Date of Award:

5-2017

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Educational Specialist (EdS)

Department:

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Committee Chair(s)

Lance C. Seefeldt

Committee

Lance C. Seefeldt

Committee

Scott A. Ensign

Committee

Sean Johnson

Committee

Edwin Antony

Committee

Korry Hintze

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is a vital element of life and the main component of chemical fertilizer. The industrial Haber-Bosch process fulfills the demands of today’s nitrogen need and is therefore considered as one of the major scientific breakthroughs of the last century. However, the Haber-Bosch process operates at very high temperature and pressure, and requires fossils fuels to drive the reaction, making it an energy expensive process. The energy demand for this process accounts for almost 3% of the total global energy consumption. In addition, the rapid population growth, economic development and depletion of limited non-renewable fossil fuels have already created an energy crisis. Therefore, along with many other processes, a method for sustainable ammonia production is a must for the future of humanity. One of the strategies would be to understand the functioning of nitrogenase, a molecular catalyst of nature that makes ammonia from atmosphere at optimum temperature and pressure, and mimic it to create a robust and efficient artificial catalyst. With this inspiration, the present research is focused in elucidation the fundamental details on working of nitrogenase. A key chemical state of nitrogenase that allows it to efficiently reduce and make ammonia has been characterized in this research that would possibly be a cornerstone in our thrust for the ultimate catalyst. In addition, employing nitrogenase to convert greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, into value added product is also revisited in this research.

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