By Wendy Plump
Department of Chemistry
June 30, 2021

One of the main goals before scientists today is de-coupling food production from carbon. In part, this means finding a way to produce fertilizer through carbon-free ammonia synthesis. Can it be done without Haber-Bosch?

Paul Chirik has taken an important step towards this possibility with a unique, fundamental approach to the synthesis of chemical bonds. He and the researchers in his lab use visible light to drive the formation of weak element-hydrogen bonds, which lie at the heart of the challenge because they are so difficult to make …

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