As the world's population grows, so does demand for ammonia, a key component in fertilizer production. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that ammonia production will need to quadruple by 2050 to feed the growing global population.
As global population grows, demand for ammonia, a fundamental component in fertilizer production, is also increasing. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that ammonia production will need to be quadrupled by 2050 to meet rising global population needs.
The current gold-standard process in ammonia production is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions. The Haber-Bosch method, invented in the early 1900s, requires mixing hydrogen and nitrogen gas at 400-500 degrees Celsius. This method accounts for approximately 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions and represents 2% of global fossil fuel consumption.
Researchers from McMaster University have developed a more environmentally friendly and faster process. This process produces ammonia from nitrate, a common water pollutant, more efficiently and is highlighted as a "cleaner" method because it uses renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels.
The team used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to examine the performance of an iron-based catalyst in four versions, each containing different additives or components. The most successful formulation allowed nitrate to reach the catalyst (a substance that accelerates a chemical reaction) more easily and convert to ammonia more efficiently. The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Navid Noor, a McMaster researcher conducting doctoral work under the supervision of Dr. Drew Higgins, stated that the team initially focused on fine-tuning the electronic aspects of the conversion process: "As we dug deeper, we realized that the surface properties of the catalysts also played a determining role. We needed to find a material that would conduct both more electrons and more water to our catalyst."
Noor noted that the technique they used at CLS—X-ray absorption spectroscopy—made a major contribution to understanding how the catalysts behave. Thanking CLS staff for their support, Noor continued: "They helped us design and set up the experiment, provided support in interpreting the data; this enabled us to make a truly meaningful contribution to the field."
Noor emphasized that the next step is to test the findings in real-world conditions and industry-relevant environments, observing: "This will provide us with a reference point to begin sustainable ammonia production using electrochemical technologies."
Source
Navid Noor et al, Decoupling the Impact of Electronic Structure and Electrode Wettability of Functionalized Iron Phthalocyanine Catalysts for Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2026). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c22794 / Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society / https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ammonia-method-upend-industry-dirtiest.html
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