Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical Reactions
An ultimate goal of our groups is to establish a general principle for the synthesis of nano-materials which have designed structure to have desired functions in catalysis and electrochemistry. So far, our group has reached a stage where it is possible to synthesize simple functional nanoporous materials such as hierarchical zeolites, mesoporous silicas and nanoporous carbons in a rational way using structure-directing agent (SDA) molecules. However, the complexity of these materials is still primitive.
The gap between the current progress and the ultimate goal is rather wide. A great deal of long-term endeavor will be performed to overcome the gap beyond the current paradigm. In parallel with the synthesis research, we will do fundamental researches on chemical reactions to understand the exact reaction mechanisms on the nanoparticle surface or inside a nanopore. Based on this research, we will find suitable applications for the synthesized nanomaterials in an ‘active’ manner.