A Japanese research team has recently invented a new method to synthesize ammonia efficiently using nitrogen and water at room temperature and pressure, which is expected to be used in the production of related fertilizers in the future.

It is reported that ammonia is a compound needed for fertilizer production. Nitrogen and hydrogen are needed for traditional industrial ammonia synthesis, which requires high temperature and high pressure reaction conditions and consumes energy such as natural gas. The industry has been hoping to develop a new method of ammonia synthesis using water instead of hydrogen under mild reaction conditions.

The team of Tokyo University recently reported in the online edition of the British Journal of Nature that they had developed a molybdenum catalyst, which, combined with samarium iodide, could efficiently synthesize ammonia from nitrogen and water at room temperature and pressure.

Researchers said that this ammonia synthesis reaction has high activity and reaction speed. They are jointly carrying out practical research with enterprises, hoping that the research results can provide a new generation of energy-saving and environment-friendly ammonia synthesis method.