Table of Contents
World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 1
Message from the Director ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 2
About I2CNER �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6
I2CNER’s Contribution to the 2050 CO2 Reduction Target ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 10
Selected Research Accomplishments
Advanced Energy Materials ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment ������������������������������������������������������������ 20
Advancing Fusion of Research Fields
Advanced Energy Materials ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 25
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 27
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment ������������������������������������������������������������ 28
Returning Results to Society ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31
Network of International Collaborations ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33
Carbon Management including Negative Emission Technologies (2022 I2CNER Annual Symposium) ������������������� 36
Distingushed Visitors �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 38
Seminars �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 39
Conferences and Symposia ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 40
Plenary and Keynote Presentations ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 41
Selected Awards ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 42
Outreach Activities ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43
I2CNER Structure ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 46
Personnel & Finances ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
Researcher List ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50
Access Map ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52

World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)

World Premier International
Research Center Initiative (WPI)
BackgroundAn intensifying global demand for talented researchers
is accelerating the need to develop the best scientificminds among the world's nations. This trend has
prompted Japan to establish new research centers that
attract top-notch researchers from around the world
to place itself within the “circle” of excellent humanresources
In FY17, concurrent with the end of the 10-year
support period for the initially established five WPIcenters, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology (MEXT) established the new World
Premier International (WPI) Academy, which aims to
be a leader in internationalizing and reforming Japan’s
research environment.

Program Summary
The World Premier International Research Center
Initiative has four basic objectives: advancing leadingedge research, creating interdisciplinary domains,establishing international research environments, andreforming research organizations. To achieve these four
objectives, WPI research centers tackle the following
challenges:

A Critical Mass of Outstanding Researchers• Bringing together top-level researchers withina host research institution• Inviting the best researchers from around theworld
Attractive Research and Living Environment of theHighest International Standards• Strong leadership by center director• English as the primary language• Rigorous system for evaluating research andsystem of merit-based compensation• Strong support for researchers• Facilities and equipment expected in a top
research center• Housing and support for daily living andeducation of dependent children
To assist the WPI research centers in carrying out thismandate, the Japanese government provides longterm, large-scale financial support.
I 2 CNER was certified as having achieved “World
Premier” status by the Program Committee and was
inducted into the WPI Academy in April 2020.
For more information:
MEXT Website https://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/science_technology/researchpromotion/index.htm
JSPS Website http://www.jsps.go.jp/english/e-toplevel/index.html

International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER) Kyushu University
Toward the realization of a low-carbon society, I2CNER aims to resolve the challenges of the use of hydrogen energy and CO2
capture and sequestration by fusing together sciences from atomic level to global scale.

Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IP MU)
The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo
With accumulated research on mathematics, physics and astronomy, this research core works to bringlight to the mysteries of the universe, such as its origin, and to provide an analysis of evolution.

Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)
Osaka University
An innovative research center, which pursues the goal of comprehensive understanding of immune
reactions through the fusion of immunology, various imaging technologies, and Bioinformatics.

International Center for Quantum-field
Measurement Systems for Studies of the
Universe and Particles
The “quantum field” is the origin of everything. QUP will invent and develop new systems formeasuring quantum fields.With these new systems, we will bring innovation to the human society,while working on the basic research on the space-time and matter of the universe.

Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS)
Kyoto University
Established to integrate the cell and material sciences, the iCeMS combines the potential power of stem
cells (e.g., ES/iPS cells) and of mesoscopic sciences to benefit medicine, pharmaceutical studies, theenvironment, and industry.

International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine(IIIS)
University of Tsukuba

Institute for the Advanced Study of
Human Biology (ASHBi) Kyoto University
ASHBi investigates the core concepts of human biology with a particular focus on genome regulationand disease modeling, creating a foundation of knowledge for developing innovative and uniquehuman-centric therapies.

IIIS aims to elucidate the function of sleep and the fundamental mechanisms of sleep/wake regulation andalso aims to develop new strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of sleep disorders. Our goal
is to contribute to promote human health through our sleep research.

Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI)
Kanazawa University

Institute for Chemical Reaction Design andDiscovery (ICReDD) Hokkaido University
ICReDD integrates computational, information, and experimental sciences in order to obtain in-depth
understanding of chemical reactions, which enables rational design and rapid development of new
chemical reactions.

Cells are the basic units of almost all life forms. We are developing nanoprobe technologies that allow
direct imaging, analysis, and manipulation of the behavior and dynamics of important macromolecules inliving organisms, such as proteins and nucleic acids, at the surface and interior of cells. We aim at
acquiring a fundamental understanding of the various life phenomena at the nanoscale.

Advanced Institute for Materials Research (AIMR),
Tohoku University
Integrating physics, chemistry, materials science, bioengineering, electronics and mechanical engineering,
AIMR is striving to create innovative functional materials. A mathematical unit joined the team in 2011 to help
establish a unified theory of materials science, aiming at the realization of a global materials research hub.

International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA)
National Institute for Materials Science
A major focus of our activities is the development of innovative materials on the basis of a new paradigm“nanoarchitectonics,” ground-breaking innovation in nanotechnology.

Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM)
Nagoya University
The goal of ITbM is to develop innovative functional molecules that make a marked change in the form
and nature of biological science and technology (transformative bio-molecules). ITbM will connect
molecules, create value, and change the world, one molecule at a time.

EARTH - LIFE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (ELSI)Tokyo Institute of Technology
ELSI focuses the origins of Earth and life. Both studies are inseparable because life should haveoriginated in unique environment on the early Earth. To accomplish our challenge, we establish aworld-leading interdisciplinary research hub by gathering excellent researchers in Earth andplanetary sciences, life science, and related fields.

International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN)The University of Tokyo
IRCN combines life sciences and information sciences to establish the new field of“Neurointelligence”. By clarifying the essence of human intelligence, overcoming neuraldisorders,and developing new AI technologies, we will contribute to a better future society.

WPI Academy Centers (other than I2CNER)

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

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Message from the Director

Message from the Director
This past year has been an eventful one for I2CNER. When the Institute was inducted in2020 as a WPI Academy Center, we understood the vision of JSPS and how important it
would be for I2CNER to create ripple effects around Kyushu University and Japan. True to the
WPI Academy system, we focused on developing deeper connections and engaging withcollaborating academic institutions around Japan.
A great achievement this year was I2CNER being awarded Gaisan-Yokyu funding for the
new Center for Energy Systems Design. The CESD, which launched November 1, 2022,
replicates I2CNER’s structure and objectives and – thanks to the great efforts of center
director, PI Matsumoto – it is a highly coordinated effort among our PIs and faculty andinvolves 6 collaborating institutions, Hokkaido University, Tohoku University, Tokyo Instituteof Technology, NIMS, RIKEN, and Kumamoto University. Among its areas of focus is data
science, for which we are exploiting the data we have generated and plan to generate, notonly as an institute but as a research community. We are aggressively pursuing the hire of
excellent tenure-track faculty and researchers specifically for the new center.
On November 1, 2021, we launched a new industry-university collaboration in the form of
the Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.-Carbon Neutral Research Center (MCI-CNRC). This comprehensive
partnership has been working on the development and acquisition of environmental
infrastructure technologies that contribute to carbon neutrality as well as pursue the practical use and commercialization of thesetechnologies in relevant fields. The new center, created thanks to the continuous efforts of PI Ishihara, is an exciting opportunity toleverage I2CNER’s world-class research alongside Mitsui Chemicals’ industry expertise with the goal of incorporating into society
the technologies necessary to achieve carbon neutrality.
On the topic of hiring, I am pleased to report that post-pandemic, I2CNER reopened to visitors and reinstated our postdoctoral
employment opportunities. In fact, I2CNER contributed 20% to the hiring of postdocs and has maintained a healthy numberof postdoctoral researchers. In FY2021, we employed 27 postdocs—a dramatic increase from the 20 we employed in FY2020.
Contributing to this number is the Kyushu University Negative Emission Technology Center (K-NET), which is well-staffed andpursuing its objectives in research.
We also maintained the success we saw in our first two terms as a WPI Academy Center—fostering a rich culture of research forstudents. Indeed, I2CNER provides a rich platform for young scientists to impact research in a highly international setting. During
FY21, we employed 22 graduate students in our labs, 18 of whom were non-Japanese.
Another important objective for I2CNER is maintaining our connection with our alumni. With this in mind, in July 2021 weestablished the “I2CNER Alumni Network” – a global network in which all former I2CNER researchers, students, and staff members
can register. This is a vital aspect of our strong standing as a truly international institution in the WPI Academy, and we hope thiswill enable more connections among the I2CNER family worldwide to expand our international network.
For some time now, I2CNER has worked with the Institute of Mathematics for Industry (IMI) and we plan to rekindle and strengthen
our interactions, continuing to develop joint and interdisciplinary projects on statistics and related areas. In the works is a
symposium on machine learning in materials science, to be held in Tokyo next year. Building such a community among experts inapplied mathematics, machine learning, and materials science will be a significant contribution both to engineering at large andto I2CNER’s visibility.
Similarly, I2CNER’s partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign continues its strategic activities. Thanks tocontinued funding from both universities, this has led to opportunities that have extended even beyond I2CNER. Ongoing efforts
are in the areas of data science and mathematics; environmental economics; humanities; library science and data management;sustainable energy; and architecture. UIUC and Kyushu University organized a discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
in an effort to bring more inclusivity to both institutions. These new initiatives that were conceived and advanced by the leaders of
Kyushu University and the University of Illinois are great examples of brain circulation and the ripple effect of I2CNER within KU.
Our upcoming 2023 I2CNER Annual Symposium, “Optimal Transitions: From Carbon Neutral Energy Research to Energy Markets,”
is an apt description of our effort to begin building an energy pipeline for the future. Indeed, in our third year as a WPI Academy
Center and on the other side of that transition, I2CNER has stabilized itself as a member center, maintaining our postdoctoral
numbers at healthy levels and looking to a productive future that will involve transferring our laboratory results to society. We
will advance energy solutions that are environmentally friendly and continue renewing our PI composition in a way that fosters adiversity of perspectives and scientific approaches—that is, through fusion.


2Professor Petros Sofronis, PhD
Director, I2CNER

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

About I2CNER

About I2CNERMISSIONAt I 2 CNER, our mission is to contribute to thecreation of a sustainable and environmentally friendly
society by conducting fundamental research forthe advancement of low carbon emission and costeffective energy systems, and improvement of energy
efficiency. The array of technologies that I 2CNER’s
research aims to enable includes solid oxide fuelcells, polymer membrane-based fuel cells, biomimetic
and other novel catalyst concepts, and production,
storage, and utilization of hydrogen as a fuel. Our
research also explores the underlying science of CO2
capture and storage technology or the conversion of
CO2 to a useful product. Additionally, it is our mission
to establish an international academic environmentthat fosters innovation through collaboration andinterdisciplinary research (fusion).
I2CNER’s research at the intersection of applied mathand engineering has enormous potential to impact allof the Institute’s research areas and the overall energy
challenge. I2CNER’s applied math efforts are basedon the its burgeoning relationship with the Institute ofMathematics for Industry (IMI) and various departments
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The
Institute currently has ongoing projects in the areasof mathematics for smart grid, porous materials,
computational physics, and social aspects of powersystems. Examples include algorithm development for
scalable grid optimization problems, study of strategicinteractions in electricity markets by accounting for the
deepening penetration of variable renewable resourcesin the grid, and persistent homology to characterize
the properties of porous materials for CO2 storage inrock formations. Projects are also addressing efficiency
increase in power generation by modeling expanding
flames using theory of parabolic equations.
As the newest center of the WPI Academy (inducted in2020), we aim to continue to make disruptive advancesin the 21st century international energy landscape, as
well as strengthen the scientific advancements in Japanin collaboration with the United States and the world.
I2CNER’s research is consolidated into three thrusts:
Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Energy
Conversion Systems, and Multiscale Science andEngineering for Energy and the Environment.

These thrusts are directly linked to the “Platform forInternational Collaborations and Partnerships” thathas been designed to maintain I2CNER’s international
identity and the “Platform for Societal Implementation
and Industrial Collaboration,” whose purpose is toensure technology transfer through the large andgrowing network of I2CNER’s industrial interactions.
E a ch t h r u s t i s l e d by a n u m b e r o f P r i n c i p a l
Investigators, each with several dozen researchers
working toward that thrust’s stated research objectives.

RESEARCH THRUSTS
Advanced Energy Materials
The goal of the Advanced Energy Materials thrust is todevelop molecular, nano, and bulk materials based on
new science of surfaces, interfaces, and microstructures
for applications involving H 2, H 2O, and CO 2. The
research is directed to two classes of materials,
catalytic and structural. In the area of catalytic
materials, our objective is to develop bio-inspired
molecular systems for fuel and energy generation thatare centered on biological and synthetic catalysts.
In addition, we explore the production of fuels andmaterials of added-value from ubiquitous chemicals
through the use of solar energy. In the area of structural
materials, the research focuses on the development of
the fundamental science that enables optimization of
the cost, performance, and safety of materials for H2
technologies. This includes the association of basic
science underlying deactivation of catalytic surfaces
to industrial approaches for the mitigation of hydrogen
embrittlement. In addition, we aim at advancing ourmechanistic insight into the degradation of metals
and alloys for technologies that operate at elevatedtemperatures in the presence of hydrogen. Lastly, it isour objective to develop next-generation tribo-systems
with higher efficiency and durability to conserve
energy, thus contributing to CO2 emissions reduction.
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems
The goal of the Advanced Energy Conversion
Systems thrust is to develop economically feasibleenergy systems characterized by high efficiency,
fast conversion kinetics, and long lifetimes. The
focus is on electrochemical and photochemical
conversion that serve for stationary power and

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

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About I2CNER

fuel generation and mobility, and thermal energy
conversion that enables efficient heat transport. For
electrochemical conversion, fundamental advancesin the understanding of electrocatalysis and ionic andelectronic transport properties in solids are neededin order for high conversion rates between electricaland chemical energy to be obtained. The goal ofphotoelectrochemical conversion is the developmentof high-performance systems for splitting water,
harvesting solar energy, and generating light by
exploring inorganic, organic, and hybrid materials
from physical, chemical, and biochemical perspectives
and by elucidating potential conversion roadblocks
and causes of degradation.
Thermal energy conversion is studied by pursuingfundamental understanding of heat and masstransport phenomena in relation to nanoscale thermaltransport, phase change heat and mass transfer, andthe thermophysical properties of working fluids.
Devices thus developed are essential to the integrationof renewable energy to the electric grid and theadvancement of new energy solution pathways,
including hydrogen energy.
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy andthe Environment
The Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy
and the Environment thrust pulls together the rangeof challenges facing Japan’s and the world’s energy
transition, namely the transition from largely fossil
fueled energy technology to a carbon-neutral or acarbon-free energy supply. In addition, this thrust
enables the coordination of carbon reduction
technologies, energy efficiency technologies, andguidance for social, political, and investment strategies
to coordinate this transition.
This thrust includes the following 4 main clusters;
1. ‌Carbon capture technologies based on membrane
separation for zero and negative emission
We are developing technologies for CO2 capture basedon membrane separation, which is considered to havethe lowest capture energy. In order to control global
warming, CO2 is not only captured from largescale
emission sources, but also CO2 from (1) air and (2)exhaust gas with diluted CO2 by membrane separation
for negative emission, and CO 2 removal at biogas
upgrading. We are also considering modularization
along with the development of these technologies.

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

2. Carbon‌storage and management using the earth
As a CO2 reduction approach using the Earth, CO2geological storage that directly injects CO 2 into
the subsurface reservoir has been recognized. By
considering (1) amount of CO2 reduction, (2) time toachieve CO2 reduction and (3) cost for CO2 reduction,
CO2 reduction and managements using the Earth could
be a realistic approach.
3. Energy efficient technologies
To contribute toward the world’s energy transition, we
are working on the development of energy-efficienttechnologies, which includes heat mass transfer
enhancement in adsorption systems, development of
low-temperature thermally powered adsorption heatpump/refrigeration systems, and biofuel and edible
protein production and negative CO2 emissions.
4. Socio-techno-economic and policy analysis
In order to progress an energy transition thatincorporates and develops technologies which caneffectively deal with climate change, there is a needfor analysis of technical, economic, and social
aspects. I2CNER is furthering this analysis across the
spectrum of available technologies, with a focus on
the technologies being developed within I2CNER. In
addition to the evaluation of the technical aspects
such as technological applicability and efficiency,
we also consider their economic and social merit.
The analytical approaches we undertake include
modeling, systems analysis, statistical analysis, appliedmathematical analysis, social surveys, and stakeholder
engagement.

RESEARCH PLATFORMS
Platform for International Collaborations andPartnerships
This platform is intended to maintain and foster
I2CNER’s international identity. The members of thisplatform, who are world experts with a solid record ofinternational research experiences, collaborate with
I2CNER’s researchers from all three thrusts. Because
this platform and the three thrusts are interwoven andthe thrusts’ themes overlap, this is an effective way topromote interdisciplinary collaborations across theInstitute and around the world.
Platform for Societal Implementation and Industrial
Collaboration
The three major research thrusts contribute directly
to the transition of future I2CNER scientific advancesAbout I2CNER

to applicable technology transfer through a large andgrowing network of I 2CNER industrial interactions.
This platform ensures a high level of tech transfer,provides policy guidance for science and technology
investments, and addresses potential social acceptanceand social impact issues. With its strengths in bothadvanced energy science and energy analysis, I2CNER
provides critical direction and support to Japan’s
energy transition over the next 30 years to meet the2050 carbon reduction goals with minimal social andeconomic disruptions.

