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Department of Materials and Chemistry

AIST:Materials and Chemistry

Contributing to industrial competitiveness enhancement by synergistic interaction between materials and chemical technologies

We are developing technologies to enhance added value of functional chemicals, and to realize practical use of new materials, with strengthening value chains of materials through synergistic interaction between materials and chemical technologies in mind. Thus, we are aiming to contribute to the primary materials and chemical industries.

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New Research Results

Development of Environmentally Friendly Flow Synthesis Technology Using Innovative Catalysts

AIST researchers have developed highly active and selective metal nanoparticle catalysts, and have achieved an environmentally friendly organic synthesis method with these heterogeneous catalysts using continuous production flow process technology.
This technology is a method for synthesizing functional materials by direct flow of hydrogen and substrates using a newly developed heterogeneous catalyst and newly designed continuous-flow synthesis equipment or continuous separation and purification modules. This time, leuco-quinizarins, which are key intermediate to be converted to various functional materials such as pigment dyes, pharmaceuticals, and energy materials, were successfully synthesized catalytically using hydrogen as a reducing agent in highly selective manner for the first time in the world.
Conventional leuco-quinizarin synthesis methods consume stoichiometric amounts of inorganic reagents and generate potentially hazardous waste. The newly developed method, on the other hand, is characterized by a heterogeneous catalyst that can be used over a long period of time under continuous-flow conditions, and by the fact that it only consumes hydrogen, an environmentally friendly reductant, and produces no waste, thus realizing an environmentally friendly organic synthesis. Furthermore, we have newly developed a continuous separation and recovery module unified with function of a batch reactor that can not only separate and recover solvents and hydrogen but also can convert in-situ generated leuco-quinizarin to various anthraquinone derivatives. By coupling this continuous separation and recovery module unified with function of a batch reactor with a continuous-flow hydrogenation system for synthesis of leuco-quinizarin, we have succeeded in continuous production of anthraquinone derivatives as a functional material from inexpensive raw materials. The newly developed continuous-flow synthesis technology will contribute to the development of continuous synthesis processes for functional materials with complex structures, since it can be coupled with other continuous synthesis equipment to realize further multi-step continuous synthesis methods.

Figure of new research results Materials and Chemistry

Continuous production flow process for functional materials, characterized by leuco-quinizarin synthesis using bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts and hydrogen.

Correct Free-energy Landscape Expressed by New Formula

A researcher at AIST has established a method for evaluating free-energy landscape so that it is independent of the representation of the shape.
Free-energy landscape is used in a wide range of fields, such as simulating the expected progress of a reaction of a designed catalyst or predicting drug efficacy and side effects for use in drug development. However, conventional methods derive different free-energy landscapes depending on how the conformational changes of molecules in chemical reactions are represented, and the theoretical basis for quantitative prediction and interpretation has been weak.
In this study, the deformation motion of molecules is expressed by the Langevin equation, which is used to describe Brownian motion. By using the diffusion coefficient that appears in the equation, we succeeded in deriving a free-energy landscape that is independent of the representation of the shape. The results of this research set the theoretical foundation for quantitative discussions of catalytic reactions and protein folding reactions. It is expected that the formulas from this research will be used to provide high quality data on which to base the design of catalysts and pharmaceuticals.

Figure of new research results Materials and Chemistry

Correct free-energy landscape can evaluate the number and depth of valleys independent of how the molecular shapes are represented.

Research Unit

Research Institute for Sustainable Chemistry
Research Institute for Chemical Process Technology
Nanomaterials Research Institute
Innovative Functional Materials Research Institute
Multi-Material Research Institute
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Catalytic Chemistry
CNT-Application Research Center
Research Center for Computational Design of Advanced Functional Materials

Other research organizations

Research Laboratory

Open Innovation Laboratory

Since FY 2016, as a part of the “Open Innovation Arena concept” promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), AIST has created the concept of “open innovation laboratories” (OILs), collaborative research bases located on university campuses, and has been engaged in their provision. We are planning to establish more than ten OILs by FY 2020.

AIST will merge the basic research carried out at universities, etc. with AISTʼs goal-oriented basic research and applied technology development, and will promote bridging research and evelopment and industry by the establishment of OILs.

Cooperative Research Laboratories

In order to conduct research and development more closely related to strategies of companies, we have established collaborative research laboratories, bearing partner company names.

Partner companies provide their researchers and funding, and AIST provides research resources, such as its researchers, research facilities, and intellectual property. The loaned researchers of companies and AIST researchers jointly conduct research and development.

By setting up cooperative research laboratories, we will accelerate the commercialization of our goal-oriented basic research and application research with partner companies.

  • Niterra-AIST Carbon Neutral Advanced Inorganic Materials Cooperative Research Laboratory
  • UACJ-AIST Cooperative Research Laboratory for Aluminum Advanced Technology
  • VALQUA-AIST Cooperative Research Laboratory for Advanced Functional Materials
  • DIC-AIST Collaborative Research Laboratory for Sustainabllity and Materials

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