Co-generation of Ammonia and H2 from H2O Vapor and N2 Using a Membrane Electrode Assembly

The direct electrochemical synthesis of NH3 from nitrogen and water vapor without the use of a fossil carbon source is highly desired. This synthesis is a viable option to store energy and produce fertilizer precursors. Here, a new Pt-free membrane electrode assembly is presented. An electrochemical membrane reactor demonstrates the feasibility of co-generating NH3 and H2 directly from nitrogen and water vapor at ambient conditions. An unprecedented high NH3-specific current efficiency of up to 27.5% using Ti as cathodic catalyst is reported. The co-generation can be tuned by the balance of process parameters. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei

Co‐generation of Ammonia and H 2 from H 2 O Vapor and N 2 Using a Membrane Electrode Assembly

The direct electrochemical synthesis of NH3 from nitrogen and water vapor without the use of a fossil carbon source is highly desired. This synthesis is a viable option to store energy and produce fertilizer precursors. Here, a new Pt-free membrane electrode assembly is presented. An electrochemical membrane reactor demonstrates the feasibility of co-generating NH3 and H2 directly from nitrogen and water vapor at ambient conditions. An unprecedented high NH3-specific current efficiency of up to 27.5% using Ti as cathodic catalyst is reported. The co-generation can be tuned by the balance of process parameters. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei

Phenotypical and molecular responses of Arabidopsis thaliana roots as a result of inoculation with the auxin-producing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense

The auxin-producing bacterium Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 can promote the growth of several plant species. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana was chosen as host plant to gain an insight into the molecular mechanisms that govern this interaction. The determination of differential gene expression in Arabidopsis roots after inoculation with either A. brasilense wild-type or an auxin biosynthesis mutant was achieved by microarray analysis. Arabidopsis thaliana inoculation with A. brasilense wild-type increases the number of lateral roots and root hairs, and elevates the internal auxin concentration in the plant. The A. thaliana root transcriptome undergoes extensive changes on A. brasilense inoculation, and the effects are more pronounced at later time points. The wild-type bacterial strain induces changes in hormone-and defense-related genes, as well as in plant cell wall-related genes. The A. brasilense mutant, however, does not elicit these transcriptional changes to the same extent. There are qualitative and quantitative differences between A. thaliana responses to the wild-type A. brasilense strain and the auxin biosynthesis mutant strain, based on both phenotypic and transcriptomic data. This illustrates the major role played by auxin in the Azospirillum-Arabidopsis interaction, and possibly also in other bacterium-plant interactions