Renewable N-cycle catalysis

N-cycle catalysis featuring the recycling of nitrogen with hydrogen in a chemical process could exert a profound impact on human society for the eventual sustainable production of foods, chemicals, and fuels. The challenges for materials required to perform efficient catalysis to activate N₂ and renewable H₂ to NH₃ and for the reversible reaction to facilitate the storage and transport of renewable energies, in addition to coupling with fuel cells, are of paramount importance. In this review, we highlight and discuss the importance of the diverse position of NH₃ as a fuel, fertilizer, and chemical vector. This review also provides an overview of the recent developments in ammonia synthesis and the decomposition of some promising materials and their prospects in these new processes.