Method for wastewater treatment from toxic ammonia impurities developed by chemists from Novosibirsk

Chemists from Novosibirsk, with the support of the Russian Science Foundation, have developed a new energy-efficient technology for processing ammonia, which is formed in large volumes at wastewater treatment plants.

Traditionally, the decomposition of ammonia requires temperatures above 600°C and catalysts with a high platinum content. The researchers proposed using light-sensitive catalysts with a significantly smaller amount of platinum, which allows the reaction to be carried out at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

The development is based on the use of semiconductors with a deposited metal. This system allows the processing to be divided into two stages: ammonia reduction occurs on metal particles, and oxidation occurs on the surface of the semiconductor. This spatial separation of charges increases the energy efficiency of the process.

In addition to reducing costs, the technology has environmental potential and can be used for wastewater treatment at industrial facilities. As one of the authors, Dina Markovskaya, notes, photocatalytic reactors operating on solar energy can not only purify water from ammonia, but also produce hydrogen in parallel, forming a closed resource cycle.

Studies have shown that reducing the platinum content almost does not reduce the efficiency of the reaction, and in the future it may be possible to use cheaper and more accessible replacements.

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