[zeristor]

Looking at the paper, in similar papers reference is made to this paper published 13th September 2023:

“Laser-induced nitrogen fixation” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41441-0

This is Open Access, and mentions how that is also a leap forward in Nitrogen fixation

“Abstract: For decarbonization of ammonia production in industry, alternative methods by exploiting renewable energy sources have recently been explored. Nonetheless, they still lack yield and efficiency to be industrially relevant. Here, we demonstrate an advanced approach of nitrogen fixation to synthesize ammonia at ambient conditions via laser–induced multiphoton dissociation of lithium oxide. Lithium oxide is dissociated under non–equilibrium multiphoton absorption and high temperatures under focused infrared light, and the generated zero–valent metal spontaneously fixes nitrogen and forms a lithium nitride, which upon subsequent hydrolysis generates ammonia. The highest ammonia yield rate of 30.9 micromoles per second per square centimeter is achieved at 25 °C and 1.0 bar nitrogen. This is two orders of magnitude higher than state–of–the–art ammonia synthesis at ambient conditions. The focused infrared light here is produced by a commercial simple CO2 laser, serving as a demonstration of potentially solar pumped lasers for nitrogen fixation and other high excitation chemistry. We anticipate such laser-involved technology will bring unprecedented opportunities to realize not only local ammonia production but also other new chemistries.”

[wolfi1]

"The corresponding lowest energy consumption of ammonia synthesis based on the light power can be calculated to be approximately 322 kWh kg−1 NH3 (Fig. 3b). This value is significantly higher than that (10 to 13 kWh kg−1 NH3) of the H–B process at an industrial scale" still way to go. found nothing about the "subsequent hydrolysis" step, skimming the article

[nullc]

> (10 to 13 kWh kg−1 NH3) of the H–B process at an industrial scale"

It isn't clear to me how they're pricing the H-B process there, industrial HB uses hydrogen from hydrocarbons. An apples to apples comparison would at least add the energy you could get from burning the hydrogen instead, but arguably should compare with H-B where the hydrogen comes from electrolysis of water.

> "subsequent hydrolysis"

As far as I can tell, you just add water. zap rinse repeat. I'm a little skeptical that their yield figures were for Li2O though the repeated process has you cycling through LiOH after the first pass.

[pfdietz]

Yeah, that's grossly too inefficient. This is nothing more than a lab curiosity.

[NotYourLawyer]

If it uses a laser, it wastes a lot of energy.

[notsure2]

How so? photons that don't participate in the reaction?

[NotYourLawyer]

There’s that, but I meant just turning electrical energy into photons. Diode lasers are pretty decent at 50ish percent efficient. Everything else is way, way worse.