in aqueous solutions without using co-catalysts