Discovering a New Way to Make Ammonia and Long-Lasting Batteries

Imagine you could make ammonia and long-lasting batteries from something as common as nitrates. That's exactly what scientists have done by creating copper nitride (Cu3N) nanocrystals. The secret lies in a special reaction called nitrate reduction, which involves moving 8 electrons around. This reaction is tough because it competes with another process that makes hydrogen.

Copper is great for this job because of its special electronic levels. So, scientists made a copper compound containing Cu3N using a simple heating method. They tested this in two ways: making ammonia and powering a battery. The results were amazing! For ammonia synthesis, the yield was 173. 7 micrograms per hour per square centimeter, with a huge 91% efficiency. In batteries, the ammonia yield was 39. 8 micrograms per hour per square centimeter, with a 63% efficiency, and the power density was 2. 7 milliwatts per square centimeter. Plus, these batteries lasted for 5 hours without any problems.

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