Description
The intermittency of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar often results in electricity generation when demand is low, leading to curtailment and energy losses. Converting this surplus power into chemical energy carriers, such as ammonia, offers a viable storage route. Conventional ammonia synthesis via the Haber-Bosch process is efficient but inflexible and centralized. Non-thermal plasma catalysis provides a promising alternative, enabling ammonia production under mild conditions and direct coupling to intermittent renewable electricity.
Among reactor concepts, packed-bed designs offer high catalytic surface area but suffer from plasma penetration limits, pressure drops, and heat management challenges. Honeycomb reactors, while exhibiting low pressure drop and uniform gas flow, struggle to sustain stable discharges in narrow channels. Here, we present a novel reactor concept based on multiscaled aeromaterials that merges the advantages of both configurations. The open, hierarchical architecture promotes uniform plasma generation and enhanced plasma-surface coupling. When combined with advanced catalytic materials, these reactors could provide a versatile platform for studying discharge dynamics, plasma-surface interactions, and catalytic enhancement mechanisms. This approach represents a step toward efficient, renewable-energy-driven plasma catalysis and decentralized ammonia synthesis.
Recent results utilizing the novel reactor with optical access to study the fundamental plasma penetration through aeromaterials will be presented. For the proof-of-concept non-catalytic aeroglass (SiO$_2$) was used to confirm the plasma penetration in this material.