Research interest

Chiral Spin Catalysis for Carbon Neutrality

Chiral spin catalysis aims to exploit concepts related to chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) to modulate interfacial charge transfer and reaction pathways through spin-dependent effects, providing an additional design dimension beyond conventional catalyst descriptors. While many electrochemical processes are primarily governed by surface chemistry and transport, specific steps—particularly those involving electron pairing or spin-active intermediates—may be sensitive to spin polarization, motivating the hypothesis that chiral interfaces can influence selectivity under operating bias. This perspective is especially relevant to carbon-neutrality technologies, where improving reaction selectivity and energy efficiency is central—for example, suppressing competing pathways in CO₂ reduction and enhancing efficiency of water splitting. As mechanistic understanding continues to mature, chiral spin catalysis is emerging at the intersection of chirality, spin physics, and electrochemistry as a promising direction to complement traditional catalyst design for sustainable fuel and chemical synthesis. 

Functional Hydrogels for Designing Durable Electrodes

Functional hydrogels—hydrated polymer networks with tunable porosity, chemistry, and ionic transport—provide a versatile platform for engineering electrode interphases that address durability bottlenecks in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical systems central to carbon neutrality. In many devices, performance decay originates not only from intrinsic catalyst instability but also from interfacial stressors such as local pH swings, ion depletion/accumulation, salt precipitation, bubble-induced mechanical stress, corrosion, and delamination under bias. By acting as a conformal, mechanically compliant, and water-rich interlayer, hydrogels can help regulate wetting and ion/water availability, reduce direct exposure of fragile surfaces to harsh electrolytes, and stabilize catalyst–electrode interfaces during long-term operation. At the same time, hydrogel design must balance protection with function: excessive thickness or low conductivity can introduce ohmic losses and mass-transport limitations, so rational control of crosslink density, fixed-charge content, and permeability is essential. As research moves toward more realistic operating regimes (higher current densities, longer lifetime, and variable feeds), engineered soft interphases—such as functional hydrogels—are being investigated as one possible strategy to enable stable, efficient electrodes for carbon-neutral fuel and chemical synthesis, including water splitting and CO₂ conversion. 

Solar Fuel-Forming Reactions

Solar fuel-forming reactions aim to store sunlight in chemical bonds by coupling light absorption to fuel- and chemical-producing electrochemical transformations, including water splitting, CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR), and other value-added redox reactions. There are three major platform strategies to connect photon capture with reaction chemistry. In photovoltaic–electrochemical (PV–EC) systems, a photovoltaic module supplies electricity to a separate electrochemical reactor, allowing independent optimization of light harvesting and catalytic selectivity for diverse reactions. In photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems, the light absorber and catalytic interface are integrated within a single device, where band alignment, charge separation, interfacial kinetics, and stability in liquid environments jointly determine performance. In photocatalytic (PC) systems, particulate catalysts directly absorb light and drive reactions in suspension, offering architectural simplicity and scalability, while facing challenges in charge recombination control, product separation, and achieving high quantum efficiencies. Current research trends focus on designing robust interfaces and catalysts, improving efficiency–stability trade-offs, and expanding the reaction toolbox through paired or alternative oxidation reactions that can lower energy input and co-produce valuable chemicals.