AFFILIATED RESEARCH INSTITUTES
Research Center for Next Generation Refrigerant
Properties (NEXT-RP)
Through coordination of efforts of the international
community, this unique center focuses on thedevelopment of next-generation refrigerants. Morespecifically, the objectives of the center include theaccurate evaluation of thermophysical properties andfundamental performance of heat exchange and air
conditioning and refrigeration (ACR) cycles for zeroODP (ozone depletion potential) and low-GWP (global
warming potential) refrigerants. Through developmentof base knowledge and thermophysical properties
technology the NEXT-RP aims to contribute to Japanese
ACR industries in enhancing their competitiveness in
the global market.
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.-Carbon Neutral ResearchCenter (MCI-CNRC)
This new industry-university center was launched
November 1, 2021 within I2CNER. The comprehensive
collaboration aims to develop and acquire cuttingedge environmental infrastructure technologies that
contribute to carbon neutrality as well as pursue
the practical use and commercialization of thesetechnologies in relevant fields. The center will utilize

the world-leading expertise I²CNER has developed—
including green hydrogen as well as carbon capture,utilization and storage (CCUS)—and combine thiswith the development- and industrialization-related
expertise from Mitsui Chemicals. This will lay thegroundwork for focused and efficient research into
the elemental technologies needed to achieve carbon
neutrality, with the goal of quickly integrating thetechnologies into society.
Moonshot K-NET
In 2020, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology
Development Organization (“NEDO”) selected 13
research and development (R&D) projects aimed
at achieving the Moonshot Goal of “realization ofsustainable resource circulation to recover the global
environment by 2050.”
Professor Shigenori Fujikawa’s project, “Developmentof Global CO2 Recycling Technology Towards ‘BeyondZero’ Emission,” was adopted as one of the 13 projects
under the Moonshot goal of targeting recovery of the
global environment. In this project, a membranebased CO2 capture unit with ultra-high CO2 selectivity
and permeability is being developed based on
innovative nanomembrane technology. At the sametime, the team is developing a unit to convert thecollected CO2 into carbon fuel with high efficiency.
These two units will be connected to build a “Direct
Air Capture and Utilization (DAC-U) system” that
integrates CO2 capture from the atmosphere to carbon
fuel conversion. This system has high scalability
because the units can be connected arbitrarily, and its
performance can be adjusted according to conditions
from small to large scale. Through this work, theresearchers hope to create an innovative DAC-U
system that contributes to solving climate change
problems and helps build a new future society.

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

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I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision

I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision
A Carbon Neutral Energy Vision for Japan
IndustryE

Higher Energy Efficiency Processing
Low Friction technology
Advanced Heat Pump

Renewable Energy
Solar
PV

Advanced Lighting
Advanced Insulation
Advanced appliance
Advanced Enegy Management

CO2 Capture

E

Multi Fuel Station

E

Cogeneration (CHP)(FC, Gas Engine)

N

Energy Storage

Pumped Hydro
Compressed Air
Flywheel

H2

Smart Community

CO2

BatteryC

HydrogenHydrogenStorage
Storage

Negative Emissions

Energy supply

DACCS

H2 Production

Central Power Production

NG Combined Cycle (SOFC)
NGCC,
H 2 Turbine
Ammonia Turbine

Fossil Fuel Conversion

Carbon Neutral Fuel Production

Electrolysis
Biomass Gasification
NG ReformingE

Fermentation, Methanation,
Fuel Synthetization (CO 2 use)

H2

NuclearRenewable Energy
Hydro, Geothermal, Biomass

CO2 Capture（Hydrocarbon Fuels）

E

CO2 CaptureF

Renewable Energy
Wind, Solar

BiobasedPower

Geothermal
Power

Hydro Carbon Extraction

Fossil Fuel Reserve
NG, Coal, Oil

Wind Power

PV

C

Renewable Energy
Biomass

C

Hydro
Power

F

BECCS
AfforestationC(LNG,Petroleum etc)

Fossil fuel Extraction

Fossil Fuel
CO2 Travel

F
C

BEV, FCVDistributed Energy Generation

E

H

Advanced Heat Pump

H

Energy use

Carbon Neutral Fuel (Hydrocarbon)
Heat

N

Transportation

Residential Commercial

E

E

NG CHP, H2 CHP (SOFC,Gas Engine)
H2 Boiler
Advanced Enegy Management

Electricity
Hydrogen

E
H2

H2

F

Biomass Production
Water Splitting

H2 Import

Terrestrial /Ocean CO2 natural sinkCC

C CO 2 storage

Figure 4.1. Parameter Space of Technology Options.

BackgroundOur vision of a carbon-neutral energy society includes
the need to identify future technology options by
sharing a common image of a future for Japan withpeople in and outside of I2CNER. In October 2020, thePrime Minister of Japan made a speech to the Diet inwhich he declared, “I hereby declare that Japan aims
to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by2050 as a whole, that is, to achieve a carbon-neutral,
decarbonized society by 2050.” The shift of the GHG
target for 2050 from an 80% emission reduction tocarbon neutrality requires not only expediting ourefforts to reduce GHG emissions but also requires
a drastic change for our energy system from a fossil
fuel energy regime to a zero-carbon energy regime.
In addition, a net zero society implies that net zero
emissions can be achieved by implementing GHG“removals” that can offset any GHG “emissions” left
over at the end of emission reduction efforts.
The I2CNER vision for a low-carbon society for Japanis revised based on setting a carbon neutrality target

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

of a 90-100% reduction of GHG emissions by 2050.
This target is particularly relevant to energy security
concerns caused by Japan’s current heavy reliance on
imported fossil fuels, which are costly resources. To
achieve the target by developing new technology, we
also consider economic efficiency and safety issues.
On the whole, we consider 3E+S (Environment, Energy
Security, Economy, and Safety) as the fundamental
pillar of our vision.
In drawing our vision, we consider two major
principles: 1) efficiency increase (“EI”) in energy
conversion and energy use and 2) lowering of carbon
intensity (“LCI”) of fuel and electricity to adopt anddevelop future technologies. EI should be pursued
in energy transformation systems, end use systems
including home appliances, and industrial processes.
EI can be applied to existing systems but is alsoachieved by replacing existing systems with newtechnology. LCI in electricity and fuel supply-use
pathways is achieved using renewables, nuclear, or
CO2 capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS).

I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision

LCI typically requires the deployment of new facilities,
new infrastructure, or both. In addition, 3) the negativeemission (“NE”) technologies to realize “removal”
need to be employed to cancel out the residual
GHG emissions in our new vision. “NE” is achievedby capturing CO2 directly from the atmosphere andstoring it underground (via DACCS), capturing CO2
from the flue gas of combusting biomass and storing
it underground (i.e., BECCS), or enhancing CO 2absorption and fixation by afforestation or land use
management.

I2CNER Scenarios for a Carbon-Neutral
Energy Society
The scenarios which could lead to carbon neutrality
considering the 3E+S attributes would not have awide variance range because the target year of 2050
is rapidly approaching and difficulty attached to thequick deployment of some important technologies isrecognized, based on our past experience to narrowhigh-potential options.
EI technology developments are at the base ofemission reduction scenarios. Therefore, they areincluded across all scenarios. To achieve a hugeemission reduction, LCI technologies could have thegreatest impact. However, even a large deployment of
LCI technologies cannot enable carbon neutrality due
to some types of GHG emissions such as emissions
from farmland and other GHG gases (CH 4 and N2).
Therefore, introduction of negative emission (NE)technologies is necessary to offset these unavoidable
GHG emissions.
One of the most likely scenarios for the future energy
systems is named Scenario A (the main scenario). This
scenario does not include the extreme deployment ofsome technologies, except for solar PV, and reflects
past deployment progress and current and future
development progress for technologies. Among LCI
technologies, nuclear still has a large potential toreduce CO2 emission since a large unused capacity
exists. However, restarting unused nuclear capacity
has been relatively slow due to public concerns about
safety. Therefore, nuclear is not prioritized in the main
scenario, reflecting the current situation for permitting
the restarting of existing nuclear capacity. However,a scenario maximizing the use of the existing nuclear
capacity assuming an extension of operational periods
is also detailed (Scenario B - Nuclear Scenario).

The common features across the scenarios are 1)
deployment of EI, 2) maximizing use of solar energy as
an LCI technology, 3) deployment of NE technologies,4) expansion of electrification in energy use sectors(transportation, industry and commercial andresidential), 5) a large introduction of hydrogen energy
and 6) effective application of CCS.
As for 4), expansion of electrification can takeadvantage of the decarbonatization of the power
generation sector. As for 5), hydrogen demand would
be boosted due not only to fuel for FCVs but also forhydrogen power generation, hydrogen steel reduction,and carbon neutral gas synthesized by CO2 and H2.
In terms of 6), CCS deployment has been delayed
due to a delay in storage site preparation and lackof incentives for additional investment to equip CO2
sources with CCS facilities. Since the lead time to
implement CO2 storage facilities tends to be long andthe availability of drilling rigs tends to be limited, it
is expected that CO 2 storage capacity in Japanesegeological formations will be limited 200 million tonsof CO2/year. This limitation hinders the employment of
CO2 storage related activities such as CCS for power
generation, CCS for industry, and CCS for NE (DACCS
and BECCS). In our scenarios, CO2 storage capacity
necessary for CCS is mainly prioritized for industrial
CCS where no significant emission mitigation measures
are available and NE CCS (DACCS and BECCS) insteadof using CCS for power generation where various LCI
technologies such as solar PV and wind power areavailable.
In terms of Scenario A (the main scenario), we are
analyzing the inherent compromises which emerge
between system cost, energy security, and overall
feasibility of the deployment of LCI technologies,
along with system EI over time. This scenario uses 70%of the economically feasible PV for power generationand 20% for hydrogen production. For wind power
generation, 10% of the economically feasible potential
is employed, reflecting the fact that wind power has
not been deployed as quickly as PV under the Feedin Tariff (FIT). A relatively small amount of CCS is
introduced to the power generation sector for natural
gas combined cycle (NGCC). Coal power is assumed
to phase out by 2040.
Scenario B (nuclear scenario) utilizes nuclear power
at a much higher level than for Scenario A (which
only engages nuclear for 4% of the electricity supply
in 2050), assuming all existing nuclear power plants

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

7

I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision– except for those which will be abolished – will berestarted by 2030 with an extension in operational
years from 40 to 60 years. This assumption results innuclear power accounting for 21% of the electricity
supply in 2050. This level of nuclear power makes
CCS unnecessary in the power sector such that CCS

capacity is used for more NE, which enables the offset
of residual GHG emissions at a higher level thanis realized in Scenario A. In short, the CO 2 storage
capacity saved due to nuclear is more effectively used
for NE.

Scenario A (Main Scenario): Development of important EI technologies and maximum deployment of solar power
together with low carbon hydrogen energy system and NE. Approximately 92% reduction in GHG emissions by
2050, relative to 2010.
Contribution to EIHeat pump (GHG impacts of “Energy Efficiency” *) and FC co-generation (GHG impacts of “Power
Generation” *) for residential and commercial from 2020. Low-temperature heat utilization for industry from
2020, Fuel cell (GHG impacts of “Power Generation” *) for transportation from 2020.
Contribution to LCI through renewables
Low-cost and high-efficiency PV (GHG impacts of “Renewables” *) from 2030. Hydrogen storage and newbattery technology (GHG impacts of “Energy Carriers and Storage” *) to adjust intermittent PV and wind
power from 2030. High-efficiency electrolysis (PEM and high-temperature steam) (GHG impacts of “Energy
Carriers and Storage” *) using renewable electricity to provide low-carbon hydrogen from 2030. SOFC
using hydrogen and hydrogen turbine (GHG impacts of “Power Generation” *) for electricity generationindustry from 2030 to 2050. I2CNER’s hydrogen-compatible material research (GHG impacts of “Hydrogen
Compatible Steel” *) and hydrogen physical property research (GHG impacts of “Hydrogen Compatible
Steel” *) underpin the hydrogen energy systems.
Contribution to LCI and NE through CCS
Low-cost membrane CO2 capture technology (GHG impacts of “CO2 Capture and Storage” *) for NGCC,
industrial CCS and DACCS and BECCS from 2030. Development of simulation technology for CO 2
monitoring and storage site characterization (GHG impacts of “CO2 Capture and Storage” *) from 2030
through seismic approaches.
*The technology category in which I2CNER’s research will produce CO2 emission reduction impacts

Figure 4.2. CO2 reduction relative to 2010 by sector in Scenario A.

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Figure 4.3. Electricity mix by generation type in Scenario A.

I2CNER Carbon Neutral Vision

Scenario B (Nuclear): Development of important EI technologies and maximizing use of existing nuclear plants
together with low-carbon hydrogen energy system and NE. Approximately 94% reduction in GHG emissions
by 2050, relative to 2010. If the public concerns on nuclear safety can be addressed, this scenario becomes
more feasible, resulting in (i) providing more zero carbon electricity (nuclear) and reducing necessary renewabledeployment; (ii) avoid employing CCS in the power generation sector; (iii) providing more CO2 storage capacity forNE.
Contribution to EIHeat pump (GHG impacts of “Energy Efficiency” *) and FC co-generation (GHG impacts of “Power
Generation” *) for residential and commercial from 2020. Low-temperature heat utilization for industry from
2020, Fuel cell (GHG impacts of “Power Generation” *) for transportation from 2020.
Contribution to LCI through renewables
Low-cost and high-efficiency PV (GHG impacts of “Renewables” *) from 2030. Hydrogen storage and newbattery technology (GHG impacts of “Energy Carriers and Storage” *) to adjust intermittent PV and wind
power from 2030. High-efficiency electrolysis (PEM and high-temperature steam) (GHG impacts of “Energy
Carriers and Storage” *) using renewable electricity to provide low-carbon hydrogen from 2030. SOFC
using hydrogen and hydrogen turbine (GHG impacts of “Power Generation” *) for electricity generationindustry from 2030 to 2050. I2CNER’s hydrogen-compatible material research (GHG impacts of “Hydrogen
Compatible Steel” *) and hydrogen physical property research (GHG impacts of “Hydrogen Compatible
Steel” *) underpin the hydrogen energy systems.
Contribution to LCI and NE through CCS
Low-cost membrane CO2 capture technology (GHG impacts of “CO2 Capture and Storage” *) for industrial
CCS and DACCS and BECCS from 2030. Development of simulation technology for CO2 monitoring andstorage site characterization (GHG impacts of “CO2 Capture and Storage” *) from 2030 through seismic
approaches.
*The technology category in which I2CNER’s research will produce CO2 emission reduction impacts

Figure 4.4. CO2 reduction relative to 2010 by sector in Scenario B.

Figure 4.5. Electricity mix by generation type in Scenario B.

The figure for CO2 reduction in Scenario B is very similar to that of Scenario A. The difference in energy system
makeup is defined in the electricity mix figures (Figures 4.3 and 4.5). Both energy systems show strong CO2
reductions in the Power Sector LCI wedge in the CO2 reduction figures (Figure 4.2 and Figure 4.4) as nuclear and
CCS are classified in the same Power Sector LCI wedge.

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I2CNER’s Contribution to the 2050 CO2 Reduction Target

I2CNER’s Contribution to the 2050 CO2 Reduction Target
Based on our analysis of current and futureachievements, approximately 0.46% of the totalrequired CO 2 reductions via current achievements,
and approximately 5.22% of the total required
reductions through our future achievements, can berealized by I2CNER technologies and innovations if
they are applied to appropriate energy systems (limiting
the contribution of any one technology to 50% of theresultant market).
In addition to I 2 CNER’s direct contributions, all
I2CNER activities also contribute to the overall relevant
industry efforts (a further 32.1% of the 2050 target,
shown in dark grey in Fig. 5b) through the provision ofunderpinning technologies and analyses. The reason
for the increase of I2CNER’s future contributions (from4.71% reported in the 2019 Annual Report to 5.22%)
is that the new I2CNER Scenarios for a Carbon Neutral
Energy Society need much larger introductions ofrenewable energy in 2050, wherein much of I2CNER’s
research is conducted directly or indirectly, than theprevious scenarios. This implies the research directionof I 2CNER is suitable for an energy transition to acarbon-neutral energy society.
As shown in Fig. 5c, the leading contributors to
I2CNER’s 2050 CO2 reduction efforts include energy
storage and carriers, encompassing electrolysis and thereversible fuel cell; renewable energy through organicinorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells; and energy
efficiency, utilizing energy-saving heat loop-tube
technologies and friction-reducing coatings.

