Research

🔹Research Overview – Solar Energy Conversion & Catalysis

Our research group focuses on the chemistry of solar energy conversion.
To convert light energy into chemical energy, charge carriers must be efficiently generated by photon absorption (energy conversion) and rapidly consumed via surface redox reactions (catalysis).
To investigate and optimize these processes, we study photocatalytic (PC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems. In addition, electrocatalytic (EC) systems are also employed to understand surface redox reactions.
Our goal is to elucidate the mechanisms of charge separation and interfacial redox reactions across a variety of material systems.
To achieve this, we pursue the following three research strategies (S1, S2 and S3):

🔹S1. Design and Synthesis of Multinary Nanoarchitectures 

Our group designs and synthesizes functional nanostructures for solar energy conversion.
In particular, we focus on constructing multinary nanoarchitectures by integrating semiconductors with diverse components such as plasmonic materials, protective layers, and catalysts to achieve efficient and stable solar energy conversion.
We place strong emphasis on precisely tuning the composition and morphology of each domain, as well as the interfacial structures between them, to attain the desired functional characteristics.

We fabricate multicomponent nanostructures for PC and EC systems, and construct multi-layered photoelectrodes for PEC applications to enhance charge separation and catalysis.

🔹S2. Understanding Surface and Interfacial Chemistry

In solid-state material systems, interactions between external molecules and material surfaces play a critical role in determining reaction efficiency and selectivity.
Especially, in multinary systems, charge and energy transfer across interfaces are particularly important, and these processes can vary significantly depending on the interfacial structure.

To gain insight into these physicochemical processes, we integrate experimental analyses supported by theoretical modeling, aiming for an atomic-level understanding of surface and interfacial chemistry.
Our goal is to uncover the fundamental principles behind the observed reaction mechanisms and interpret the underlying origins of experimental results.

🔹 S3. Photo(electro)chemical Fuel and Chemical Production

We apply our solar energy conversion systems to a wide range of reactions, including chemical fuel production (e.g., HER, NOxRR, and CO2RR), as well as valuable chemical synthesis (e.g., biomass conversion, olefin oxidation, and C–N coupling reactions).
These studies aim to bridge a deep mechanistic understanding of catalytic processes with the development of practical technologies that can benefit human life.