Research

The Nanospace Catalysis Research Unit is involved in the following three major research projects.

Nanospace catalysts development

    【Zeolites】
  • Development of methods to control and evaluate the position and distribution of heteroatoms (Al, Ti, Ga, Fe, Sn, etc.) in the zeolite framework.
  • Elucidation of dominant factors controlling hydrothermal stability of zeolite catalysts and development of aluminosilicate zeolite catalysts with controlled Al distribution with the aim to improve their hydrothermal stability.
  • Creation of multifunctional core-shell zeolite catalysts by heterostructured zeolites and analysis of their structure and reaction mechanisms.
  • Composition control, heteroatom distribution control and particle morphology control of large pore CON-type zeolite catalysts.
  • Development of a new zeolite synthesis method using zeolite as a raw material for zeolite synthesis and expansion of its application in catalytic materials
  • Development of novel zeolite-based SCR catalysts: exploration of pore structure, control of ion exchange sites and improvement of hydrothermal stability.
    • 【Mesoporous materials】
  • Development of monodisperse spherical mesoporous silica nanoparticles.
  • Development of chiral mesoporous silica and its application as an asymmetric synthesis catalyst and asymmetric separation agent.
    • 【Silica nanoparticles】
  • Precise particle size control of monodisperse silica nanoparticles (6nm～).
  • Synthesis of monodisperse silica nanoparticle colloidal crystals with controlled higher-order structure


Catalytic reaction process development.

  • Development of carbon dioxide resource recycling process technology: development of zeolite catalyst to enable production of lower olefins from non-fossil resources.
  • Development of zeolite catalysts that enables the synthesis of lower olefins from CH4 via CH3OH: metal ion-exchanged small-pore zeolites.
  • Synthesis of high value-added products by titanosilicate zeolite catalyst/hydrogen peroxide oxidation (regioselective epoxidation reaction).
  • Highly difficult selective oxidation reactions using zeolite catalysts: CH4→CH3OH, benzene→phenol, propylene→PO.
  • Development of zeolite catalyst for synthesis of lower olefins from FCC process.
  • Control of the acidity of zeolites prepared by the OSDA-free method and their application as catalysts.
  • Synthesis of useful chemicals from biomass using zeolite catalysts.
  • Development of Zeolite catalysts for Baeyer-Villiger oxidation.
  • Development of zeolite solid base catalysts.


Advanced structural analysis and assessment methods development

    【Structural analysis by Multinuclear High-Resolution Solid-State NMR (JEOL ECA600)】
  • Structural analysis of zeolites by MQMAS and DQMAS methods.
  • Structural analysis by variable-Temperature Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy. (solid-state NMR measurements using a variable temperature probe)
    • 【Analysis of various structures and reaction mechanisms by advanced in-situ FT-IR methods using probe molecules】
  • Evaluation of zeolite acid site distributions and strength.
  • Structural analysis of Cu-containing zeolite catalysts for NH3-SCR by NO adsorption FT-IR.
  • Evaluation of the basicity of zeolite solid base catalysts.
    • 【Development of advanced SEM observation technology in order to meet diversifying material analysis needs (Hitachi SU9000) 】
  • Ultra-precise surface observation by low-voltage ultra-high spatial resolution SEM observation.
  • Intraparticle observation of nanoporous materials by cross-sectional SEM observation and elemental analysis.
  • In-situ SEM observation of nanoporous materials.


Research equipment







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