Strategic bases for research on elements for catalysts and batteries based on the interplay between experimentation and theoretical and computational science

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)’s “strategic project on the elements: formation of research bases” is a national project carried out over a 10-year period beginning in April 2012. Its goals are to solve problems of obtaining rare elements as resource, creation of innovative materials to contribute to a sustainable society, and to construct a theoretical framework on this basis. Of the four research bases in Japan for this element-strategy project, two are located at Kyoto University.
One of these is a catalyst and battery research base. The purposes of this base are to elucidate the microscopic processes in the complex compounds of catalysts and batteries, deepen scientific understanding of these complex compounds, predict new catalytic and battery materials, and develop new, high-performance catalytic and battery materials that are free of rare elements. These research bases have already yielded impressive results, including elucidation of the solution structure of dense electrolytic solutions and development of new catalysts that can function at low temperatures, thereby dramatically reducing the use of precious metals.