A clever swap of one metal for another cracks a barrier to cleaner fertilizer

Chemists at Monash University in Melbourne replaced solid lithium metal with a gallium-lithium alloy in an electrode that turns nitrogen and renewable electricity into ammonia — the backbone of fertilizer and a promising carbon-free fuel. The trick sidesteps a fundamental energy waste in the process: about 96% of the electrical current now goes into making ammonia instead of being lost to side reactions. The peer-reviewed proof of concept, published in Cell Press Blue, points toward fertilizer and fuel made closer to where they’re needed.