EXTENDED ABSTRACT: Ammonia (NH3) is an advantageous energy carrier due to its high hydrogen content, energy density, and ease of liquefaction, making it a promising solution for hydrogen energy storage and transport challenges. Developing “green ammonia” synthesis technologies that operate at low temperatures and pressures could reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions by over 20%, providing signiffcant economic and social beneffts. Recent advancements in electron-rich materials, especially inorganic electrides, offer promise for “green ammonia” technology due to their strong electron-donating properties and resistance to hydrogen poisoning, which lowers the activation energy needed for N-N bond cleavage. The complexity of these materials and the challenges in catalyst development make traditional R&D methods inadequate for meeting the urgent demand for new ammonia synthesis technologies. Recently, our collaborative team from Northwestern Polytechnical University and Hualu Engineering & Technology Co., Ltd. has leveraged materials genome engineering and artiffcial intelligence to develop efffcient ammonia synthesis under mild conditions. We have focused on electron-rich catalytic materials, creating a high-efffciency R&D pathway for novel catalysts and related technologies. Our work includes a database with over 1,800 catalytic material compositions and performance proffles and the design of more than 20 new electron-rich catalytic materials with various electronic properties and crystal structures. New preparation methods have led to over 10 novel, stable, and easily formable electron-rich ammonia synthesis catalysts. Using machine learning and experimental techniques, the research has produced catalysts with performance exceeding traditional molten iron systems, achieving ammonia production rates of ≥ 5.0 mmol·gcat-1·h-1 at temperatures ≤350°C and pressures ≤1.0 MPa. This breakthrough supports the development of new green ammonia catalysts and provides a scientiffc and technical foundation for advancing catalytic solutions in renewable energy.

Keywords：synthetic ammonia; electron-rich materials; catalysts; intelligent design;

REFERENCES:

[1] J. Wang et al., Nature catalysis, 2018, 1(3), 178-185;

[2] J. Wang et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144(19), 8683-8692;

[3] J. Wang et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145(48), 26412-26424.