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

The changes of I 2 CNER’s contribution from theprevious assessment reported in the 2019 Annual
Report are primarily due to the scenario influences,
shown as follows. The contribution of energy storage
and carriers increases (from 2.28% to 3.0 %) due
to necessity of a larger introduction of low carbonhydrogen. The contribution of CO2 capture and storage
decreases significantly (from 0.77% to 0.12 %) due
to a long lead time of implementation and limited
availability of storage sites. The contribution of energy
efficiency (1.06%) is almost the same. The contributionof renewable energy increases (from 0.79% to 1.03 %)due to a larger introduction of PV. The contribution ofrenewable energy increases (from 0.79% to 1.03 %)due to a larger introduction of PV. The contributionof hydrogen compatibles steel increases (from 0.12%
to 0.17%) again due to a larger introduction of low
carbon hydrogen. The contribution of power generation(0.18%) is similar because a decrease of natural
gas power generation (SOFC) and an increase ofhydrogen power generation (hydrogen turbine) cancel
out. The contribution of F-gases (0.12%), which aredevelopment of new refrigerants for heat pump withlower GWP, is newly counted. Finally, the contribution
to the overall relevant industry efforts decreases (from35.7% to 32.1%) due to a larger introduction ofrenewable energy where the share of I2CNER’s directcontribution is larger than that of other research areas.
EAD continues to analyze each technology thrust
within I2CNER in line with our energy system scenarios
to ensure that our contribution toward CO2 reduction
and to underpinning industry efforts is maximized.

I2CNER’s Contribution to the 2050 CO2 Reduction Target(a) Current and Future Contributions(b) Overall Contributions to 2050 CO2 Reduction Target(c) Overall I2CNER Contributions to 2050 CO2 Reduction Target
Figure 6. I2CNER’s current and future contributions to CO2 reduction in Japan.

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

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Selected Research Accomplishments

Advanced Energy Materials
1. ‌C–H arylation of benzene with aryl halides using H2 and a water-soluble Rh-based electron storage catalyst (PIOgo and Prof. Yoon)
This work [1] reports the first example of C-H arylationof benzene under mild conditions, using H 2 as anelectron source (turnover numbers (TONs)=0.7-2.0 for24 h). The reaction depends on a Rh-based electron
storage catalyst and proceeds at room temperatureand in aqueous solution. The reaction mechanism
we proposed involves the steps of four requirements(Fig. 1): 1) H 2-activation is performed in water, 2)
electrons from H2 are stored on the metal (M) centeras a low-valent species, 3) the aryl halide is cleavedby oxidative addition to generate an M−C bond, and4) radical transfer occurs due to the M−C cleavage.
Furthermore, the fact that H2 is inactive during theradical transfer step greatly reduces unwanted side
reactions. These results meet the short- and midterm milestones “molecular modification of biologicaland synthetic H 2 and CO 2 catalysts” in Project 1“Bio-inspired molecular catalysts for fuel and energy
generation” of the Thrust's roadmap.

Fig. 1. A proposed reaction mechanism of the direct C−H arylation of benzene using H2. The structures were determined by X-ray
analysis. Complex 2 was characterized by MALDI-TOF MS and XPS. The thermally unstable transient species 3 was observed by
ESI-MS.

2. ‌Materials development for hydrogen service (Prof. Macadre)In this work [2], we combine alloying and grainrefinement to obtain hydrogen-compatible low-Ni
austenitic stainless steels. Figure 2 (left) shows that
addition of nitrogen, by a process developed by Prof.
Tsuchiyama, combined with microstructure refinement(grain size of 120μm after nitrogen addition, grain sizeof 15μm after refinement with cold-rolling and shortnormalizing) largely increases the strength of SUS304
and its hydrogen-compatibility. Nitrogen provides solid
solution strengthening, grain boundary strengthening,
and austenitic phase stabilization, thus replacing nickel
to an extent. Grain refinement is an efficient method

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

of increasing the yield stress without compromising
ductility. As shown in Fig. 2 (Right), the hydrogencompatibility reaches the same range as stable
austenitic steels such as SUS316L or SUS310S, which
are recognized as some of the most resistant alloys tohydrogen embrittlement. The hydrogen compatibility isevaluated using two criteria: Nickel equivalent (Nieq),
which is based on the austenite stability (calculated
solely with the chemical composition and predicatedon the principle that martensitic transformation
leads to hydrogen embrittlement) and the Reduced
Reduction of Area (RRA), obtained from the ratio of theSelected Research Accomplishments

reduction of area with and without hydrogen, whichshows the decrease of ductility induced by hydrogen.
The lines in Fig. 2. (Right) show the lower boundaries
for both RRA and Ni eq below which a steel is nothydrogen-compatible. This effort is directed toward

the short-term milestone “alloy design of low-Ni highSFE austenitic stainless steels” in Project 4 “Material
development for hydrogen service” of the Thrust’s
roadmap.

Fig. 2. Left: Tensile properties of SUS304 without hydrogen (straight line) and after exposure to 100 MPa hydrogen gas (dotted line).
The addition of nitrogen and grain refinement greatly improve both the strength and the hydrogen compatibility (no hydrogen
embrittlement). Right: Evaluation of the hydrogen compatibility with both chemical composition criterion (Nickel equivalent) andductility criterion (Reduced reduction of area). The combination of nitrogen addition and grain refinement brings the compatibility
in the range of SUS316L or SUS310S.

3. ‌Ammonia mitigation and induction effects on hydrogen embrittlement of SCM440 low-alloy steel (PI Kubota
and Prof. Komoda)
This work [3] reports two conflicting ammonia (NH3)effects, namely mitigation of hydrogen embrittlement(HE) and induction of HE during fracture toughness
testing of a low alloy steel in NH3-added hydrogenand nitrogen gases, and the plausible underlying
mechanisms of the effects (Fig. 3). The mitigation of
HE by NH3 was achieved by preferential adsorptionof NH 3 on the Fe surface resulting in deactivationof catalytic action of the Fe surface for H2 molecule
dissociation into H atoms. In other words, NH3 mixedin H2 gas prevented hydrogen uptake in the material,
and thus HE was mitigated. On the other hand, NH3adsorbed on the catalytic Fe surface was decomposed
into hydrogen and other compounds such as NH2. The
created hydrogen induced HE. Whether mitigation
or induction of HE is the case is determined by
the reaction rates of NH 3 with Fe surface and NH 3
decomposition, respectively. The former is significantly
faster than the latter. When the loading rate is high,the crack propagates only under only the NH3 effecthindering hydrogen uptake, and HE is mitigated. Whenthe loading rate is low, the NH3 decomposition occurs
and hydrogen is supplied during crack propagation
resulting in HE. We also investigated the dependenceof both effects on the NH3 concertation. An increasein NH 3 concentration increased the HE mitigation
effect by providing higher NH3 coverage of the Fesurface. This is in contrast to the expectation that ahigher NH 3 concentration may increase hydrogen
supply, thus increasing the susceptibility to HE. This
inverse dependence of HE on NH 3 concentrationis due to the fact that vacant sites on the Fe surface
adjacent to the NH3-adsorbed sites are required for the
NH3 decomposition. Increased NH3 surface coverage
reduces the number of vacant sites, which results inless NH3 decomposition. This effort is directed toward
the short-term milestone “Establish validated physicaldescriptions of effects of gas impurities on H2 assisted
cracking” in Project 3 “Predictive models of H2-assisted
cracking” of the Thrust’s roadmap.

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Selected Research Accomplishments

Fig. 3. Results of fracture toughness test in NH3 mixed H2 (Left) and NH3 mixed N2 (Middle) gases. Reduction in fracture toughness
in hydrogen (H2) gas ( ■ ) is mitigated by NH3 ( ▲△ ). In contrast, reduction in fracture toughness is induced by NH3 (). Therole of NH3 in both conflicting NH3 effects is graphically explained (Right). (a) Hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in H2 gas is triggeredby H2 molecule dissociation into H atoms. (b) NH3 is preferentially adsorbed on the Fe surface. Then, uptake of H2 molecules by Fe
surface is prevented. This results in mitigation of HE. (c) On the other hand, NH3 adsorbed on the Fe surface is decomposed into H
and other compounds such as NH2. The created H induces HE.

4. ‌The Contribution of textured surfaces to reducing friction in hydrodynamic lubrication (Prof. Yagi and PI
Sugimura)
Reduction in friction is one of most crucial issues
for energy savings in the field of tribology. The
use of artificially textured surfaces is expected to
improve lubrication characteristics in a wide rangeof lubrication regimes from boundary lubrication,
elastohydrodynamic lubrication, and hydrodynamic
lubrication. Yagi et al. [4] investigated the impact
of textured surfaces on the lubrication performancein starved lubrication conditions. A friction test rig
including an in-situ observation system was used with
controlled lubricant quantity to create point contact
between a convex glass lens and rotating steel disc.
The in-situ observation system captures the meniscus
pattern around the lubricated area as well as opticalinterferograms of the film thicknesses. Longitudinal ortransverse grooves are created on discs, which improve
lubricant supply into the lubricated area at high sliding
conditions, compared to a flat disc. The results showthat textured groove patterns created on the surface
improve lubricant oil transport into the lubricatedarea even in starvation conditions. Mechanisms
for improving the lubricant supply through textured
patterns are also discussed based on the in-situ
observation results. These results contribute to theshort-term milestone “Petroleum-based lubrication” in
Project 5 “Low friction and wear technology by control
of tribo-interfaces” of the Thrust’s roadmap.

5. ‌Friction and wear of PTFE composites in hydrogen (Prof. Sawae and PI Sugimura)Single-filler polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) composites
are widely used as materials for seals and pistonrings in hydrogen applications, and their tribological
performance greatly affect reliability and durabilityof the components. Sawae et al. [5] have studied thedependence of friction and wear on salient factors
including filler materials, sliding conditions including
environmental gas, its purity and temperature, andthe mechanisms of the relevant processes. The present
study focused on different tribological behaviors withdifferent filler materials in purity-controlled hydrogen.
PTFE composites with different filler materials wereprepared and their tribological characteristics were
evaluated in gaseous hydrogen to investigate thetribological function of each filler material. The results
indicate that glass fibers in hydrogen cause severe

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

abrasion on the cast iron sliding counterface and hence
increased wear in both the composite and counterface.
The friction and wear characteristics of polyphenylene
sulphide-filled PTFE in hydrogen are similar to thosein ambient air because of the formation of a PTFEbased transfer film on the counterface regardless of thesurrounding atmosphere. On the other hand, carbon
fibre-filled PTFE exhibit excellent low friction and low
wear in hydrogen. In this case, both the composite
surface and sliding counterface are covered withcarbon-rich tribofilms. These results contribute to theunderstanding of the failure mechanism of polymer
seals used in hydrogen infrastructure and meet the
short-term milestone “Tribo-failure prevention” in
Project 5 “Low friction and wear technology by control
of tribo-interfaces” of the Thrust's roadmap.

Selected Research Accomplishments

6. ‌Elucidation of the mechanism for ammonia synthesis via hydrogenation of N2 on Ru/MgO catalysts (PIYamauchi and Prof. Noguchi)

Fig. 4. IR absorbance differences observed for Ru/MgO in the period of 0−78 s after exposure to N2 gas at 250 °C and the matching
DFT-calculated conﬁgurations of N2 chemisorbed on Ru153 and Ru (0001). Values in magenta and green correspond to
experimental and DFT-calculated wavenumbers, respectively.

Ammonia is a promising hydrogen carrier, and henceammonia synthesis catalysts which can efficiently
combine nitrogen and hydrogen are highly sought.
In this work, we achieved in situ observation ofactivated nitrogen molecules on a catalyst underreaction conditions for the first time, which would
strongly support further improvement of catalytic
performance. More specifically, this work [6] reports
adsorption states of N2 and H2 on Ru nanoparticles
supported on MgO under reaction conditions
close to those of ammonia synthesis (1 atm, 250ºC), which was revealed by modulation-excitation
infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory
calculations using nanoscale Ru particle model (Fig.
4). We first resolved several N 2 adsorption peaks,
from which the two highest ones correspond to themolecules’ vertical chemisorption on the top andbridge sites. Longer-term observation clearly showed
the change in the population from the verticallyadsorbed N 2 on the top to the bridge sites of thenanoparticle. Because of the site heterogeneity on
the Ru nanoparticle, the remaining lower peaks wereassigned to the horizontally adsorbed N 2 having a
dipole moment. These peaks correspond to activatedN 2 species exhibiting elongated bond distances,and bond orders that could correspond to a lesser
double N-N bond caused by the increased chargetransfer from the nanoparticle to the N atoms. After
its adsorption on the nanoparticle’s top sites, the H2
molecule rapidly dissociates, leading to H atoms
strongly binding to the surface and blocking theactive sites of the Ru nanoparticle. This achievement
is toward the short-term milestone “R&D for power
charge; Fuel regeneration by electroreduction: η=70%” in Project 2 “Nanomaterials and nanodevices
designed for efficient energy & materials conversion”
of the Thrust’s roadmap.

7. ‌Surface functionalization and hydrophobization of gold nanoparticles for efficient photoenergy conversion
devices (Prof. Takahashi)<<

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Selected Research Accomplishments

d=15 nmd=30 nmd=50 nmd=80 nmFig. 5. Enhancement effects based on localized surface plasomon resonance depend on various factors, such as the size and theaggregation state of the plasmonic nanoparticles. A pair plasmonic nanoparticles exhibits larger enhancement effects than single
ones. A 2D array of the nanoparticles exhibits much larger effects. 2D arrays of larger plasmonic nanoparticles so far are very
effective for photoenergy harvesting.

Theoretical calculations show that order control ofmetal nanoparticles is an effective approach toward
developing photoenergy conversion devices withhigh efficiencies [7]. This fabrication involving 80nm
particles is the first reported worldwide; previous
efforts involved nanoparticles only as large as 20nm.
We also found localized electric fields of surface
plasmon on Raman scattering and luminescence
properties of porphyrin dye molecules which wereanchored on the surface of ~50nm Au nanoparticles.

O u r f a b r i c a t i o n a p p r o a ch t o c o n t r o l l i n g t h earrangement of particles and dyes at the nano-levelholds promise on effectively utilizing the photoenergyharvesting effect of plasmonic metal nanoparticles(Fig. 5). These results meet the short-term milestone“Establish novel photoenergy conversion system basedon charge separation at the nanointerface” in Project 2“Nanomaterials and nanodevices designed for efficientenergy and materials conversion” of the Thrust’s
roadmap.

Referencesof Textured Surfaces in Starved Hydrodynamic
Lubrication, Tribology International. 2021, 154:
106756: DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106756[1] Yatabe T, Tome T, Takahashi Y, Matsumoto T, Yoon
KS, Nakai H, Ogo S. C-H Arylation of Benzene
with Aryl Halides using H2 and a Water-Soluble RhBased Electron Storage Catalyst. Chemistry. 2021,
27(69):17326-17330. doi: 10.1002/chem.202102735.
[2] Hara N, Goda K, Macadre A. Hydrogen
Compatibility of a Nitrogen-Added Metastable
Austenitic Stainless Steel, The Japan Society for
Material Science, The Proceedings of Conference of
Chugoku-Shikoku Branch (2021) p.02a4, https://doi.
org/10.1299/jsmecs.2021.59.02a4.
[3] Zhang N, Komoda R, Yamada K, Kubota M.
Staykov A. Ammonia Mitigation and Induction
Effects on Hydrogen Environment Embrittlement of
SCM440 Low-Alloy Steel, International Journal of
Hydrogen Energy. 2022, 47: 15084-15093: https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.03.006[4] Yagi K, Matsunaka W, Sugimura J. Impact

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

[5] Sawae Y, Morita T, Takeda K, Onitsuka S, Kaneuti
J, Yamaguchi T, Sugimura J. Friction and Wear of
PTFE Composites with Different Filler in High Purity
Hydrogen Gas, Tribology International, 2021, 157:
106884: DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2021.106884[6] David S. Rivera Rocabado, Noguchi, TG, Hayashi,
S, Maeda, N, Yamauchi, M, Ishimoto, T. Real ad/
desorption states of activated nitrogen and hydrogenon Ru nanoparticles uncovered by modulationexcitation infrared spectroscopy and density functional
theory nanoscale-model calculation, ACS Nano, 2021,
15(12), 20079-20086.
[7] Ishida T, Yanaga Y, Yamada S, Takahashi Y, A
Versatile Method for Surface Functionalization andHydrophobization of Gold Nanoparticles, Applied
Surface Science, 2021, 546, 148932: https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.148932

Selected Research Accomplishments

Advanced Energy Conversion Systems
1. ‌Toward highly efficient solid oxide protonic electrolysis cells for large-scale hydrogen production (PIMatsumoto and Prof. Leonard)
Hydrogen plays a significant role in many future
renewable energy strategies, and the process of steam
electrolysis at moderate temperatures (400-600ºC) isa robust approach toward managing the degradation
problem in high-temperature electrolysis devices (Fig.
1). The use of ceramic proton-conducting electrolytes
provides a promising strategy for electrolysis within
this temperature range. However, fabricating this typeof electrolytes in a scaled-up manner for industrial
use faces a number of obstacles. Fabrication of thisclass of devices is affected by stresses due to shrinkage
mismatch and complications arising from sintering
kinetics. Addressing these issues, we focused on
fabricating multi-layered devices that can work withexcellent efficiency via a cost-effective sequential
tape-casting approach. We carefully controlled thestarting powder properties and slurry formulationand successfully obtained single cells of dimensions
up to 100 mm × 100 mm × 0.5 mm with diminishedwarping and no cracks during fabrication. In addition,
the electrolytes in our half-cell are appropriately dense
and gas-tight after co-firing at 1300ºC, which is about
200ºC lower than current sintering temperatures.
Figure 1 presents a schematic illustration of a steam
electrolysis cell with a proton conductor and a flat 50
× 50 mm2 BaZr0.44Ce0.36Y0.2O2.9 electrolyte cell. The
devices could perform excellently at 500 and 600ºC;
electrolysis voltage as low as 1.3 V is attainable at acurrent density of 1 A/cm2 at 600°C achieving ~83%
current efficiency [1]. From this performance, thecalculated amount of electricity required to produce
1 N-m3 of hydrogen is ~3.5 kWh, lower than the 5

kWh necessary for the same amount of hydrogenusing ordinary water electrolysis. These results pave
the way for low-cost fabrication of large-sized protonic
electrolysis cells and are directed to the midterm
milestone of Project 1 “Solid oxide cells for power andfuel generation (Development of highly efficient oxideion-conductor-based SOFC and SOEC).”

