Ammonia, produced via the Haber-Bosch (HB) process, is globally the leading chemical in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. In ammonia plants, hydrogen is generated by steam-methane reforming (SMR) and water-gas shift (WGS) and, subsequently, is purified for the high-pressure ammonia synthesis. Herein, we demonstrate how these steps are integrated into a single BaZrO₃-based protonic ceramic membrane reactor (PCMR), operating at atmospheric pressure. Hydrogen generation occurs on a Ni-composite electrode, while VN-Fe is the ammonia synthesis electrocatalyst. Hydrogen extraction from the reforming compartment enhances the thermodynamically limited methane conversions, whereas 5%–14% of the pumped protons are converted to ammonia. An electrochemical HB is designed by combining this PCMR with a protonic ceramic fuel cell to recover electricity and separate nitrogen from ambient air by exploiting by-product hydrogen. This process could potentially require less energy and release less carbon dioxide emissions than its conventional counterpart, holding promise for sustainable decentralized applications.

通过哈伯-博世（HB）工艺生产的氨是能源消耗和二氧化碳排放方面的全球领先化学品。在氨厂中，通过蒸汽-甲烷重整（SMR）和水煤气变换（WGS）产生氢气，然后将其纯化以用于高压氨合成。本文中，我们演示了如何将这些步骤集成到单个BaZrO _3中质子的陶瓷质子膜反应器（PCMR），在大气压下运行。氢的生成发生在镍复合电极上，而VN-Fe是氨合成电催化剂。从重整室提取氢气可提高热力学上限制的甲烷转化率，而5％–14％的抽运质子会转化为氨。通过将这种PCMR与质子陶瓷燃料电池结合使用，可以设计电化学HB，以回收电并通过利用副产物氢来从环境空气中分离出氮。与传统工艺相比，此工艺可能需要更少的能源并释放出更少的二氧化碳，这为可持续的分散式应用带来了希望。