Synthesis of Ammonia through Direct Chemical Reactions between an Atmospheric Nitrogen Plasma Jet and a Liquid

Abstract

Fundamental chemical reactions between an atmospheric nitrogen plasma jet and water or a water/ethanol solution have been investigated. When the nitrogen plasma jet was injected directly into pure water, active nitrogen species produced nitric acid and ammonia through fatal reactions with H2O. The interaction between nitrogen plasma and a liquid mixture of pure water and ethanol produced NH4+ ions effectively. These experimental results clearly show that the active nitrogen species in the pulsed-discharge atmospheric plasma can interact strongly with materials in solution to extract oxygen or hydrogen from them and add atomic nitrogen to them.