Fig 1. Schematic illustration of a steam electrolysis cell with aproton conductor and a flat 50 × 50 mm2 electrolyte cell.

2. ‌Tailor-made multi-resonance terminal emitters toward narrowband, high-efficiency, and stablehyperfluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (PI Adachi and Prof. Matsushima)
Recently, there has been a wide variety of studies onthermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)based OLEDs since TADF can realize 100% electronphoton conversion using simple aromatic compounds,
indicating the unlimited possibilities of TADF
molecular design. Further, hyperfluorescence (HP)OLEDs in which excitons are generated by TADF
and all excitons are transferred to a terminal emitter(TE) have been developed since they can offer thecompatibility of high efficiency and narrow spectral

width, which is in strong demand for practicaldisplay applications. Here we succeeded in ourrecent cutting-edge HP-OLEDs demonstrating high
OLED performance by optimizing host, TADF, andTE molecules [2, 3]. In particular, we focused on theblue emission, which is capable of showing narrow
FWHM and high EL quantum yield (Fig. 2). Blue HPOLEDs based on two new TEs are fabricated, resulting
in high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of over
20%, high color purity, and high brightness. In thisI2CNER Annual Report 2021

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Selected Research Accomplishments

study, we established a designing principle for a
TADF and TE in HP-OLEDs focusing on efficient FRET
and no significant carrier trapping. Further, we will
demonstrate the enhancement of device durabilityof HP-OLEDs based on the unique mechanism ofactive removal of triplets [4] and multi-component
EML systems [5]. These accomplishments represent
our initial work in the space of blue OLEDs, under
Project 6 for “Light-emitting system with low power
consumption” in the Thrust’s roadmap.

Fig 2. EL performance of hyperfluorescence based OLED.

3. ‌Photo-enhanced ionic conductivity across grain boundaries in polycrystalline ceramics (PI Tuller)
Grain boundary conductivity limitations are ubiquitousin material science. We show that illumination
with above-bandgap light can decrease the grainboundary resistance in solid ionic conductors [6].
Specifically, we demonstrate the increase of thegrain boundary conductance of a 3 mol% Gddoped ceria solid oxide electrolyte thin film by afactor approximately 3.5 at 250°C and the reductionof its activation energy from 1.12 to 0.68 eV underillumination (Fig. 3). The presented model predicts
that photo-generated electrons decrease the potential
barrier heights associated with space charge zones

depleted in charge carriers between adjacent grains.
The discovered opto-ionic effect could pave the way
for the development of new electrochemical storage
and conversion technologies operating at lower
temperatures and/or higher efficiencies and could
be further used for fast and contactless control ordiagnosis of ionic conduction in polycrystalline solids.
This accomplishment progresses us toward achieving
the short-term and mid-term milestones of Project 1“Solid oxide cells for power and fuel generation” in theThrust’s roadmap.

Fig 3. (a) Arrhenius dependence of the ionic conductivity obtained from epitaxial and polycrystalline samples of Gd doped CeO2
solid electrolyte in the dark and under different levels of illumination; (b) Mechanism of the opto-ionic effect and the consequences
for potential distribution and charge carrier concentrations.

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4. ‌Perovskite oxynitride semiconductors for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting (PIs Ishihara and Lippert)
Perovskite oxynitride semiconductors have recently
a t t ra c t e d s i g n i f i c a n t a t t e n t i o n , a s p r o m i s i n g
photoelectrode materials for photoelectrochemical(PEC) water splitting, as demonstrated by the extensive
studies of the PEC activity of oxynitride powder-based
photoelectrodes and/or deposited thin film electrodes.
High crystalline quality, oxynitride thin films grownby physical vapor deposition are ideal for PEC water
splitting. Our team studied the fundamental physicaland chemical properties of the surface of thesematerials, including their evolution. In particular,

using a combination of high-sensitive low-energy ion
scattering (LEIS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), we monitored the surface evolution of
LaTiOxNy (LTON) and CaNbOxNy (CNON) thin films(Fig. 4) [7]. These results directly address the shortand mid-term milestones under Project 4 for “Catalyst
design for photochemical water splitting” in theThrust’s roadmap.

Fig 4. (a) LEIS energy spectra of LTON-(001) epitaxial films, measured by a 3 keV He+ analysis beam on the outer surface of thesamples before (i) and after PEC (ii) and after depth profiling of both samples by Ar sputtering. (b) comparison of cation (Ti:La) ratios
as a function of depth for LEIS spectra of LTON-(001) films before PEC and after PEC. (c) schematic illustration of compositionalvariations in near-surface region of the LTON-(001) films before and after PEC measurement.

References[1] Kwati Leonard, Yuji Okuyama, Mariya E. Ivanova,
Wilhelm A. Meulenberg, and Hiroshige Matsumoto(2022) ChemElectroChem, Tailored and Improved
Protonic Conductivity through Ba(ZxCe10−x)0.08Y0.2O3−δ Ceramics Perovskites Type Oxides
for Electrochemical Devices,9, e202101663. doi.
org/10.1002/celc.202101663[2] Chin-Yiu Chan, Tanaka, M, Lee, Y-T, Wong, Y-W,
Nakanotani, H, Hatakeyama, T, and Adachi, C. (2021)
Stable pure-blue hyperfluorescence organic lightemitting diodes with high-efficiency and narrow
emission, Nature Photonics, 15, 203.
[3] Yi-Ting Lee, Chan, C-Y, Tanaka, M, Mamada,M, Balijapalli, U, Tsuchiya, Y, Nakanotani, H,
Hatakeyama, T, and Adachi C. (2021), Investigating
HOMO Energy Levels of Terminal Emitters for
Realizing High-Brightness and Stable TADF-Assisted
Fluorescence Organic Light-Emitting Diodes,
Advanced Electronic Materials, 7, 2001090.
[4] Yi-Ting Lee, Chan, C-Y, Tanaka, M, Mamada, M,

Goushi, K, Tang X, Tsuchiya, Y, Nakanotani, H, Adachi,
C. (2022), Tailor-Made Multi-Resonance Terminal
Emitters toward Narrowband, High-Efficiency, andStable Hyperfluorescence Organic Light-Emitting
Diodes, Advanced Optical Materials, 6, 2200682.
[5] Masaki Tanaka, Nagata, R, Nakanotani, H, andAdachi, C. Precise Exciton Management of Quaternary
Emission Layers for Highly Stable Organic LightEmitting Diodes Based on Thermally Activated Delayed
Fluorescence, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12,50668.
[6] T. Defferriere, D. Klotz, J. C. Gonzalez-Rosillo,
J. L. M. Rupp, and H. L. Tuller, Photo-Enhanced
Ionic Conductivity Across Grain Boundaries in
Polycrystalline Ceramics, Nat. Mater. 21, 438-444(2022) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01181-2.
Selected for Front Journal Cover.
[7] Fatima Haydous, Luo, S, Wu, K-T, Lawley, C,
Döbeli, M, Ishihara, I, and Lippert, T. Surface Analysis
of Perovskite Oxynitride Thin Films as Photoelectrodes
for Solar Water Splitting, ACS Applied Materials &Interfaces, 13, 37785-37796 (2021).

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Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy
and the Environment
1. ‌Direct air capture by nanomembrane (PI Fujikawa and Prof. Selyanchyn)

Climate change caused by emissions of greenhousegases into the atmosphere is arguably one of themost important issues for our society. Direct captureof the carbon dioxide (CO 2) from the air (direct air
capture, DAC) is one among a variety of negativeemission technologies that are expected to keep
global warming below 1.5°C, as recommended by
the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change(IPCC). Current DAC technologies are mainly basedon sorbent-based systems where CO 2 is trappedin the solution or on the surface of porous solids
covered with compounds with high CO2 affinity. These
processes are currently rather expensive, although thecost is expected to go down as the technologies aredeveloped and deployed at scale.
We discuss the potential of membrane-based DAC(m-DAC) by taking advantage of the state-of-theart performance of organic polymer membranes[1]. Based on process simulation, we showed thattargeted performance for the m-DAC is achievablewith competitive energy expenditure. It is shownthat application of a multi-stage separation process
can enable the preconcentration of atmospheric
CO 2 (0.04%) to 40% (Fig. 1). This possibility andcombination of the membranes with advanced CO2
conversion may lead to realistic means for opening acircular CO2 economy.
This achievement directly addresses the short-termmilestone “Development of nanomembrane materials
with high CO2 permeance,” in the Project “Capture of
CO2 at multiple concentration levels” of the Thrust’s
roadmap.

Fig 1. (a) Proposed strategy of direct air capture by 4-stage membrane separation process, (b) Influence of CO2 content in asurrounding atmosphere (feed gas) on the CO2 concentration in the product gas at each separation step.

2. ‌Continuous monitoring of injected CO2 (PI Tsuji and Prof. Ikeda)

Active-source time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys
are commonly used to monitor reservoirs of CO 2
storage with high spatial resolution on the basis ofvariations in seismic velocity. However, the high costof conventional time-lapse (4D) seismic monitoring(Fig. 2a) typically limits the use of 4D techniques tolong time intervals (e.g. 5 years), making it difficult to
identify unexpected and rapid changes such as leakage

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in CO2 storage reservoirs. To continuously monitor
the stored CO2, we have developed a new continuous
monitoring system based on small seismic sources. The
source system generates continuous waveforms witha wide frequency range. Because the signal timingis accurately controlled, stacking the continuous
waveforms enhances the signal-to-noise ratio, allowing
the use of a small seismic source to monitor extensiveSelected Research Accomplishments

areas. An active-source system with dimensions of~1m based on an oscillating mass of ~10 kg (Fig. 2b)
has produced a monitoring signal that was detected at
a distance of ~80 km and enabled temporal variationsof seismic velocity to be identified with an error of<0.01% [2]. The long signal propagation achievedby the permanent active-source monitoring systems
allowed us to greatly downsize the source system formonitoring smaller subsurface volumes of kilometerscale. Recently, we have developed minimal (cmscale) seismic source system [3] for reservoir-scalemonitoring (Fig. 2c) and found that the monitoringsignal derived from the small seismic source can
propagate to 1 km.

Therefore, we can use the cm-scale seismic source
system for the continuous monitoring of CO2 storage
with low cost. Because of the low cost of the cmscale seismic source, we can deploy a large numberof seismic sources and obtain high-spatial resolution
monitoring. Toward this end, we collaborated with four
private companies to commercialize this monitoring
system.
This achievement is directed toward the short-termmilestone “Develop effective monitoring system using
continuous source system and fiber optic cable (DAS)”in the Project “Monitoring of CO2 saturation and porepressure” of the Thrust’s roadmap.

Fig 2. Continuous seismic source system for continuous monitoring. (a) Conventional seismic source system commonly used in theonshore monitoring. Seismic source system for continuous monitoring of CO2 storage reservoirs in (b) meter-scale [2] and (c)centimeter-scale [3].

3. ‌Modeling of CO2 leakage for sub-seabed CO2 storage (PI Tsuji and Prof. Jiang)
A risk associated with sub-seabed CO 2 storage isleakage of the stored CO 2 due to unpredictablereasons such as earthquakes. For such a situation,
understanding the hydrodynamics and the complex
phase interactions of three-phase systems (CO2 gas,
water, and sediment) is important for estimating theenvironmental impact on the deep ocean ecosystem
due to CO2 leakage. We developed a sophisticatednumerical method to simulate the process of upwardmigration of leaked gas bubbles through a brinefilled sediment column at the seafloor and elucidate

the influence of leak flow rate and interfacial tension
on the phenomena. The dimensionless Eötvös (EO)and Weber (WE) numbers can characterize the threedifferent flow regimes (connected finger flow, transition
flow, dispersed bubbly flow) during CO2 leakage (Fig.
3). We found that the surface tension force and thebuoyancy force play a major role in determining theCO2 leakage behavior [4].
This achievement is part of our research in the
project titled “Monitoring of CO2 saturation and porepressure.”

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Selected Research Accomplishments

Fig 3. Flow regimes of rising CO2 bubbles in sediment. The different regions are connected finger flow (square, Region I), transition
flow (circle, Region II), and dispersed bubble flow (triangle, Region III). The dashed line indicates the transition boundary, and EO
and WE denote respectively the Eötvös and Weber numbers.

4. ‌New model for gas-solid adsorption kinetics (PI Saha)
In achieving carbon neutrality, utilizing energy
efficiently is as important as the usage of renewableenergy. The gas-solid adsorption phenomenon has
been utilized in many applications because it allows
for utilization of waste heat as driving force. The twomost important features in gas-solid adsorption are
the sorption uptake and kinetics. Although there aremany models for predicting adsorption isotherms,
there is hardly any proper kinetics model which canaccurately predict the sorption kinetics. The mostsignificant drawback of traditional kinetics models
such as Fickian diffusion, linear driving force, andsemi-infinite model has been their time-dependent
deviation from experimental data. Based on the widelyused linear driving force model, we have developed a
new mathematical model [5] which can correlate theexperimental adsorption kinetics data more precisely
than any other previously published models. The
proposed model (Fig. 4) can predict the adsorption
dynamics accurately both during the initial unsaturated
condition as well as during the later period when theadsorbent is near its saturated condition. Thus, one canuse this model for predicting the adsorption system
performance for both short and long cycle times.
This effort directly addresses the short-term milestone“Clear understanding of adsorption/desorption processof functional adsorbents” in the Project “Heat masstransfer: adsorption” in the Thrust’s roadmap.

Figure 4. Proposed kinetics model and comparison with main-stream models.

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Selected Research Accomplishments

5. ‌Lubrication type model for wetting dynamics of multicomponent liquids (PI Takata and Prof. Wang)
Wetting dynamics of multicomponent liquids is crucial
in liquid-based energy systems, including absorption
heat pumps/transformers as well as desalination
and water harvesting systems. Due to the systemcomplexity rooted in multiphase and multicomponent
characteristics, the wetting dynamics of theseapplication-oriented working fluids remains poorly
understood. Based on the lubrication theory, which has
been successfully utilized for the simulation of single
component liquids, we developed a comprehensive
and efficient model [6] for describing the wetting
dynamics of multicomponent liquids (droplets and thinfilms) with interfacial phase change. We focused on
the dynamics of hygroscopic aqueous solution droplets
and analyzed the interplay between different physicalprocesses (Fig. 5). Specifically, under the assumptionof a precursor film in front of the three-phase contact
line, the model is in qualitative agreement with ourexperimental results, quantitatively with respect to theinitial spreading rates and qualitatively with respect

to the overall behavior. Depending on the droplet
state and the ambient condition, evaporation orvapor absorption occurs. The evaporative/absorptive
mass flux varies both spatially and temporally as thedroplet approaches equilibrium. It is demonstrated thatthe dominating mechanisms, i.e. capillary, thermal
Marangoni, and solutal Marangoni compete with eachother, and lead to diverse droplet dynamics at different
stages of evaporation or vapor absorption. The findings
shed light on the physical processes within dropletswith both positive and negative interfacial mass fluxes
and provide rational explanations for the experimental
observations. The work paves a methodological basefor fully understanding the dominating mechanisms
and for optimizing the fluid behaviors, indicating great
potentials in efficiency enhancement of liquid-basedenergy systems. This effort addresses the short-termmilestone “Clear understanding of wettability effects
in liquid-vapor phase change” in the Project “Phasechange heat transfer” of the Thrust’s roadmap.

