Tokyo Institute of Technology · Energy
Professor Yuuki Sugawara's research lab specializes in advanced materials and electrochemistry for sustainable energy applications, with a strong focus on developing efficient, low-cost electrocatalysts for water splitting. The lab explores novel perovskite-derived materials and non-precious metal oxides—such as SrRuO₃ and CaFe₂O₄—for highly active and stable oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions in alkaline environments. In parallel, the lab investigates stimuli-responsive polymer–DNA nanostructures and innovative photochemical functionalization techniques for fullerenes, enabling precise control over molecular assembly and reactivity. These interdisciplinary efforts aim to advance green hydrogen production, energy conversion technologies, and functional nanomaterials.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
Suspension-cultured cells of sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) which were immersed in liquid nitrogen after prefreezing to the temperatures from -30 to -50 C in the presence of dimethylsulfoxide and glucose as cryoprotective additive could proliferate vigorously when rewarmed rapidly in water at 40 C. For maintaining high viability of the cells after immersion in liquid nitrogen, it seems to be essential to use the cells at the later lag phase or the early cell division phase. This study provide
Water splitting requires highly active, easily prepared, and inexpensive electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we report that Ru-based compounds, which are electrochemically generated from a simple perovskite oxide, SrRuO3, exhibit remarkably high HER activity in 1 M KOH solution, and the overpotential of HER is 0.11 V, representing the best performance among all of the reported perovskite-type catalysts. In addition, the activity surpasses that of the state-of-the-art
The green-H-2 production through water electrolysis from renewable energies is vital in the context of developing a sustainable and cost-effective methodology. Anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) is considered as a promising energy conversion device, which can be an alternative to fossil fuel-based energyplatforms. AEMWE can employ inexpensive nonprecious metal catalysts and current collectors, which is preferable forpractical applications of this technology. Membrane electrode as
Electrochemical water splitting demands highly active, easily produced, and cost-effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we present an iron (Fe)/calcium (Ca)-based bimetallic oxide, CaFe2O4, which exhibits outstanding OER activity in alkaline media. The OER specific activity of CaFe2O4 is superior to those of previously reported Fe-based bimetallic oxides composed of alkaline-earth or rare-earth metals. Remarkably, it even surpasses that of the benchmark IrO2.
An efficient methodology for modular fullerene functionalization via the photo-induced nitrile imine-mediated tetrazole-ene cycloaddition (NITEC) is introduced. The versatility and platform character of the method is illustrated by the light-driven reaction of fullerenes with small molecule, polymeric and surface-immobilized tetrazoles. The efficient fullerene conjugation is evidenced via mass spectrometric techniques.
We have demonstrated that the aggregation of DNA-conjugated thermoresponsive polymer was inhibited by the formation of double strand DNA (dsDNA) from single strand DNA (ssDNA) by the change in the number of electric charges and hydrophilic states of DNA. The polymer was prepared by conjugation of short ssDNA with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and subsequent hybridization of the conjugated DNA with complementary DNA to form dsDNA. The ssDNA-conjugated PNIPAM highly aggregated with an incre
Corrosion-resistive conductive titanium oxide exhibited remarkably higher durability than a carbon support during electrochemical catalytic reactions under high potential conditions.
Abstract To determine the structural descriptor of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in a wide range of Fe‐based oxides, we investigate Fe 2 O 3 polymorphs. Remarkably, the OER activity of the polymorphs strongly depends on the atomic configurations in the crystals, and shorter Fe−O bond lengths are more beneficial for the OER. DFT calculations reveal that the trend of Fe−O bond length on the Fe 2 O 3 polymorphs exhibits a positive correlation with their energy gaps between the occupied oxygen
Metal phosphate-type compounds have been utilized in diverse applications, and their distinctive chemical properties have recently opened avenues for their use as catalysts. Metal phosphates have previously demonstrated significant electrocatalytic activity for the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in electrochemical water splitting. However, the critical factors influencing OER electrocatalysis on Ni-based phosphates have been insufficiently explored. We herein demonstrate nickel (Ni)-base
A facile and efficient methodology for the formation of polymer-fullerene networks via a light-induced reaction is reported. The photochemical crosslinking is based on a nitrile imine-mediated tetrazole-ene cycloaddition reaction, which proceeds catalyst-free under UV-light irradiation (λmax = 320 nm) at ambient temperature. A tetrazole-functionalized polymer (Mn = 6500 g mol(-1) , Ð = 1.3) and fullerene C60 are employed for the formation of the hybrid networks. The tetrazole-functionalized poly
Abstract The physical and chemical properties of inorganic materials significantly depend on their crystal structures. Therefore, precise design of structures can promote the development of highly active electrocatalysts. Due to the present environmental issues, it is desirable to establish a structural factor that regulates the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting. Herein, we demonstrate structural descriptors using nine kinds of unreported iron‐based multimetal oxides with
Iron (Fe)-based phosphates are identified as efficient precatalysts, which can be electrochemically transformed into highly active electrocatalysts for the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting. The OER performances of the electrochemically generated Fe-based compounds surpass those of the most active Fe-based multimetal oxides and any previously reported crystalline OER electrocatalysts; i.e., the OER-specific activity of the generated electrocatalyst from Fe3O3(PO4) at 1.55
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