Stanford researchers make ammonia from water droplets and nitrogen from the air

Stanford researchers have discovered a simple and environmentally sound way to make ammonia from tiny water droplets and nitrogen from the air.

The researchers applied the catalyst to a graphite mesh that  Xiaowei Song, a postdoctoral scholar, incorporated into a gas-powered sprayer. The sprayer blasted out microdroplets in which pumped water (H₂O) and compressed molecular nitrogen (N₂) reacted together in the presence of the catalyst. Using a device called a mass spectrometer, Song analysed the microdroplets’ characteristics and saw the signature of ammonia in the collected data.

Ammonia and Hydrogen