Fig 5. Proposed lubrication-type model for multicomponent droplets with interfacial phase change

6. ‌Global evaluation of the impact of low-carbon energy transitions on social equity (PI Chapman)
A shift toward renewable energy is generally
considered positive toward advancing the energy
transition, however, very little research has been
undertaken to uncover the lifestyle related impacts.
Also, it is well known that different nations withdifferent endowments of natural resources and different
levels of development will advance their transition
at different speeds and using a variety of policy
instruments. Even with this understanding, renewableenergy deployment is often undertaken under a ‘onesize-fits-all’ policy approach. By evaluating low-carbon
energy transitions in 99 nations, each with a different
starting point and trajectory for their transition, overa period of 26 years, we begin to quantify the social
impacts of transitions (Fig. 6) and to suggest evidencebased policies, appropriate to each nation’s needs.
Using indicators relevant to energy policy and theenergy transition, five critical social equity impactsof environmental improvement, health, employment,
participation, and energy cost are investigated fromthe viewpoint of an ‘equitable’ energy transition. We
investigate the correlation between quantitative social
equity impacts and the shift toward new renewableenergy-based electricity (i.e., wind, photovoltaic,
geothermal, tidal, biomass etc.) from 1990 to 2015,
for 99 nations with differing development levels,

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Selected Research Accomplishments

energy resources and policies. We find that increased
levels of new renewable energy deployment generallyaccompany social equity improvement, however
geography, national income level and complementaryenergy policies are also important [7]. This study's

holistic evaluation of energy transitions and social
equity outcomes could be used as an input toproactive policy development contributing to therealization of a more equitable energy transition.

Fig 6. Contrasting (a) the change in RE-based electricity generation and (b) social equity outcomes.

References

Physics, 454, 110963(2022).

[1] Fujikawa, S. and Selyanchyn, R. Direct air capture
by membranes. MRS Bulletin 47, 416-423 (2022).

[5] Rupa, M.J., Pal, A., Mitra, S., Saha, B.B., Time
adapted linear driving force model for gas adsorption
onto solids. Chemical Engineering Journal, 420,
129785.

[2] Tsuji, T., Ikeda, T., Matsuura, R. et al. Continuous
monitoring system for safe managements of CO 2
storage and geothermal reservoirs. Scientific Reports
11, 19120 (2021). Doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97881-5.
[3] Tsuji, T., Tsuji, S., Kinoshita, J. Ikeda, T., Ahmad,
A., 4 cm portable active 1 seismic source (PASS) for
meter- to kilometer-scale imaging and monitoring of
subsurface structures, Seismological Research Letters,
doi: 10.1785/0220220049.
[4] Jiang, F., Liu, H., Chen, X., & Tsuji, T. A coupled
LBM-DEM method for simulating the multiphase fluidsolid interaction problem. Journal of Computational

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I2CNER Annual Report 2021

[6] Wang, Z., Karapetsas, G., Valluri, P., Sefiane, K.,
Williams, A., & Takata, Y. Dynamics of hygroscopic
aqueous solution droplets undergoing evaporation orvapour absorption. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 912(2021).
[7] Chapman, A, Shigetomi, Y, Ohno, H, McLellan,
B, Shinozaki, A., Evaluating the global impact of
low-carbon energy transitions on social equity.
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 40,
pp 332-347.

Advancing Fusion of Research Fields

Advanced Energy Materials
1. ‌Non-conventional octameric structure of C-phycocyanin (PI Ogo and Prof. Yoon)
This work provides the first experimental findingof a new type of light-harvesting protein complex,
which has the potential as light-harvesting pigment
for a model system of photosynthesis. C-phycocyanin(CPC), a blue pigment protein, is an indispensable
component of giant phycobilisomes, which are lightharvesting antenna complexes in cyanobacteria thattransfer energy efficiently to photosystems I and II.
X-ray crystallographic and electron microscopy (EM)analyses have revealed the structure of CPC to be aclosed toroidal hexamer by assembling two trimers. In
this study [1], the structural characterization of nonconventional octameric CPC is reported for the firsttime (Fig. 1). Analyses of the crystal and cryogenic
EM structures of the native CPC from filamentous
thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermoleptolyngbya
sp. O-77 unexpectedly illustrated the coexistenceof conventional hexamer and novel octamer. In
addition, an unusual dimeric state, observed via
analytical ultracentrifugation, was postulated to bea key intermediate structure in the assembly of thepreviously unobserved octamer. These observations
provide new insights into the assembly processes of
CPCs and the mechanism of energy transfer in thelight-harvesting complexes.

Fig 1. Crystal models of hexameric and octameric phycocyanin from a filamentous thermophilic cyanobacterium
Thermoleptolyngbya sp. O-77. The structural chains of hexameric and octameric phycocyanins are represented by green and cyanribbon models, respectively. The phycocyanobilins of light harvesting-pigment are represented by gray lines.

Disciplines: Biology, biochemistry, structural biology
2. ‌Effect of gas pressure on hydrogen environment embrittlement of carbon steel A106 in carbon monoxide
mixed hydrogen gas (PIs Kubota and Staykov)
In this work, through fracture toughness testing, wecharacterized the carbon monoxide (CO) effect on
the mitigation of hydrogen embrittlement (HE) in
conjunction with the hydrogen gas pressure effectfor the case of A106 pipeline steel in hydrogen (H2),nitrogen (N2), and CO mixed H2 gases [2]. Mitigationof HE by CO was experimentally confirmed and acritical CO concentration at which HE was suppressed
was identified as a function of partial H2 gas pressure.
The critical CO concentration increased withincreasing H2 partial pressure (Fig. 2. Left). Molecular
dynamics (MD) simulations based on surface
chemistry were conducted to interpret this trend. The
MD simulations revealed that the dissociation rate of
H2 molecules to atomic hydrogen on the Fe surface
significantly increases with increasing gas pressure,
whereas the adsorption rate of CO on the Fe surface
was almost independent of the gas pressure (Fig. 2,
Middle and Right). These results indicate that theincrease in the gas pressure promotes hydrogen uptake

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Advancing Fusion of Research Fields

in the material, which accounts for the experimental
results showing that the CO concentration at which

complete HE prevention is achieved increases with theelevation of the gas pressure.

Fig 2. Critical CO concentration required for HE mitigation (Left). Higher CO concertation is needed to achieve mitigation of HE
when H2 partial pressure increases. Results of molecular dynamics simulations that show the changing of reaction rate (dN /dt) of H2
or CO (Middle and right) with the change in environmental gas pressure are shown in the figures on the middle and right. The
crossing point of CO and H2 lines moves to the left with increasing gas pressure. This means that CO mitigating effect is weakened
with an increase in gas pressure.

Disciplines: Hydrogen embrittlement, mechanics of materials, surface chemistry, theoretical chemistry

References[1] Minato T, Teramoto T, Adachi N, Hung NK, Yamada
K, Kawasaki M, Akutsu M, Moriya T, Senda T, Ogo
S, Kakuta Y, Yoon KS. Non-conventional octameric
structure of C-phycocyanin. Commun Biol. 2021,
4(1):1238. Doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02767-x. (Press
release)[2] Komoda R, Kubota M, Staykov A, Ginet P, Barbier F,
Furtado J, Prost L, Nagao A. Effect of Gas Pressure on
Hydrogen Environment Embrittlement of Carbon SteelA106 in Carbon Monoxide Mixed Hydrogen Gas.
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A. 2022, 53:
74-85: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06491-3

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Advancing Fusion of Research Fields

Advanced Energy Conversion Systems
1. ‌Electro-chemo-mechanics (PI Tuller)
Understanding complex chemo-mechanicalrelationships is crucial for understanding and avoiding
failures in any solid-oxide-cell-based electrochemical
devices. Electro-chemo-mechanics studies at I2CNER
and MIT by the team of PI Tuller previously identified
the atomistic origins of chemical expansion anddiscovered factors that can be used to tailor it. This
has led to rational design of energy conversion
materials with enhanced durability and innovationof new characterization techniques (surface science,
optical spectroscopy, crystallography, high temperatureelectrochemistry, and computational materials
science). PI Tuller and his team investigated theimpact of strain on ion migration [1] in solid oxide
electrolytes with the ultimate objective of determining
if this approach can be used to further improve
electrolyte conductivity and therefore performance [2].

Disciplines: electrochemistry, mechanics, materials science, surface science, crystallography, microstructuralcharacterization

References[1] George F. Harrington, Sunho Kim, Kazunari
Sasaki, Harry L. Tuller, and Steffen Grieshammer.
Strain-modified Oxygen-ion Conductivity in Rareearth Substituted Ceria Thin Films: Effects of Migration
Direction, Barriers and Defect-interactions, J. Mat.
Chem. A9, 8630-8643(2021). doi.org/10.1039/
D0TA12150A[2] H. Wulfmeier, D. Kohlmann, T. Defferriere, C.
Steiner, R. Moos, H. L. Tuller, and H. Fritze. Thin-Film
Chemical Expansion of Ceria based Solid Solutions:
Laser Vibrometry Study, Zeitschrift für Physikalische
Chemie, 41pp (2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/
zpch-2021-3125.

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Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy
and the Environment
1. ‌Mechanical strengthening of membrane (PI Fujikawa)
Nanometer-thick films are promising technology
on enhancing the performance of membrane gas
separation. However, membrane thinning decreases
the mechanical toughness and leads to membrane
breaking and crack formation. Improvement of
mechanical properties of nanomembranes has
been pursued in I2CNER and industrial partners by
PI Fujikawa and Dr. Kunitake. It has been foundthat incorporation of cellulose nanofibers under ananomembrane enhances its mechanical durability[ 1 ] . R o b u s t , n a n o m e t e r- t h i ck , p e r m s e l e c t ive
membranes were developed by composite formationfrom poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and cellulose
nanofibers (CNF).
Their unique behavior is discussed in relation tothat of a single-component PDMS nanomembrane.
In the absence of the CNF component, the PDMS
nanomembrane with a thickness of 34 nm displays
ultrahigh permeability of CO2 gas, which is only ca.
one order of magnitude smaller than that of free-flowing gases through a porous poly(acrylonitrile)
support film (PAN, thickness 150 μm). The constant
CO2/N2 selectivity observed for the whole range ofmembrane thickness (34 nm–10 μm) suggests that in
the single-component membrane, the kinetic process
at the membrane surface determines the permselective
behavior. Multilayered composite membranes are
obtainable by repeated spin coating. The mechanicalweakness of the single-component PDMS membrane is
improved by complexation with CNF, as confirmed by
the bulge test and the ease of macroscopic handling.
Such a robust PDMS–CNF nanomembrane gives
superior permeation of 50,000 GPU with a defect-free
PDMS layer of ca. 17 nm thickness. Interestingly, thepermeation characteristics of the composite membrane
are strongly affected by the asymmetric arrangementof PDMS and CNF layers, and the gas permeation fromthe side of the CNF layer is drastically reduced. The
PDMS composite membrane is expected to provide
practically useful systems as a means of direct air
capture.

Disciplines: Polymer chemistry, surface science, nanomaterial chemistry
2. ‌Perovskite-based bidirectional optical wireless power transfer systems (Profs. Hoa and Matsushima, PI Adachi)
Optical power transfer provides a way of transmitting
power through long distances without using wires. Thisis done by means of optical waves, in which solar cells
serve as optical receivers converting optical energy
to electricity (Fig. 1). In our proposed novel systemof bidirectional optical wireless power transfer, solar
cells are employed as optical transceivers, i.e. devices
capable of both absorbing and emitting light. To
achieve that, perovskite solar cells are selected owing
to their numerous advantages including small Stokes
shift that make them suitable to be optical transceivers.
In this work, a novel optical wireless power transfer
was proposed [3], for the first time, where a single
device – an optical transceiver – was used for bothabsorption and emission of light. As a result, thesystem structure, weight, size, and cost can be
reduced. This optical transceiver was made frommetal halide perovskite fabricated by the groups of
Matsushima and Adachi. Various characteristics of28

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

this perovskite transceiver were measured including
the absorbance, photoluminescence spectra, timeresolved transient photoluminescence curve, quantum
yield, I-V curve and luminance-voltage curve in thelight emitting mode, quantum efficiency, and incident
photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE). The
overlapped electroluminescence and IPCE curves showthat our perovskite device can indeed work in bothlight receiving and emitting modes, i.e. the proposedsystem is viable. This was again experimentally
verified by using two perovskite devices put in parallelat a distance of 1 cm, with one worked in the pulse
light emitting mode while the other worked in thelight absorption mode. The measured output of theperovskite receiver had the same form with that of theperovskite transmitter, hence experimentally validated
our proposed system. Lastly, a mathematical model
for representing the overall system power conversion
efficiency (PCE) was developed.

Advancing Fusion of Research Fields

The proposed novel system in [3] was then further
analyzed in [4] to test the system’s performance andthe mathematical model’s prediction of the system’s
PCE under various working conditions. It turned outthat PCE predictions were satisfactory even when thetwo perovskite transceivers were misaligned or rotatedbut predictions were not accurate if collimating lens
was used to focus the light emitted from one perovskite
cell. Accordingly, a data-driven mathematical modelin the form of a ratio of polynomials was proposedand validated to capture the system PCE when acollimating lens was utilized and when perovskite
transceivers were misaligned or rotated.
This research is at the intersection of materials
science, photonics, and power and energy systems.
It has a great potential to be used in a vast number ofapplications including internet of things (IoT) devices,
wearables and consumer electronics, transportationelectrification, and wireless power networks.

Fig 1. Illustration for perovskite-based bidirectional optical wireless power transfer systems.

Disciplines: Photochemistry, mathematics
3. ‌Econometric evaluation of environmental taxes on innovation (PIs Chapman and Saha)
Several studies have investigated the effect ofenvironmental taxes on economic growth and carbon
emissions. However, limited studies have quantitatively
identified the connection between environmental taxes
and technological innovations. In this collaboration

between energy analysis and energy economics
thinking, robust statistical methods are applied tothis issue to identify the positive linkage between
environmental taxes and innovation, especially indeveloped economics.

Fig 2. Long run relationships on technological innovation (left) and the desired leapfrog effect for developing nations (right).

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Advancing Fusion of Research Fields

Toward this goal, we developed a model [5] which
consists of panel cointegration analysis considering
the cross-sectional dependence, applied to quantify
the effects of environmental taxes on environmentrelated technological innovation in high and middleincome 42 countries from 1995 to 2018 (Fig. 2, left).
The long-run results suggest that environmental taxes
stimulate technological innovation; for example, a 1%
increase in environmental taxes was found to increase
environment-related technological innovation by 0.57
and 0.78% on average for high and middle-income
countries using the common correlated effects mean
Disciplines: Energy Analysis, Econometrics
References[1] Ariyoshi, M., Fujikawa, S., Kunitake, T. Robust,
Hyper-Permeable Nanomembrane Composites of Poly
(Dimethylsiloxane) and Cellulose Nanofibers. ACS
Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 13 (51), 61189–6119 (2022).
[3] Nguyen, D. H., Matsushima, T., Qin, C., Adachi,C., ”Towards Thing-to-Thing Optical Wireless Power
Transfer: Metal Halide Perovskite Transceiver as an
Enabler,” Frontiers in Energy Research, vol. 9, 679125(2021).
[4] Nguyen, D. H., Tumen-Ulzii, G., Matsushima, T.,
Adachi, C., “Performance Analysis of a Perovskitebased Thing-to-thing Optical Wireless Power Transfer
System,” IEEE Photonics Journal, vol. 14 (1), 6213208(2022).
[5] Karmaker, S.C, Hosan, S, Chapman, A, Saha, B.B.,“The role of environmental taxes on technologicalinnovation,” Energy, 232, 121052 (2021).

30

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG)
techniques, respectively. The policy implications of
this study suggest that imposing environmental taxes
can accelerate the advancement of environmentalrelated technologies for reducing carbon emission
and sustainable development in high and middleincome nations, with possible applications in a broad
range of nations, particularly as an evidence basefor developing nations to shorten energy transition
timelines (Fig. 2, right). It is hoped that these findings
can be applied to developing economies to enable a‘leap-frog’ impact on furthering the energy transition.

Returning Results to Society

Returning Results to Society
The relevance of I 2 CNER’s research efforts andobjectives in FY2021 toward enabling the green
innovation initiative of the government of Japan isevidenced through 20 new collaborative projects withindustry as well as 4 new or continued projects that
resulted in technology transfer events. A detailed list of
all the I2CNER Technology Transfer Events is outlinedin the report “Technology Transfer Summary: I2CNER’s

Interaction With and Impact on Industry.” During thecalendar year 2021, I2CNER filed for 17 patents, andwas granted 16, bringing the total number of patentapplications since inception to 355 and patents
awarded to 118.
The technology transfer that occurred in FY21
includes:1. ‌PI. S. Fujikawa provided consulting services to several companies on the development of technologies formass-production of CO2 separation nanomembranes.
The I 2 CNER research team of PI Fujikawa hasdeveloped the world’s thinnest CO 2 separation
nanomembranes with ultrahigh gas permeance.
This technology underlies the development of CO2
capture systems at scale and it is an essential tool in
combating global warming. To accelerate the societal

implementation of these nanomembrane-based CO2
capture systems, I2CNER has established collaborative
relationships with a number of industrial partners
for the development of roll-to-roll mass production
processes for CO2 capture membranes.

Fig 1. Enlargement of CO2 separation membranes toward mass-production of nanomembranes.

2. ‌Scaled-up production of polymer-wrapped carbon-based catalyst for industrial fuel cell application (PI T.
Fujigaya).
The technology gap between lab-scale synthesis andindustrial-scale production is always an issue for theinsertion of advanced new catalysts into practical fuelcell applications. By optimizing the synthesis process,we succeeded in scaling-up the process of productionof the polymer-wrapped catalysts from 10 mg/day
to 0.1 kg/day. This production rate is sufficient for
real-world fuel cell applications and the production
protocols have been shared with a number of industrial
partners who are participating in our pilot program.

