Recently ammonia has emerged as a potential hydrogen storage material because it contains 17.8 wt% hydrogen. Here, we propose a new synthesis route of ammonia production using hydrolysis of nitrides, which is based on the conversion technique using thermal energy, solar heat or exhaust heat to form NH3 directly. Lithium metal has been tested as a starting material for the above purpose. We present the detailed results on room temperature nitridation of lithium metal, it is found that the nitridation properties are strongly affected by the surface state of lithium metal. The ammonia synthesis via hydrolysis of lithium nitride succeeds and it is strongly dependent on the reaction rate and temperature. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.