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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Low-Temperature Plasma Physics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1455481
This article is part of the Research Topic Plasma and Related Sciences: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches View all 8 articles

Air cold plasmas as a new tool for nitrogen fixation in agriculture: Underlying Mechanisms and Current Experimental Insights

Provisionally accepted
  • Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi - CNR, Bari, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nitrogen fixation is crucial for plant growth and global agriculture, especially with the projected population growth requiring a significant increase in food production. Traditional nitrogen fixation relies on the Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, which is energy-intensive and environmentally harmful due to greenhouse gas emissions. Emerging technologies, such as cold plasma, offer promising alternatives with lower energy consumption. Cold plasma facilitates reactive nitrogen species generation under ambient conditions, potentially improving the production efficiency of nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, optimizing cold plasma nitrogen fixation requires a synergy between experimental and theoretical approaches. Accurate input data are essential for refining theoretical models, which can then guide the design of more efficient processes. This integrated approach can leverage renewable energy, operate on smaller scales, and minimize environmental impacts, making cold plasma a sustainable solution for future nitrogen fixation needs.

    Keywords: Nitrogen Fixation, air plasma, Atmospheric pressure cold plasmas, Zel'dovich Reaction, modelling

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 13 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Aceto, Ambrico and Esposito. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Paolo F. Ambrico, Istituto per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Plasmi - CNR, Bari, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.