Tsukuda Lab

AboutAbout the lab

Starting from metal particles with atom-precise size

The Tsukuda Lab studies the chemistry of metal clusters, which form when metals are divided into particles of 2 nm or smaller.
Adding or removing even a single atom in a metal cluster can greatly change its stability and physical properties, and clusters show properties that could not be predicted from bulk metals.
While clarifying how these properties arise, the lab creates new groups of nanomaterials, including catalysts.
The lab's work ranges from the precise synthesis of clusters protected by organic ligands to tracking the reactions of clusters isolated in vacuum.

ResearchResearch themes

The stability and physical properties of a metal cluster change greatly when the number of constituent atoms increases or decreases by just one. While clarifying how these size-specific properties arise, the lab works on developing new groups of nanomaterials, including catalysts.

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Catalytic chemistry opened up by metal clusters↗

When a bulk metal is divided into particles of 2 nm or smaller, it becomes a metal cluster with a discrete electronic structure and special atomic arrangements such as icosahedral structures. Metal clusters hold great potential as the functional centers of functional materials, including catalysts, and are used after being stabilized by a method suited to the purpose in order to prevent aggregation.

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Precise synthesis of gold clusters protected by ligands↗

The lab has developed methods to systematically synthesize size-controlled gold clusters whose surfaces are protected by organic ligands such as thiolates, phosphines, and alkynes. By investigating their geometric and electronic structures with spectroscopy, the lab has discovered new optical properties, such as luminescence, that accompany the discretization of the electronic structure.

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Gold cluster catalysts↗

Some metals that do not act as catalysts in bulk form show catalytic activity when made into clusters. The lab has confirmed that polymer-stabilized gold clusters promote the aerobic oxidation of alcohols, and that differences in the number of atoms change the catalytic behavior.

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Reactions of gas-phase metal clusters↗

To establish guidelines for designing catalysts, the lab follows reactions between metal clusters isolated in vacuum and small molecules. Using mass spectrometers and photoelectron spectrometers built in-house, together with theoretical calculations, the lab aims to create technologies for replacing rare elements with common ones.

VoicesStudent voices

Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.

Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.