Ammonia is considered to be a potential medium for hydrogen storage, facilitating CO₂-free energy systems in the future. Its high volumetric hydrogen density, low storage pressure and stability for long-term storage are among the beneficial characteristics of ammonia for hydrogen storage. Furthermore, ammonia is also considered safe due to its high auto ignition temperature, low condensation pressure and lower gas density than air. Ammonia can be produced from many different types of primary energy sources, including renewables, fossil fuels and surplus energy (especially surplus electricity from the grid). In the utilization site, the energy from ammonia can be harvested directly as fuel or initially decomposed to hydrogen for many options of hydrogen utilization. This review describes several potential technologies, in current conditions and in the future, for ammonia production, storage and utilization. Ammonia production includes the currently adopted Haber–Bosch, electrochemical and thermochemical cycle processes. Furthermore, in this study, the utilization of ammonia is focused mainly on the possible direct utilization of ammonia due to its higher total energy efficiency, covering the internal combustion engine, combustion for gas turbines and the direct ammonia fuel cell. Ammonia decomposition is also described, in order to give a glance at its progress and problems. Finally, challenges and recommendations are also given toward the further development of the utilization of ammonia for hydrogen storage.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) is one of the tools to represent molecular structure based on atomic vibration. It can denote a specific property of the chemical bond and molecular structure in the material, especially when analyzing specimens relating to plastics, polymers, and organic components. The FTIR peaks and spectrum act as a fingerprint of a specific molecular structure and chemical bonding, which need a sufficient reference database to distinguish them. This paper is to address issues of the need for a reference database of FTIR. This paper exhibits step-by-step information on how to read and interpret the FTIR spectra and identify a molecule's backbone with its functional groups. Practical examples from the analysis of several plastics/polymers and the thermally decomposing plastics/polymers were included to help and guide the reader to comprehend the basic concept of FTIR spectra.