The overall goals of the research aim to develop technologies for converting water and nitrogen into energy-dense liquid fuels such as ammonium, and back into electricity or hydrogen fuel on demand via an efficient decomposition process. In two integrated projects, the University at Buffalo Gang Wu lab is collaborating with two industrial organizations, Bettergy Corp. (Peekskill, NY) and Giner Inc (Newton, MA).
In these two projects, UB is focusing on the development of the high-performance catalysts to decompose NH₃ at an economically favorable low temperature (<450oC) and the catalysts for electrochemically reducing N₂ to synthesize NH₃ using renewable energy-generated electricity. U.S. DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e) Office support these projects.