Fig 2. Polymer-wrapped catalyst prepared from industry-scale
production (left: 0.1 kg) vs lab-scale synthesis(right: 10 mg).

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

31

Returning Results to Society

3. ‌Preparation of Tubular Solid Oxide Reversible Cell for CO2 reduction transferred to IHI (PI. Ishihara)
Fabrication method of tubular type solid oxide cells
using LSGM thin film by dip coating was transferred
to IHI. Measurement procedure for steam and CO 2(a)high temperature electrolysis was also provided. This
collaboration is continued in FY22 for reduction of
CO2 from power generator.

(b)

Fig 3. Photograph of the fabricated tubular type SORC for CO2-H2O or CO2 high temperature electrolysis by dip coating: (a) view
from above, and (b) side view.

4. ‌PI A. Staykov and Professor Y. Fukumoto (Institute of Mathematics for Industry) with DAICEL corporation forautomatized discovery of polymers with desired functionality.
Prof. Staykov (I2CNER) and Fukumoto (IMI) continued
their industrial collaboration with DAICEL on designand development of AI-based ML algorithm for fully
automatized polymer design based on ring opening
reaction of lactone monomers. In the earlier yearsof this collaboration, optimization of the monomers
was achieved. In 2022 the entire polymer design
was addressed. The project is in its final phase withthe algorithm being successfully designed and tested
in DAICEL in October 2022. At this stage we are
finalizing the automatization of the software whichis expected to be transferred to DAICEL in 2023. Ouralgorithm (summarized in Fig. 4) could successfully
predict reaction rates of compounds synthesized in the
DAICAL laboratory with very good agreement with theindustrial data. In the next stage, our algorithm will
be applied to generate new monomers with expectedhigh reaction rate which will be used in the researchand development department of DAICEL and proposedto the industrial facilities. Upon competition of thecurrent project, the joint research of Profs. Staykov andFukumoto with DAICEL will continue and plans are
already underway.

Fig 4. Block diagram of the artificial intelligence machine learning applied on lactone molecules. The algorithm contains
autonomous DFT simulation engine, evolutionally tool for selective molecule breeding, machine learning tool for molecular
screening, and iterative procedure for structure optimization.

32

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Network of International Collaborations

Network of International Collaborations
University ofBergenSINTEF/NTNU

University of
Edinburgh

Tsinghua
University

Helmholtz
Zentrum
Geesthact
Imperial
CollegeLondonIllinois Institute ofTechnology

Colorado Schoolof Mines

University of
Göttingen

IIT Delhi

Air Resources Board of
the State of California

Massachusetts
Institute of Technology

University ofCalifornia,Berkeley

Department ofEnergyKyushu University
University ofCalifornia,Irvine/
NFCRC

Universityof Thessaly
ETH Zurich

Universiti
Teknologi
Malaysia

Bandung
Institute ofTechnology

RMIT
University

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign

University ofTexas at Austin
University of New
South Wales

Figure 9. This map includes the home institutions of I2CNER’s foreign WPI faculty as well as those institutions with which I2CNER
has academic agreements.

Globalization by the Numbers
In FY2021, despite the limitations of the COVID-19
pandemic, there were a significant number ofinternational activities that enhanced I2CNER’s global
visibility.
• ‌The Institute’s researchers were responsible fororganizing, co-organizing, or serving on the scientificcommittees for 2 international conferences (232 in
total since inception); 3 international conference
sessions/symposia or workshops (341 since
inception); and 5 I2CNER international workshops (86since inception).
• ‌Our researchers have given 35 keynote, plenary, andinvited presentations in international conferences
and fora (801 since inception).
• ‌Our researchers have joint publications withresearchers from 119 new institutions (959 in total
since inception).
• ‌Between its inception and March 31, 2022, the Institutehas hosted a total of 90 graduate and undergraduate
students from various institutions around the world,
including Illinois. The numbers of visiting students eachyear include: 1 (FY2010), 9 (FY2011), 6 (FY2012), 7(FY2013), 7 (FY2014), 6 (FY2015), 10 (FY2016), 17(FY2017), 10 (FY2018), and 17 (FY2019). Of these, 63
stayed for more than a month at KU. Of the 90 total
visiting students, 44 students were from Illinois and 29
stayed for more than one month. In FY2020 and 2021,
due to COVID-19, there were no students visiting fromoverseas.

FY2010-20
FY2021i) Int'l conferences (total 232)

2302ii) Int'l sessions/symposia/workshops (total 341)

338

3iii) I 2CNER int'l workshops (total 86)

81

5

Lecture in Int'l conferences/fora (total 801)

766

35

Institutions with which I 2CNER researchers have joint
publications (total 959)

840

119

Visiting students (total 90)

90

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

33

Network of International Collaborations

The international collaborations that occurred witheach Thrust during FY21 include:
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust:A. ‌Clausthal University of Technology, Institute ofEnergy Research and Physical Technologies, Goslar,
Germany (PI Tuller, H. Fritze): Demonstrated ability
to investigate chemical expansion in oxides in a
non-contact mode at elevated temperatures on thepico-meter scale.
• ‌H. Wulfmeier, D. Kohlmann, T. Defferriere, C.
Steiner, R. Moos, H. L. Tuller, and H. Fritze, “ThinFilm Chemical Expansion of Ceria based Solid
Solutions: Laser Vibrometry Study,” Zeitschrift für
Physikalische Chemie, 41pp (2021). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zpch-2021-3125.
B. ‌Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
School of Environment and Science Engineering(PI Ishihara, L. Guo): Development of CO 2hydrogenation catalyst as well as VOC oxidation
catalyst, and analysis of surface composition andreaction mechanism.
• ‌Yu Wang, Ji Wu, Gang Wang, Dengyao Yang,
Tatsumi Ishihara, Limin Guo, “Oxygen vacancy
engineering in Fe doped akhtenskite-type MnO2
for low-temperature toluene oxidation,” Applied
Catalysis B: Environmental, 285, 119873, (2021).
C. ‌University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Imperial
College London, and UC Berkeley (PI Ishihara,
L. Martin): Preparation of oriented perovskite filmwith laser ablation method and surface outmost
layer composition was analyzed with low energy
ion scattering.
• ‌Ran Gao, Abel Fernandez, Tanmoy Chakraborty,
Aileen Luo, David Pesquera, Sujit Das, Gabriel
Velarde, Vincent Thoréton, John Kilner, Tatsumi
Ishihara, Slavomír Nemšák, Ethan J. Crumlin, Elif
Ertekin, and Lane W. Martin, “Correlating Surface
Crystal Orientation and Gas Kinetics in Perovskite
Oxide Electrodes,” Advanced Materials, 33,
2100977, (2021) DOI: 10.1002/adma.202100977.
Advanced Energy Materials Thrust:A. ‌University of Gottingen (C. Volkert, R. Kirchheim,
M. Kubota, P. Sofronis): Study of crack initiation ina low alloy steel. Following the joint publicationin 2020 on macroscopic mechanical testing ofhydrogen embrittlement (Proc. ISOPE 2020, ISBN
978-1-880653-84-5), we continued on withmicroscopic mechanical testing in a transmission
electron microscope and in-situ observation of
crack initiation. This series of studies aims to bridge
the hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms as they areobserved at the microscale and manifested at themacroscale toward the development of predictivemodels of H2-assist cracking.

34

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

• ‌Lin Tian, Christine Borchers, Masanobu Kubota,
Petros Sofronis, Reiner Kirchheim, Cynthia A.
Volkert, “A study of crack initiation in a low alloysteel,” Acta Materialia, 223, 117474, (2022).
B. ‌Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (L. Shahira, Y. Sawae):
Fundamental studies of the reinforcing effect ofgraphene-based materials filled into ultrahighmolecular weight polyethylene for orthopedic
applications. We aim to develop novel highperformance UHMWPE-based polymer composites
with high mechanical strength, high wear resistanceand low friction coefficient by using graphene-basedmaterials as reinforcing nano-fillers. We defined
the orthopedic implant as a target application ofdeveloped composites and used a multidirectionalsliding tester and diluted bovine serum to simulate
the tribological condition of artificial hip joints
and evaluate friction and wear characteristics ofcomposites.
• ‌N.H. Shahemi, S. Liza, Y. Sawae, T. Morita,
K. Fukuda, Y. Yaakob, “The relations between
wear behavior and basic material properties ofgraphene-based materials reinforced ultrahighmolecular weight polyethylene,” Polymers for
Advanced Technologies, 32(11), 4263-4281,(2021).
C. ‌Slovak Academy of Sciences (F. Lofaj, H. Tanaka,
Y. Sawae): Fundamental studies of the tribological
performance of HiPIMS W-C:H coatings in various
environments. We aim to understand tribo-chemical
reactions between HiPIMS W-C:H coatings andgaseous environments during sliding, and theireffects on the transfer film formation on thesliding counterface and the associated tribological
performance of coatings.
• ‌F. Lofaj, H. Tanaka, R. Bureš, Y. Sawae, M.
Kábatová, K. Fukuda, “The effect of humidity on
friction behavior of hydrogenated HIPIMS W-C:H
coatings,” Surface and Coating Technology, 428,
127899, (2021).
• ‌F. Lofaj, R. Bureš, M. Kábatová, H. Tanaka, Y.
Sawae, “Modelling of tribo-chemical reactions in
HiPIMS W-C:H coatings during friction in different
environments,” Surface and Coating Technology,
434, 128238, (2022).
D. ‌Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (S.K. Sinha, Y.
Sawae): Development of novel bio-lubricant-filled
wear resistant and high strength polymer composite.
This international collaboration was financially
supported by a JSPS bilateral program from June2018 to March 2020. We aim to develop novel
high-performance epoxy-based polymer composites
with high mechanical strength, high wear resistanceand low friction coefficient by using biologicallubricants which were inferred from biotribology
studies on synovial joint lubrication. We definedNetwork of International Collaborations

the orthopedic implant as a target application ofdeveloped composites and used a multidirectionalsliding tester and diluted bovine serum to simulate
the tribological condition of artificial hip joints
and evaluate friction and wear characteristics ofcomposites.
• ‌J.K. Hirwani, R. Nishimura, H. Shinmori, T.
Morita, Y. Sawae, S.K. Sinha, “Epoxy (SU-8)
polymer composites with Ultra-high molecularweight polyethylene and Hyaluronic acid fillers
for hip prosthetic implant application,” Tribology
International, 167, 107399, (2022).
E. ‌SINTEF and Norwegian University of Science andTechnology (V. Orden, R. Johnsen, H. Matsunaga,
and M. Kubota): The main goal of the project is tocontinue, strengthen and expand the collaborationin education and research between Norway andJapan in the field of hydrogen-materials interaction.
The partnership involves development of joint
courses, researcher exchange and creation ofarenas for competence sharing. Student and young
researcher exchange has been suspended this year
due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy andthe Environment Thrust:A. ‌University of Waterloo (S. Mitra, K. Takahashi):
Development of a 3D measurement method
for probing the condensation dynamics of low
surface tension droplets. This aims at the shortterm milestone. “Clarification of the best suitablea d s o r b e n t a n d r e f r i g e ra n t c o m b i n a t i o n f o radsorption heat pump and refrigeration systems,”of project “Thermal Energy Systems 1: Heat-driven
adsorption heat pump/ refrigeration system” in theThrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Irshendu Misra, Hideaki Teshima, Koji Takahashi,Sushanta K. Mitra, “Reflected Laser Interferometry:
A Versatile Tool to Probe Condensation of LowSurface-Tension Droplets,” Langmuir, Vol. 37, pp.
8073-8082, 2021.
B. ‌Osaka University (Y. Yamaguchi, H. Teshima):
Fundamental understanding of interfacial tensionsof surface nanobubbles. This effort aims at the
short-term milestone “Clarification of the best
suitable adsorbent and refrigerant combination for
adsorption heat pump and refrigeration systems,"of project "Thermal Energy Systems 1: Heat-driven
adsorption heat pump/ refrigeration system” in theThrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Hideaki Teshima, Hiroki Kusudo, Carlos Bistafa,
Yasutaka Yamaguchi, “Quantifying interfacial
tensions of surface nanobubbles: How far canYoung's equation explain?” Nanoscale, Vol. 14,
pp. 2446-2455(2022).

C. ‌National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Taichi
Kuroki, Naoya Sakoda): Themodynamic modelingof hydrogen tank. This effort aims at the short-termmilestone “Optimization of H2 station deployment
considering user preference,” of project “Hydrogen
Fuel Station Research” in the Thrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Taichi Kuroki, Kazunori Nagasawa, MichaelPeters, Daniel Leighton, Jennifer Kurtz, Naoya
Sakoda, Masanori Monde, Yasuyuki Takata,“Thermodynamic Modeling of Hydrogen Fueling
Process from High-Pressure Storage Tank to
Vehicle Tank”, International Journal of Hydrogen
Energy, Vol. 46, pp. 22004-22017(2021).
D. ‌Tsinghua University (Weigang Ma, Naoya Sakoda):
Review of thermophysical property. This effort aims
at the short-term milestone “Understanding of
turbulent-chemistry interaction by experiment andnumerical examination,” of project “High Efficiency
Power Generation System” in the Thrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Siyuan Cheng, Fengyi Li, Fei Shang, Weigang
Ma, Hui Jin, Naoya Sakoda, Xing Zhang, Liejin
Guo, “A Review of Experimental Researcheson the Thermophysical Properties of HydrogenContaining Mixtures at High Temperaturesand High Pressures,” Journal of Chemical andEngineering Data, Vol. 66, pp. 3361-3385, 2021.
E. ‌University of Edinburgh (K. Sefiane, ZhenyingWang): Fundamental understanding of wetting andevaporation of multicomponent droplets. This effort
aims at the short-term milestone “Clarification of thebest suitable adsorbent and refrigerant combination
for adsorption heat pump and refrigeration systems,”of project “Thermal Energy Systems 1: Heat-driven
adsorption heat pump/ refrigeration system” in theThrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Zhenying Wang, Daniel Orejon, Yasuyuki Takata,
Khellil Sefiane, “Wetting and evaporation ofmulticomponent droplets.” Physics Reports, Vol.
960, pp. 1-37, 2022.
F. ‌University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (J.
Stubbins, C. Brooks, K. Huff): This effort aims
respectively at the the short- and long-termmilestones “Theoretical and quantitative evaluationof national and global transitions" and “Engenderinga sustainable energy transition incorporating
emerging technologies” of the project “Energy
transitions,” (iv) Socio-techno-economic and Policy
Analysis in the Thrust’s roadmap.
• ‌Andrew Chapman, Yosuke Shigetomi, Shamal
Chandra Karmaker, Bidyut Baran Saha, Kathryn
Huff, Caleb Brooks, James Stubbins, “Thecultural dynamics of energy: The impact of lived
experience, preference and demographics on
future energy policy in the United States.” Energy
Research and Social Science, Vol. 80, pp. 102231,
2021.

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

35

Carbon Management including Negative Emission Technologies

Carbon Management including Negative
Emission Technologies(2022 I2CNER Annual Symposium)(photos, from top)
1. Tatsuro Ishibashi, President, Kyushu University
2. Dr. Akira Ukawa, WPI Program Director
3. ‌Mr. John C. Taylor, Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka
4. ‌Prof. Paul J. A. Kenis, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Since its inception, I 2 CNER has held an annual
symposium, which has evolved over time froman event that celebrates the current researchachievements of its thematic research areas (threethrusts) to an exploratory forum that focuses on asingle research topic that is highly relevant to I2CNER’s
research portfolio and the international community.
Additionally, to explore new ways to best represent
their thematic research areas, I2CNER’s three thrusts
jointly hold an international workshop with several
researchers and engineers.

36

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

This year’s I 2 CNER Annual Symposium, “Carbon
Management including Negative Emission
Technologies,” held on January 25, 2022, welcomed
Japanese and U.S. government officials as well as
world-class researchers to engage in discussions on
CO2 management, starting with CO2 capture directlyfrom the air, followed by CO2 conversion and storage.
Five invited lectures on various perspectives of CO2
management were presented. Academics, industry
researchers, and members of the public were inattendance.

