Karthish Manthiram
California Institute of Technology, CA·Chemistry
Ammonia is used to make the fertilizers that feed much of the world, and it can also store energy. Nearly all of it comes from the Haber-Bosch process, which needs temperatures of 350–500°C and very high pressures.
- Fields
Chemistry
Engineering
- Topics
ammonia synthesis
nitrogen reduction
nitrogen fixation
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2029
What they work on
- Test the hypothesis that breaking the nitrogen triple bond at a titanium(II) catalyst center is the rate-determining step in electrochemical ammonia synthesis driven by alkali metal electron donors.
- Determine how electrolyte composition controls formation of the solid electrolyte interphase, a film on the electrode, to improve transport of the titanium mediator and nitrogen gas and enable stable, selective ammonia production.
- Systematically evaluate a broader range of reductants, such as sodium or potassium, and titanium complexes to raise the energy efficiency, rate and selectivity of ambient-condition ammonia synthesis.
More about the research
That limits production to a few large, energy-hungry plants, leaving the food supply exposed to energy and transport disruptions. This project explores making ammonia from air, water and electricity at room temperature and normal pressure, in small units that could sit near farms and other users.
Why it matters
A lower-cost, energy-efficient way to make ammonia at room temperature could allow small, modular production units near farmers and other users instead of a few huge plants. Replacing scarce lithium with abundant metals could cut material costs, which may strengthen fertilizer supply chains and U.S. food security against energy and transportation disruptions.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ruggero Rossi
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Engineering·Early-career
Uncover the regulatory mechanisms that set how fast nitrogen-fixing bacteria make ammonia under outside electrochemical stimulation, using experiments that link nitrogen fixation to electroactivity (electron exchange with an electrode).
Md Mahbubul Islam
Wayne State University, MI·Materials Science·Early-career
Predict how structure relates to catalytic activity for single-atom catalysts on nitride MXenes and transition metal oxides in Mg-CO2 batteries, using density functional theory combined with machine learning.
Dongchang Chen
University of New Mexico, NM·Chemistry
Identify which large oligomer molecules, formed when carbonate ester solvents link together, populate the solid-electrolyte and cathode-electrolyte interphases, using MALDI mass spectrometry on a series of model electrodes.
The school
California Institute of Technology: 18 labs on PI Pages, $445M a year on research, 200 research doctorates a year.
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