Plasma Conversion of C, N2 and H2O into HCN and CO at Atmospheric Pressure and Near Ambient Temperature: Towards Oxamide Fertilisers?

Molteni, Matteo, Acharya, Tirtha Raj, Mulholland-Prescott, Bethany, Clayton, Thomas, Kays, Deborah, Licence, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2992-0153, Sutton, Mike, Walker, Gary, Slikboer, Elmar, Otieno, Stephen, Weilhard, Andreas, Kohlrausch, Emerson, Robinson, David, Wright, Joseph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9603-1001 and Woodward, Simon (2026) Plasma Conversion of C, N2 and H2O into HCN and CO at Atmospheric Pressure and Near Ambient Temperature: Towards Oxamide Fertilisers? ChemistryEurope, 4 (4). ISSN 2751-4765

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Abstract

HCN, the direct precursor of oxamide [H2N(C = O)(C = O)NH2)], a superior fertiliser to the urea, can be made via Haber-Bosch (HB) N2 fixation followed by `Blaus & auml;ure-Methan-Ammoniak' (BMA) coupling of NH3/CH4. That composite route is not economically/energetically viable for oxamide fertiliser production (vs. urea). A study of an alternative route to HCN is reported herein. At 1 atm, 40 degrees C, carbon (sustainable charcoal, graphite powder, milled carbon fibres and coal power plant fly ash) and N2 are converted into HCN and CO by non-thermal plasma (NTP) discharge via C2 diradical/N2 activation. The O-atoms within the CO result ultimately from water. A stepwise ensemble comprising cyanogen formation (from C2 and N2), its subsequent cleavage to HCN, the water-gas-shift-reaction and Boudouard reaction (CO from CO2/C) is proposed. No conversion of carbon is observed in the absence of NTP, but in its presence, NTP-synergistic aluminium xerogel additives [prepared from hydrolysis of Al(O-sec-Bu)3 in the presence of methanol soluble transition metal salts (Fe, Mg, Mo, Na, Cu, Ag)] augment the reaction selectivity/activity. For the optimal FeII-xerogel concentrations of 5900-6019 ppm (ca. 0.6% HCN v/v) and 39 032-63 200 ppm (ca. 5% CO v/v) at dissipated energies within a factor of 20 of those for commercial HB-BMA production of HCN are attained.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	carbon,carbon monoxide,hydrogen cyanide,nitrogen fixation,non-thermal plasma,sdg 2 - zero hunger ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/zero_hunger
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Related URLs:	https://doi.org/10.1002/ceur.202500320
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	30 Sep 2026 13:49
Last Modified:	30 Sep 2026 23:03
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104678
DOI:	10.1002/ceur.202500320

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