Carbon Management including Negative Emission Technologies

Dr. Kenji Yamaji
President and Director-General, Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE)/
Program Director, Moonshot Research and Development Program/ Moonshot Goal 4
Dr. Kenji Yamaji outlined the R&D concept of Moonshot Goal No. 4 “Realization of sustainable
resource circulation to recover the global environment by 2050.” Dr. Yamaji stated that thegoal aims to solve the problem of global warming (the Cool Earth) and to solve the problem ofenvironmental pollution (the Clean Earth) through realizing sustainable resource circulation,
aiming to deploy commercial plants or products utilizing circulation technology globally by
2050. He also expressed his expectations for Prof. Fujikawa’s Moonshot project.
Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa
I 2CNER, Kyushu University
Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa offered an overview of his Moonshot project “Development of
Global CO2 Recycling Technology towards ‘Beyond-Zero’ Emission.” Based on the innovative
separation nanomembranes with world-leading CO 2 permeability and nanomembrane
technology, Prof. Fujikawa aims to develop a CO2 capture unit consisting of CO2 separation
nanomembranes with high CO2 selectivity, and a highly efficient CO2 conversion unit thatconverts the captured CO2 into carbon fuel. This innovative DAC-U system will enable theubiquitous capture of CO2 from the atmosphere and the recycling of CO2 as a carbon fuel. Prof. Fujikawa stressed that the goal
is not only to solve the problem of climate change, but also to contribute to the realization of a carbon-recycling society basedon Local Production Local Consumption.
Prof. Shunsuke Managi
Distinguished Professor, Director of Urban Institute, Kyushu University
Prof. Shunsuke Managi explained the Inclusive Wealth (IW) Index provides important insights
into long-term economic growth and human well-being. The index measures the wealth ofnations through a comprehensive analysis of a country’s productive base and wealth in terms
of progress, well-being and long-term sustainability. It measures all of the assets upon whichhuman well-being is based in particular, produced, human and natural capital to create andmaintain human well-being over time. Finally, he emphasized the importance of emerging
technologies such as carbon direct capture and utilization systems and target setting of both national and regional plans.

Program January 25, 2022
MC: Prof. Roman Selyanchyn, I2CNER
9:00 a.m.

Opening Remarks
Dr. Tatsuro Ishibashi, President, Kyushu University
Mr. John C. Taylor, Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka
Dr. Akira Ukawa, WPI Program Director

9:25 a.m.

Introduction
Prof. Petros Sofronis, Director, I2CNER, Kyushu University

9:30 a.m.

Invited Lecture A“Carbon Management Projects in the Moonshot Goal 4”
Dr. Kenji Yamaji, President and Director - General, Research Institute of Innovative
Technology for the Earth (RITE)/ Program Director, Moonshot Research and Development Program/ Moonshot Goal 4

9:55 a.m.

I2CNER Lecture“Development of Global CO2 Recycling Technology towards “Beyond - Zero” Emission”
Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa, I2CNER, Kyushu University

10:20 a.m.

Invited Lecture B“Energy for sustainability: Analysis with Inclusive Wealth”
Prof. Shunsuke Managi, Distinguished Professor, Director of Urban Institute, Kyushu University

11:00 a.m.

Invited Lecture C“Advancing CO2 Electrolysis
towards Application
at Scale”
1
2Prof. Paul J. A. Kenis and Emiliana R. Cofell , 1Elio Eliakim Tarika Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering, University of2
Illinois Urbana - Champaign (UIUC), Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC

11:40 a.m.

Invited Lecture D“Electrochemical Separations for Energy and Sustainability”
Prof. Xiao Su, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UIUC

12:10 p.m.

Invited Lecture E“Green CO & CO2 Removal”
Prof. Joydeep Dutta, Chair of Functional Materials at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm *pre - recorded

12:30 p.m.

Closing Remarks

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

37

Distinguished Visitors

Distinguished Visitors

July 19, 2021 Mr. Eiichi Nakamura (left), Deputy Mayor of
Fukuoka City

October 21, 2021 Mr. Osamu Hashimoto (center), President& CEO, Mitsui Chemicals Inc.

November 19, 2021, Ms. Katherine Rafaniello (right),
Consulate Political Economic Officer at the U. S. Consulate inFukuoka

November 29, 2021, Mr. Gianluigi Benedetti (center), theItalian Ambassador to Japan151
42
2011 2011 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

March 10, 2022, Chairman and board members of
KEIDANREN, Japan Business Federation

Although COVID-19 pandemic still persisted, the number ofvisitors increased in 2021 compared to the previous year.

October 1, 2021-June 25, 2022, PI Ishihara hosted Associate Prof. Yuanyuan Sun, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China. Profs. Sun and Ishihara worked on developing a new zeolite photocatalyst for
conversion of CO2 as well as water splitting.

38

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Seminars

Seminars
The I2CNER Seminar Series (ISS)One of the most important goals of the I2CNER Seminar Series is to engage key members of the international communityfrom academia, national laboratories, industry, and government agencies (policy makers). In FY2021, the Institute hosted
8 speakers (6 non-Japanese) for I2CNER Seminars. Cumulatively, 179 speakers have presented at 176 I2CNER Seminars.
Under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the I²CNER Seminar Series was held virtually as I²CNER Webinars
and attracted participants not only from Japan but from around the world.

Selected ISS speakers
August 18, 2021
Prof. Tsutomu Miyasaka

October 6, 2021
Prof. Angus Rockett

January 12, 2022
Prof. Thomas Lippert

February 9, 2022
Prof. Nenad Miljkovic

Professor, Toin University of Yokohama, Japan
Title: Interfacial material engineering for highperformance perovskite solar cells

Professor, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland
Title: Thin Films prepared by PLD: model systems forstudies using large facilities techniques

Professor, Colorado School of Mines, USA
Title: Current Status and Research and Technology
Opportunities in Photovoltaics

Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
Title: Understanding the Fundamental Degradation
Mechanisms of Hydrophobic Interfaces and Surface
Structures Enables the Development of Enhanced TwoPhase Heat Transfer Processes

Institute Interest Seminar Series (IISS)
Since the inception of the Institute, young researchers have been presenting lectures at the Institute Interest Seminar
Series (IISS), the goal of which is to initiate interdisciplinary collaborations and train young researchers to present before
general scientific audiences outside their areas of expertise. Cumulatively, 351 speakers have presented at 215 seminars.
In FY2021, 19 speakers presented at 19 Institute Interest Seminars. Even during the pandemic, Zoom seminars effectively
reached 404 attendees.

Selected IISS speakers
April 13, 2021
Assoc. Prof. Stephen LythAdvanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust
Title: Fuel Cells: Powered by Hydrogen, Inspired by
NatureJuly 6, 2021
Prof. Katsuhiko Hirose

Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment
Title: Hydrogen in the Carbon Neutral Sustainable
Society

August 31, 2021
Assoc. Prof. Aleksandar Tsekov Staykov

Advanced Energy Conversion Systems
Title: Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Electronic
Properties on PrO and LaO Terminated Surfaces ofPr2NiO4 and La2NiO4

November 30, 2021
Prof. Atsushi Kurosawa

Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment
Title: Carbon-Neutral Energy System in 2050 – System
Analysis

December 14, 2021
Prof. Masanobu Kubota

Advanced Energy Materials
Title: Activation of Catalyst by Friction

March 15, 2022
Dr. Seiichiro Kimura

Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust
Title: Contribution of Think Tanks in the Formulation ofJapan’s Energy Policy

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

39

Conferences and Symposia

Conferences and Symposia
I2CNER Thrust Workshop: Toward Carbon Neutrality
January 28, 2021
Online meeting co-organized by Prof. Masanobu Kubota, Prof. Hiroshige Matsumoto and Prof. Takeshi Tsuji. The
symposium was organized by PIs from three thrusts, Advanced Energy Materials thrust (AEM), Advanced Energy
Conversion Systems thrust (AEC), and Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment thrust (MSEEE)
to showcase I2CNER’s interdisciplinary research on energy for carbon neutrality.

International Hydrogen Energy Development Forum 2022
January 27, 2022
Hybrid meeting (On-site and online), organized by Prof. Joichi Sugimura. This forum discusses research, development,
and policy for the introduction of hydrogen technology and has been held for 16 years in a row in Fukuoka. The topics
are in direct alignment with the objectives of the Advanced Energy Materials Thrust.

46th International Conference and Expo on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC
2021)
January 24-28, 2022, virtual
Symposium 6: Solid Electrolytes for Batteries/Diagnostics organized by PI Ishihara.

HYDROGENIUS, I2CNER, HydroMate and SINTEF Joint Research Symposium 2022 on
Hydrogen-Materials Interactions
January 27-28, 2022
Online meeting co-organized by Prof. Hisao Matsunaga, Dr. Brian Somerday, Prof. Junichiro Yamabe, and Prof. Masanobu
Kubota. This topical and impactful hydrogen embrittlement symposium has been continuously organized once a year
from 2007 to 2022. The symposium attracts researchers from academia, industry, and government from around the world.

HYDROGENIUS & I2CNER Tribology Symposium
January 28, 2022
Hybrid meeting (On-site and online), organized by Prof. Yoshinori Sawae. The aim of this symposium was to discuss
recent advances in tribology research for hydrogen energy systems. The topics are in direct alignment with the objectivesof the Advanced Energy Materials Thrust. Due to COVID-19, the forum was held in a hybrid format.

7th National and 1st International Conference on Refrigeration and Air Conditioning(NCRA 2022)
February 24-26, 2022 in Guwahati, India
Saha, B.B., Co-Chairman

7th International Conference on Micro and Nano Flows (MNF2021)
May 24-26, 2021 in London, UK
K. Takahashi, Organizing Committee

23rd International Conference on Solid State Ionics (SSI-23)
July 17-22, 2022, in Boston
Co-organized by PI Tuller. The International Conference on Solid State Ionics is a major event in the field, attracting aworldwide audience every two years. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to gather leading international scientists
and engineers, top-level industrial, management and business executives, as well as students and young scientists, todiscuss all aspects of the science, technology and applications of ion-conducting materials. The Conference facilitates theexchange of ideas between people with different backgrounds and fosters the development and professional growth ofboth young and experienced researchers alike.

Asian Union of Thermal Science and Engineering (AUTSE)
Y. Takata, President
https://autse-asia.org/

40

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Plenary and Keynote Presentations

Plenary and Keynote Presentations
S. Fujikawa, “Negative Emissions Technologies for a Beyond Zero Society,” Opening memorial ceremony of Kyushu
University, May 11, 2021
M. Yamauchi, “Inorganic nanocatalysts for efficient electrochemical material conversion,” 20th Science Council of Asia
Conference, Science Council of Asia (SCA) and China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), Guangzhou
Nansha Garden Hotel, Guangzhou, China, May 14, 2021
K. Takahashi, “Gas molecules at solid-liquid interfaces,” The 7th International Conference on Micro and Nano Flows(MNF2021) (Online), keynote lecture, May 25, 2021
S. Ogo, “Hydrogen activation in water,” International Symposium on Bioorganometallic Chemistry 2021 (Digital
ISBOMC21-Webinar 2), June 16, 2021
Y. Takata, “On the Quench of Water Spray: When does it occur?” ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference 2021 (Online),
June 18, 2021
S. Fujikawa, “Ubiquitous CO2 capture directly from air by nanometer-thick membranes,” Guest Lecture in KTH Climate
Action Centre, online, October 16, 2021
A. Chapman, Bridgeland, R. McLellan, B., “The Energy Infrastructure Nexus: Hydrogen Penetration Potential andInfrastructure Issues for the USA,” Ecodesign 2021, December 1-3, 2021
A. Chapman, “Evaluating the Hydrogen Economy: Modeling of Production, Consumption and Potential Penetration,”
JCCP Kuwait Hydrogen Symposium, invited presentation. December 6, 2021
M. Kubota, “Effect of hydrogen on creep properties of austenitic stainless steels and pure iron,” 3rd International Forumon Hydrogen Codes, Standards and Safety in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Hydrogen Industry
Conference 2021, Nanhai Qiaoshan Cultural Center, Foshan, China, December 9, 2021
B.B. Saha, “Strategy and achievements of carbon-neutral energy research,” 3rd International Conference on Recent
Advancements in Mechanical Engineering (ICRAME) 2022, keynote lecture, Silchar, Assam, India, February 4-6, 2022
T. Tsuji “Geophysical imaging and monitoring for resource exploration and CO2 reduction,” 1st International Symposium
on Earth Resources and Geo-environmental Technology 2022, (EraGET2022), keynote lecture, online, February 18, 2022
B.B. Saha, “Adsorption science and technology toward achieving carbon neutrality,” 7th National and 1st International
Conference on Refrigeration and Air Conditioning 2022, keynote lecture, Guwahati, India, February 24-26, 2022
B.B. Saha, “Functional adsorbent materials for carbon-neutral energy conversion systems,” 4th International Conference
on Advances in Mechanical Engineering, plenary lecture, Tamil Nadu, India, March 24-26, 2022
T. Tsuji “CO2 reduction and managements using the earth: New concept of storage of CO2 derived from the membranebased DAC,” Lecture in The Engineering Academy of Japan, online, November 5, 2022

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

41

Selected Awards

Selected Awards
Date

Recipient's name2021/2/21

Hisao Matsunaga

Acta Materialia and Scripta Materialia, Outstanding
Reviewer Award 20202021/1/1

Tatsumi Ishihara

Catalysis Society of Japan Award (Academic field)

2020/12/9

42

Name of award

Toshinori Matsushima, Chuanjiang Qin,
William J. Potscavage Jr, Atula S. D.
Sandanayaka, Matthew R. Leyden, Fatima IDW 2020 Best Paper Award, International Display
Bencheikh, Kenichi Goushi, Fabrice
Workshops
Mathevet, Benoît Heinrich, Go Yumoto,
Yoshihiko Kanemitsu, and Chihaya Adachi

2020/11/3

Takeshi Tsuji

Nishinippon Cultural Award, Nishinippon Shimbun

2020/10/29

Naoya Sakoda, Yukihiro Higashi

Best Paper Award, Japan Society of Thermophysical
Properties

2020/9/14

Ryosuke Komoda

Division Award (Category: Encouragement Presented
Paper), The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers M & P
Materials and Processing Division

2020/9/8

Toshinori Matsushima, Chihaya Adachi

Best Paper Award, The Japan Society of Applied Physics

2020/7

Elif Ertekin2020 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, Grainger
College of Engineering, UIUC

2020/6/20

Yutaku Kita

Young Researcher Award, Heat Transfer Society of Japan

2020/5

Nicola PerryNSF CAREER Award

2021

Chihaya Adachi

Japan Society of Applied Physics Outstanding
Achievement Award

2022

Harry Tuller

Elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society

2021

Xing Zhang

International Achievement Award, Thermal Engineering
Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers

2021/5

Qinyi Li, Koji Takahashi, Xing Zhang

Academic Award, The Heat Transfer Society of Japan

2021/5

Zhenying Wang

Young Researcher Award, The Heat Transfer Society ofJapan

2022/2

Hideaki Teshima

Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists, Inoue
Foundation for Science

2021

Yutaku Kita

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Young Researcher Award, Japan Society of MechanicalEngineers

Outreach Activities

Outreach Activities
Outreach Events
WPI seminar series for high school teachers (July 3, 2021)
6 WPI centers jointly hosted an online seminar series for high school teachers in FY 2021. On July 3, 2021,
Prof. Yoon from I2CNER gave a lecture titled “Research Strategy for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Using Hydrogen
Enzymes” along with Prof. Nakajima from the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (WPI-ICReDD),
Hokkaido University. Following the lectures, a crosstalk was held between two researchers and both researchers
engaged in a lively question and answer session.
WPI Symposium for High School Students (December 18, 2021)
An online symposium “Nano world toward the Future” was held on December 18, 2021 hosted by the Nano Life
Science Institute Kanazawa University (WPI-NanoLSI). The symposium was mainly targeted at high school students
and teachers. Prof. Takahashi from I2CNER gave a keynote lecture, titled “Control of metal nanostructures forhighly efficient use of light energy” along with three other speakers representing institutions of WPI. At the researchpresentation by high school students in the afternoon, Profs. Kubota and Watanabe participated online and gave
feedback and encouragement to high school students.
Energy Week 2022 (January 28 - February 4, 2022)
Kyushu University Energy Week 2022 was held January 28–February 4, 2022, featuring symposia concerningenergy on the theme of “Energy Intelligence Beyond Borders: Aiming for the Future of Green Innovation.” For thisyear’s online symposium, Kyushu University’s energy-related departments came together to organize international
workshops and those between industry, academia, and government as well as other events around the theme of“future energy,” which served as a forum for exchange and an international hub for energy researchers. The I2CNER
Annual Symposium, I2CNER Thrust Workshop, I2CNER-HYDROGENIUS Joint Research Symposium and I2CNER-IMI
Joint International Workshop, were all held during Energy Week. During the workshops, there were many questions
and discussions that showed the enthusiasm from participants, academics, and researchers from institutions andindustries across Europe, Asia, U.S., and Japan.

