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Thermal and Electronic Functional Properties Lab
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The lab makes and studies materials that convert heat into electricity.
AboutAbout the lab
Making and studying materials that turn heat into electricity.
The Thermal and Electronic Functional Properties Lab (Ohtaki-Suekuni Lab) conducts experimental research on functional ceramics, including thermoelectric materials.
Converting heat into electricity with thermoelectric materials is called thermoelectric power generation, and it is expected to be a technology for recovering electric power from unused waste heat.
Aiming for high-performance materials made from low-toxicity, abundant, and inexpensive elements, the lab handles everything itself, from synthesis to property evaluation, for oxides, sulfides, and other compounds.
The lab also pursues other research based on free thinking.
Key terms
- Thermoelectric material
- A material that can directly convert between thermal energy and electrical energy. Converting heat into electricity is called thermoelectric power generation
- X-ray crystal structure analysis
- A method that uses X-rays to determine how atoms are arranged inside a material
- Secondary phase
- A substance that forms in a synthesized sample in addition to the intended material
NewsLab news
A paper on research by a doctoral student was published in the Journal of the Ceramic Society of Japan
A paper on research by a master's program graduate was published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
A master's student received the Excellent Presentation Award and the Excellent Poster Award at the 22nd Conference of the Thermoelectrics Society of Japan
A paper on research by a doctoral student was published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
A paper from a collaboration with CRISMAT and others was published in Chemistry of Materials
ResearchResearch themes
Centered on thermoelectric materials that convert heat directly into electricity, the lab handles everything itself, from material synthesis to structural analysis and property evaluation. It also studies the relationship between structure and properties and searches for new materials.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of Thermoelectric Materials
The lab aims to make thermoelectric materials, which convert heat directly into electricity, from low-toxicity, abundant, and inexpensive elements. Targeting oxides, sulfides, pnictides, and other compounds, the lab handles everything itself from synthesis to property evaluation, and recently it has also been studying electrode materials for thermoelectric power generation modules.
*Illustrative imageMultiscale Structure and Properties
Thermoelectric materials combine two properties: they conduct electricity like semiconductors while conducting heat poorly like glass. To explore the origin of this combination, the lab examines structures from the atomic scale to the microscale using X-ray crystal structure analysis and electron microscopy, with support from collaborators.
*Illustrative imageExploration of New Materials
The lab searches for new materials that may have functions such as thermoelectric conversion or photoelectric conversion. Such materials are sometimes found as derivatives of related compounds, and sometimes discovered by chance among the secondary phases that form in synthesized samples.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Thermal and Electronic Functional Properties Lab consist of faculty members, academic researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMichitaka Ohtaki
- Associate ProfessorKoichiro Suekuni
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Peltierelement 16x16” No machine-readable author provided. Bye~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). / Public domain (cropped)
- Development of Thermoelectric Materials: “Thermoelectric Seebeck power module” Gerardtv / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Multiscale Structure and Properties: “Na8Si46 inorganic clathrate structure with coordination polyhedra” PickledSquid / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Exploration of New Materials: “Crystal in VCGS furnace” Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (機能無機材料工学研究室): “Ceramic monoliths” S. Govender, H. Friedrich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (ナノ物質合成科学): “Interaction of acetylcholinesterase with silver nanoparticle” Semen Yesylevskyy / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (先端機能材料研究室): “Hypervelocity impact damage on silica glass” Jasalem21 / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (材料電気化学研究室
（栄部 比夏里） ): “All-solid lithium-sulfur battery ( )” Oak Ridge National Laboratory / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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