INVESTIGATION OF COBALT HYDROXIDE NANOPARTICLE-BASED ELECTROCATALYSTS FOR THE ELECTROCATALYTIC REDUCTION OF NITRATE TO AMMONIA

• Grant number: 25/02512-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Raphael Nagao de Sousa
• Grantee: Arthur Domingues Lacerda
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Química (IQ)
• Associated research grant: 17/11986-5 - Generation and storage of New Energy: bringing technological development for the country, AP.PCPE

Abstract

Ammonia is one of the most widely used compounds in the agro-industry, and its synthesis has been the subject of research by numerous groups. The current large-scale ammonia production process is the Haber-Bosch process, which consumes approximately 1-2% of the global energy production and accounts for 1.6% of global carbon emissions. This leads to several environmental issues, particularly the imbalance in the nitrogen cycle due to the release of reactive nitrogen species into the environment. As an alternative to the Haber-Bosch process, the electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction to ammonia represents a sustainable method of producing this compound, as it differs from the conventional process by relying on electrical energy, predominantly sourced from renewable sources. To reduce the energy cost of ammonia electrosynthesis, transition metal-based electrocatalysts are considered promising candidates. Among them, cobalt-based catalysts have shown considerable catalytic performance. This project proposes a detailed investigation into the effects of cobalt hydroxide nanoparticle-based catalysts using electrochemical assays and characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and spectrophotometry. The study aims to correlate the structure and properties of these catalysts with their influence on the selectivity and yield of the reaction.