Our Technology

We use air, water, and renewable energy in a patented electrochemical process to produce green ammonia.

A breakthrough cell

Developed by world-leading researchers at Monash University, Jupiter Ionics’ breakthrough electrolytic cell* uses a unique, high-performance design that optimises efficiency, durability and ammonia production. Our team of talented scientists and engineers continues to push the boundaries of technology in search of ever greater performance.

The MacFarlane Simonov Ammonia Cell is the first of its kind to demonstrate ammonia generation with 100% selectivity, and has shown good stability in lab tests.

The MacFarlane Simonov Ammonia Cell

*A cell comprises two separated electrodes in a conductive liquid or gel electrolyte. Battery cells use chemical reactions to generate electrical energy. Conversely, electrolytic cells like ours use electrical energy to drive chemical reactions.

Shipping container-size cell

Scalable technology

We have created this scalable, modular technology to produce carbon-neutral ammonia for fertilisers.

Green ammonia can also replace fossil fuels as a source of energy and/or clean hydrogen that can be safely and easily transported.

Our Process

Jupiter Ionics is developing a flexible, modular system for the production of carbon-neutral, Green Ammonia. Our system takes in air and water, and uses renewably-generated electricity to convert these to ammonia.

At the heart of our system is the MacFarlane Simonov Ammonia cell.

How the MacFarlane Simonov Ammonia Cell works:

As shown in the diagram above, we feed nitrogen to one side of our cell and water to the other side. Hydrogen atoms are stripped off the water molecules in the form of positively charged protons (shown as H+ in the diagram), which are then transported across the cell. On the other side of the cell they are combined with Nitrogen atoms to form ammonia (NH3). The reaction is not spontaneous and must be driven by a source of energy. In our system that energy is expected to be provided by renewable electricity. In those circumstances, there are no CO2 emissions associated with the production of ammonia, which can therefore be termed “Green Ammonia”. We extract this Green Ammonia from the cell, which can be stored as a liquid under moderate pressures for use in a range of applications.

Journal articles

Key elements of Jupiter Ionics’ technology have been published in prestigious international academic journals including Science and Nature.

Detailed process

In this video, members of the research team explain the MacFarlane Simonov Ammonia Cell and its electrochemical process in detail.