| TECHNOLOGY |
An energy-efficient electrochemical route to converting atm. N to solid NH4 prodt has been developed by researchers in Japan. The feat validates an earlier finding by others that N can be photocatalitically reduced to NH3 on TiO2 electrode. And it establishes a novel process for converting N into a fuel. Researchers coated a Ti electrode with a layer of TiO2 on which they deposited a layer of poly(3-methylthiophene) doped with perchlorate ions. When the system is exposed to either moist N, or air & irradiated with white light, needle-shaped crystals of NH4 perchlorate slowly grow out of the polymer layer
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