研究室紹介

Dr. Yoshihiro Yamazaki's research focuses on the multiple length scale ion, electron and electronic-hole transport characterization in metal oxides, energy materials, aiming for efficient solar-fuel and energy conversions. One of the ultimate challenges in materials science is to activate a useful materials function for a specific application. In particular, the production of efficient solar fuel in conjunction with inorganic materials makes use of unlimited solar energy even at night. A challenge is to unravel critical material and architectural parameters, in a wide range from sub-nanometer to macroscopic scale, that activates such energy functions. We combine materials synthesis, thin-film fabrication techniques, electrochemical spectroscopy, mass-spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, in-situ high-temperature solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), low-energy ion scattering (LEIS), in situ X-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), ab initio calculation, and machine learning, and correlate these fundamentals to energy functions in inorganic materials. The target materials include novel oxides for solar-driven thermochemical fuel production, photochemical water splitting, and proton ceramic fuel cells.