WPI seminar series for high school teachers

WPI Symposium for High School Students

I2CNER Thrust Workshop during Energy Week 2022

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

43

Outreach Activities

Press Releases and Media Coverage
Press Releases in FY2021

44

DATE

DESCRIPTION

Jun. 4, 2021

Profs. Shigenori Fujikawa and Takeshi Tsuji (Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy
and the Environment Thrust)
Underground storage of carbon captured directly from air -- green and economical

Jun. 22, 2021

Prof. Ikuo Taniguchi (Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment
Thrust)Assembly of Defect-Free Microgel Nanomembranes for CO2 Separation

Jun. 25, 2021

Profs. Hajime Nakanotani and Chihaya Adachi (Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust)Direct Observation of Photoexcited Electron Dynamics in Organic Solids Exhibiting Thermally
Activated Delayed Fluorescence via Time-resolved Photoelectron Emission Microscopy

Oct. 7, 2021

Prof. Takeshi Tsuji (Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment Thrust)Low-cost, continuous seismic monitoring system to support emission reduction efforts

Oct. 28, 2021

Profs. Petros Sofronis and Tatsumi Ishihara (Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust)
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. – Carbon Neutral Research Center Established at Kyushu University’s
I2CNER

Nov. 2, 2021

Prof. Ki-seok Yoon (Advanced Energy Materials Thrust)Non-conventional octameric structure of C-phycocyanin

Nov. 8, 2021

Prof. Takeshi Tsuji (Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment Thrust)
Temporal changes in anthropogenic seismic noise levels associated with economic and leisureactivities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Nov. 26, 2021

Prof. Chihaya Adachi (Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust)
Organic long-persistent luminescence stimulated by visible light in p-type systems based onorganic photoredox catalyst dopants

Dec. 16, 2021

Prof. Hiroshige Matsumoto (Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust)Future efforts as a Designated National University Corporation -Latest research efforts on“decarbonization”-

Feb. 9, 2022

Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa (Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and the Environment
Thrust)Kyushu University and Sojitz Conclude Memorandum for Implementation of Membrane-based
Direct Air Capture Technology and Related Technology Solutions to Capture Carbon Dioxidefrom the Atmosphere

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Outreach Activities

Media Coverage in FY2021
DATE

MEDIA OUTLET

DESCRIPTION

Jul. 19, 2021

JARN (Japan Air conditioning,
Heat & Refrigeration News)

Prof. Yukihiro Higashi
Daikin Develops a New Refrigerant for EV Air Conditioning

Aug. 31, 2021

Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa
Save the Earth! NEDO Moonshot program

Oct. 18, 2021

Nihon Keizai Shimbun

Prof. Takeshi Tsuji
Continuous monitoring system of underground CO2

Oct. 29, 2021

Nihon Keizai Shimbun,
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Prof. Tatsumi Ishihara
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. – Carbon Neutral Research Center
Established at Kyushu University’s I2CNER

Nov. 12, 2021

University Journal Online

Prof. Takeshi Tsuji
Declining social activity due to the corona crisis, visualizedwith a “Seismometer”

Nov. 28, 2021

NHK

Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa
Science ZERO “Front-runners for decarbonization”

Feb. 9, 2022

Nihon Keizai Shimbun

Prof. Shigenori Fujikawa
Kyushu University and Sojitz Corporation have signed amemorandum

Press conference on the Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. – Carbon Neutral
Research Center Established at Kyushu University’s I2CNER (Oct. 28,
2021)

Prof. Matsumoto in the KU press conference on the DesignatedNational University Corporation (Dec. 16, 2021)

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

45

I2CNER Structure

I2CNER Structure (as of April 1, 2022)
Organizational Structure

President of Kyushu University: Tatsuro ISHIBASHI
Executive Vice President for Research: Yoshio HISAEDA

I2CNER Director: Petros Sofronis

External Advisory Committee1

Associate
Director:

Associate
Director:

Administrative
Director:

TatsumiIshihara

Hiroshige
Matsumoto

Andrew
ChapmanInternal Programs Review Committee
Industrial Advisory Board3
Faculty Recruiting Committee

Science Steering Committee2

NEXT-RP
Research Center for Next Generation
Refrigerant Properties

MCI-CNRC
Mitsui Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
- Carbon Neutral Research Center

Platform for International Collaborations and Partnerships

Streamlined Thematic Research Clusters
Advanced Energy Materials

Advanced Energy Conversion Systems

Multiscale Science and Engineering forEnergy and the Environment

Platform for Societal Implementation and Industrial Collaboration

46

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

I2CNER Structure1) The External Advisory Committee (EAC) makes recommendations on the current status of the Institute and its
future directions and provides the Director with a written report detailing their findings and recommendations. The
full list of members as of April 1, 2022 is as follows:• Dr. Deborah Myers (Chair), Argonne National Laboratory, USA• Dr. Kevin Ott (Vice-Chair), Retired, Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA• Prof. Ronald J. Adrian, Arizona State University, USA, National Academy of Engineering (NAE)• Prof. Fraser Armstrong, University of Oxford, UK, Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)• Prof. Michael Celia, Princeton University, USA, Nobel Laureate• Dr. Robert J. Finley, Illinois State Geological Survey, USA• Dr. Monterey Gardiner, BMW Japan (formerly with DOE), Japan• Prof. Reiner Kirchheim, University of Göttingen, Germany• Prof. Robert McMeeking, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, National Academy of Engineering(NAE)• Prof. Tetsuo Shoji, Tohoku University, Japan2) The Science Steering Committee (SSC) is chaired by the Director, and its members are the two Associate
Directors and the lead PIs of the thrusts. The SSC is the body that reviews and advises on all matters of the Institute,e.g. planning and operation of research activities, budget implementation, international collaborations, andoutreach.

3) In FY2017, I2CNER established the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB), whose members are prominent executives
from industry, government agencies, and national laboratories that advise I2CNER on opportunities for interactions
with industry and technology transfer. The first IAB meeting was held on February 1, 2018 and was attended by
9 out of 10 IAB members. The meeting provided invaluable inputs to I2CNER researchers on areas that industries
would have interest for promoting the development of new technologies. The full list of members as of April 1,
2022 is as follows:• Mr. Sumitoshi Asakuma, Director & Managing Executive Officer, Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.
• Dr. Akio Fujibayashi, Technical Fellow, Steel Research Laboratory in JFE Steel Corporation• Dr.
‌ Katsuhiko Hirose, CEO, HyWealth• Dr. Kuniaki Honda, Adviser, Hydrogen Energy Systems Society of Japan• Mr. Kazutoshi Ida, Managing Director, K.K. AIR LIQUIDE LABORATORIES• Mr. Tatsumi Maeda, Director, KYOCERA Corporation• Dr. Mark Selby, Chief Technology Officer, Ceres Power, USA• ‌Dr. Akira Yabe, Lead of Energy System and Hydrogen Unit, Technology Strategy Center in New Energy andIndustrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)• Dr. Akira Yamada, Senior Corporate Adviser, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Dr. Hiroyuki Yamamoto, General Manager, Technical Research Center in Mazda Motor Corporation

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

47

Personnel

Personnel (as of April 1, 2022)
Breakdown of Personnel(Total: 205)
26,
13%

Researchers by Title(Total: 145)
PI

Principal Investigator (PI)

24,
12%

22,
15%

24,
17%

Professor
Assoc. Professor

Other Researcher

34,
16%

22,
15%

31,
21%

Research Support Staff
121,
59%

Administrative Staff

Postdoc.
Visiting Faculty

27,
19%

19,
13%

Asst. Professor

Statistics of Researchers by Title
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

48

Total

PI

Prof.

Assoc.
Prof.

Asst.
Prof.

Postdoc

Visiting
Faculty

Overseas

62

11

9

10

6

19

7

Japanese

83

13

13

17

13

12

15

% Overseas

43%

46%

41%

37%

32%

61%

32%

% Female

10%

4%

0%

11%

26%

5%

5%

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Finances

Finances

1USD = 100JPYWPI Grant($ million USD)
20
18
16
14
12
10

18.2

8
6

13.3

13.3

13.1

12.7

13.2

12.5

4

10.8

10.1
WPI
WPI
Academy Academy

2

0.6

0

0.6

FY2011 FY2012* FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021*WPI Grant of FY2012 includes the supplementary budget worth $5 million USD

Non-WPI Research Grants($ million USD)
35.0

MEXT* Allocation Funds, KU Competitive Funds,
Donations

30.0

4.8

2.8

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Commissioned
Research Project Funds from Industry/Government, etc.

1.8

25.0

1.7
20.0

1.7

1.5

15.0

26.8

26.0

1.6

27.0

0.6
5.0

6.6

14.9

0.9

14.6

14.4

1.5

21.2

10.0

0.8

14.1

1.6

16.0
11.3

8.9

0.0
FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021*MEXT is an acronym for Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

49

Researcher List

Researcher List (as of April 1, 2022)
Administration
Director
Prof. Petros Sofronis
Associate Directors
Prof. Tatsumi Ishihara
Prof. Hiroshige Matsumoto

Principal Investigators
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems ThrustProf. Hiroshige Matsumoto (Thrust Lead PI)
Prof. Chihaya Adachi
Prof. Tsuyohiko Fujigaya
Prof. Andrew A. Gewirth, University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, USA
Prof. Tatsumi Ishihara
Prof. John A. Kilner, Imperial College London, UK
Prof. Thomas Lippert, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland
Prof. Kazunari Sasaki
Assoc. Prof. Aleksandar Tsekov Staykov
Prof. Harry L. Tuller, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
USA
Advanced Energy Materials ThrustProf. Masanobu Kubota (Thrust Lead PI)
Prof. Reiner Kirchheim, University of Göttingen, Germany
Prof. Seiji Ogo
Prof. Petros Sofronis
Dr. Brian Somerday, Southwest Research Institute, USA
Prof. Joichi Sugimura
Prof. Miho Yamauchi
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment ThrustProf. Shigenori Fujikawa (Thrust Lead PI)
Assoc. Prof. Andrew Chapman
Prof. Bidyut Baran Saha
Prof. James Stubbins, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
USA
Prof. Koji Takahashi
Prof. Takeshi Tsuji, University of Tokyo, Japan
Prof. Hiroaki Watanabe

Full-time Faculty & Postdoctoral Associates
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust
Dr. Miho Isegawa
Dr. Sovann Khan
Dr. Wu Kuan Ting
Assoc. Prof. Toshinori Matsushima
Dr. Yutaka Osaki
Dr. Veeramani Vediyappan
Assoc. Prof. Motonori Watanabe

50

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

Advanced Energy Materials Thrust
Assoc. Prof. Yukina Takahashi
Prof. Toshihiro Tsuchiyama
Assoc. Prof. Ki-Seok Yoon
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment Thrust
Dr. Sumitomo Hidaka
Asst. Prof. Nguyen Dinh Hoa
Prof.Yasuyuki Takata
Platform for International Collaborations and Partnerships
Assoc. Prof. Kaveh Edalati (AECS Thrust)
Asst. Prof. Leonard Kwati (AECS Thrust)
Asst. Prof. Mai Tomisaki (AECS Thrust)
Research Center for Next Generation Refrigerant Properties
Prof. Yukihiro Higashi
Dr. Frantisek Miksik
Mitsui Chemicals, INC. -Carbon Neutral Research Center
Dr. Sharif Md Hossain
Dr. Md. Amirul Islam
Dr. Ming-Han Liu
Dr. Mohammad Moniruzzaman
Dr. Tomoaki Nakaishi
Dr. Debashis Sahu
Prof. Toshihiro Takai
Dr. Thinh Nguyen Van

Satellite Faculty & Postdoctoral Associates
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust
Assoc. Prof. Elif Ertekin
Prof. Nenad Miljkovic
Asst. Prof. Nicola Helen Perry
Prof. Angus Rockett
Prof. Hong Yang
Advanced Energy Materials ThrustProf. Paul J. A. Kenis
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment ThrustProf. Kenneth Christensen
Assoc. Prof. Kathryn Huff

Part-time Faculty & Postdoctoral Associates
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Thrust
Asst. Prof. Kenichi Goushi
Prof. Kohei Ito
Dr. Nuttavut Kosem
Assoc. Prof. Stephen Lyth
Asst. Prof. Masashi Mamada
Assoc. Prof. Junko Matsuda
Assoc. Prof. Hajime Nakanotani

Researcher List

Assoc. Prof. Tomohiro Shiraki
Asst. Prof. Juntae Song
Assoc. Prof. Atsushi Takagaki
Asst. Prof. Naoki Tanaka
Prof. Kazunari Yoshizawa
Advanced Energy Materials Thrust
Dr. Akihiko Anzai
Dr. Masaki Donoshita
Assoc. Prof. Hirokazu Kobayashi
Asst. Prof. Takuro Masumura
Assoc. Prof. Takahiro MatsumotoProf. Hisao Matsunaga
Asst. Prof. Takehiro Morita
Dr. Tomohiro Noguchi
Assoc. Prof. Hironobu Ozawa
Prof. Yoshinori Sawae
Asst. Prof. Hiroyoshi Tanaka
Assoc. Prof. Tatsuya Uchida
Assoc. Prof. Kazuyuki Yagi
Asst. Prof. Kosei Yamauchi
Asst. Prof. Takeshi Yatabe
Dr. Akina Yoshizawa
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment Thrust
Dr. Yingjun An
Dr. Rasha Afmed Hanafy Bayomi
Dr. Chao-Hung Cheng
Dr. Ramadan M. M Eljamal
Asst. Prof. Tatsunori Ikeda
Dr. Kenshi Itaoka
Asst. Prof. Yutaku Kita
Prof. Masamichi Kohno
Assoc. Prof. Ken Kojio
Asst. Prof. Kaname Matsue
Assoc. Prof. Jin Miyawaki
Prof. Takahiko Miyazaki
Prof. Shoji Mori
Asst. Prof. Takeo Nakano
Dr. Adchara Padermshoke
Assoc. Prof. Qin-Yi Li
Assoc. Prof. Naoya Sakoda
Assoc. Prof. Roman Selyanchyn
Assoc. Prof. Atsuomi Shundo
Dr. Feng Sinan
Prof. Yuichi Sugai
Prof. Atsushi Takahara
Asst. Prof. Hideaki Teshima
Assoc. Prof. Kyaw Thu
Dr. Nutthon Yokachuksuse
Dr. Panlong Yu
Asst. Prof. Zhenying Wang

Kenshi Mitsuishi, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Japan
Prof. Ken Okazaki, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Asst. Prof. Helena Tellez-Lozano
Advanced Energy Materials ThrustProf. Nikolaos Aravas, University of Thessaly, Greece
Asst. Prof. Mohsen Dadfarnia, Seattle University
Asst. Prof. Ryosuke Komoda, Fukuoka University, Japan
Dr. Kinya Kumazawa, Japan Institute for Promoting Invention
and Innovation
Assoc. Prof. Arnaud Macadre, Yamaguchi University, Japan
Dr. Akihide Nagao, Air Liquide Laboratories, Japan
Prof. Robert O. Ritchie, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Multiscale Science and Engineering for Energy and theEnvironment ThrustProf. Makoto Akai, National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology
Asst. Prof. Jiang Fei, Yamaguchi University, Japan
Prof. Benny Freeman, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Prof. Yasumasa Fujii, University of Tokyo, Japan
Prof. Katsuhiko Hirose, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan
Prof. Kuniaki Honda
Asst. Prof. Jihui Jia, China University of Petroleum
Prof. Toyoki Kunitake, Kitakyushu Foundation for the
Advancement of Industry Science and Technology, Japan
Prof. Atsushi Kurosawa, Institute of Applied Energy, Japan
Science and Technology, Japan
Prof. Sushanta Mitra, University of Waterloo, Canada
Assoc. Prof. Daniel Orejon, University of Edinburgh, UK
Prof. Khellil Sefiane, University of Edinburgh, UK
Asst. Prof. Biao Shen, University of Tsukuba
Platform for Societal Implementation and Industrial
Collaboration
Dr. Munetaka Higuchi, Mazda Motor Corp., Japan
Assoc. Prof. Suguru Ikeda, Mazda Motor Corp., Japan
Dr. Soichiro Ikeda, Mazda Motor Corp., Japan
Research Center for Next Generation Refrigerant Properties
Prof. Ryo Akasaka, Kyushu Sangyo University, Japan
Prof. Chieko Kondo, Nagasaki University, Japan
Prof. Akio Miyara, Saga University, Japan

Visiting Professors & Scholars
Advanced Energy Conversion Systems ThrustProf. Limin Guo, Huazhong U. of Science and Technology
Prof. Stephen John Skinne, Imperial College London
Dr. Seiichiro Kimura, Renewable Energy Institute, Japan

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

51

Access Map

Access Map
Map of Fukuoka City

STEM 分野における諸外国の女性活躍エビデ
ンス
5min.

5min.
HakataStationTenjinStation

14min.

10min.

Fukuoka
Airport From Fukuoka Airport,Hakata Station, At Meinohama Station:or Tenjin Station:
Take a train on the Fukuoka City Subway
bound for “Meinohama” or “ChikuzenMaebaru/Karatsu/Nishi-Karatsu.”

34min.

15min.

Meinohama
StationIf your train’s destination is “Meinohama,”transfer to a JR Kyushu train bound for“Chikuzen-Maebaru/Karatsu/Nishi-Karatsu.”
If your train’s destination is “ChikuzenMaebaru/Karatsu/Nishi-Karatsu,”
no transfer is required at Meinohama Sta.

Kyudai
Kyudaigakkentoshi At Kyudaigakkentoshi Big Orange-mae/Central Library
StationStation:Transfer to Showa bus
bound forKyushu University’s
Ito Campus.

15min.

Campus Map

International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research(I2CNER), Kyushu University
Address: 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Phone: +81 (0)92-802-6932 Fax: +81 (0)92-802-6939
Website: i2cner.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/I2CNER.news
Twitter: twitter.com/I2CNER

52

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

I2CNER Annual Report 2021

The overhead view of the I²CNER building portrays the *Keeling Curve, which rises over time, to indicatethat I2CNER’s research will eventually contribute to the downward turn of this curve.
*In 1958, Charles David Keeling began making daily measurements of the concentration of atmosphericcarbon dioxide (CO2) at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii. Keeling’s measurements
are the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.