A team of chemists from Monash University, including several currently working at Jupiter Ionics, has won a prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry award.
The 2023 Horizon Prize recognising their work on a novel process for sustainable ammonia production was announced on 13 June 2023.
It recognises the group of chemists responsible for developing many of the breakthroughs that have subsequently formed the core of Jupiter Ionics’ technology.
Jupiter Ionics CEO Dr Charlie Day said it recognised the vital role chemistry is playing in securing a sustainable and net-zero food system for the future.
“Over a century ago the world’s chemists rose to the challenge of dwindling natural fertiliser supplies and ensured that synthetic fertiliser could feed a growing global population,” he said. “This award recognises a new generation of chemists who are ensuring we can maintain that food security, even as we transition to a net-zero future.”
The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Environment, Sustainability and Energy Prize Committee awarded the 2023 Horizon Prize to the team developing a highly selective electrochemical process for sustainable production of ammonia from nitrogen and renewable energy.
The process produces ammonia at close to ambient conditions, suitable for distributed production of fertilisers.
The technology, exclusively licensed from Monash University to Jupiter Ionics, uses renewable electricity, air, and water to make ammonia with potentially zero carbon emissions.
The team (full list below) was responsible for two papers, Suryanto 2021 and Du 2022. They can be accessed here. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6547/1187 and https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05108-y
Green Ammonia is expected to have a range of uses in a low-carbon future, including as a significant clean energy source for replacing fossil fuels.
List of team members
Jacinta M. Bakker, Manjunath Chatti, Pavel V. Cherepanov, Jaecheol Choi, Khang Ngoc Dinh, Hoang-Long Du, Rebecca Y. Hodgetts, Colin S. M. Kang, Douglas MacFarlane, Karolina Matuszek, Andrew Nattested, Cuong K. Nguyen, Alexandr Simonov, Irina Simonov, Bryan H. R. Suryanto.
