Table 1 Amount of N2 and potential NOx contaminants supplied in 4-ha NRR experiments undertaken at different gas supply rates.

From: Identification and elimination of false positives in electrochemical nitrogen reduction studies

Flow rate (mL min−1)

N2 purity

Purging time (min)

Moles N2b (nmol)

Moles NOxb (nmol)

NH3 from NOx (nmol s−1)

100

99.999% (10 ppm NOx)c

240

9.82 × 108

9.82 × 103

0.68

99.99% (100 ppm NOx)

9.82 × 104

6.8

99.9% (1000 ppm NOx)

9.82 × 105

68

20

99.999% (10 ppm NOx)

240

1.96 × 108

1.96 × 103

0.14

99.99% (100 ppm NOx)

1.96 × 104

1.4

99.9% (1000 ppm NOx)

1.96 × 105

14

0

99.999% (10 ppm NOx)

15 (prior to experiment at 20 mL min-1)

1.23 × 107

1.23 × 102

0.009

99.99% (100 ppm NOx)

1.23 × 103

0.09

99.9% (1000 ppm NOx)

1.23 × 104

0.9

  1. aArbitrarily assumed duration of a typical experiment.
  2. bAt 298 K and 1 atm.
  3. cAssumes for illustration purposes that all of the impurities are NOx compounds.
Back to article page