Ammonia in the form of fertilizer is essential for feeding the world's population. It consists of hydrogen and nitrogen, with the latter being sourced from atmospheric nitrogen via diverse methodologies. Commonly utilized processes are cryogenic or pressure swing adsorption. Due to the necessity of mitigating climate change, it is important to obtain ammonia and nitrogen in an environmentally friendly, energy and resource-efficient way. Electrochemical oxygen reduction by means of an oxygen depolarized cathode offers a promising green, carbon dioxide neutral nitrogen separation possibility with the supply of renewable energy. In this paper, electrochemical single cells based on proton conducting polymer electrolyte membranes are investigated with respect to different operating parameters, including cell and process ones. Depending on the air flow rate and maximum current provided, the oxygen content within the gas stream is reduced to <1%. This reduction in oxygen content is achieved while maintaining a commendably high Faraday efficiency of 90% across a wide potential range. These outcomes underscore the potential of electrochemical cells as environmentally-friendly and efficient technologies for enriching nitrogen.

中文翻译：

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通过电化学耗氧产生氮气

肥料形式的氨对于养活世界人口至关重要。它由氢气和氮气组成，后者通过多种方法从大气中的氮气中提取。常用的工艺是低温吸附或变压吸附。由于减缓气候变化的必要性，以环境友好、能源和资源有效的方式获取氨和氮非常重要。通过氧去极化阴极进行的电化学氧还原提供了一种有前途的绿色、二氧化碳中性氮分离的可能性，并提供了可再生能源。在本文中，研究了基于质子传导聚合物电解质膜的电化学单电池的不同操作参数，包括电池和工艺参数。根据空气流量和提供的最大电流，气流中的氧气含量可降低至 <1%。在实现氧含量降低的同时，在很宽的电势范围内保持 90% 的高法拉第效率。这些结果强调了电化学电池作为环保且高效的富氮技术的潜力。