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Muneoka Lab
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The lab explores new ways of making materials by controlling plasma in extreme environments.
AboutAbout the lab
Where plasma meets extreme environments.
The Muneoka Lab studies what happens when plasma meets fluids in extreme environments.
In environments far removed from everyday conditions, such as high pressure, low temperature, and ultrahigh temperature, the lab generates plasma by electrical discharge or laser and measures it using light and electricity.
By understanding how plasma interacts with the surrounding fluids and solids, the lab aims to lead to new ways of making materials and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.
On the lab's website, it is presented together with the work of Professor Shigeta and Assistant Professor Sugimoto as the "Fluid Energy Engineering Division (Shigeta-Muneoka-Sugimoto Lab)."
Key terms
- Plasma
- A fluid containing active particles such as electrons, ions, and radicals. It is called the fourth state of matter
- Supercritical fluid
- A state between liquid and gas that appears when a gas is put under high pressure
- High-temperature melt
- Metals and other materials melted at high temperatures. They are handled in metal production and joining
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Excellent Presentation Award at the Student Presentation Meeting of the Tohoku Branch of the Heat Transfer Society of Japan
A master's student received the Scholarship Award from the Japan Welding Society
A paper on lava flow simulation, with a doctoral student as first author, was published in an international journal
A student won the Excellent Paper Award at a joint symposium with National Taipei University of Technology
A master's student won the Best Student Award at the plasma symposium of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, Autumn Meeting
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the interaction between highly energetic, reactive plasma and fluids in extreme environments, such as high pressure, low temperature, and ultrahigh temperature, as well as fluids with large fluctuations. By deepening the understanding of the new physical phenomena that arise there, it aims to lead to innovative manufacturing processes.
*Illustrative imagePlasma and High-Temperature Molten Metal
The interaction between plasma and high-temperature melts has long been widely used in metal production and joining. The lab has built a unique experimental system that generates plasma inside a furnace above 1500°C and measures both the plasma and the melt in detail, aiming to understand the reaction zone from the ground up.
*Illustrative imageMaking Iron with Plasma
Steelmaking accounts for nearly 10% of global CO2 emissions. The lab studies a new ironmaking process that uses plasma energy, which can be powered by green electricity, and carries out basic research and development on precise control of the reaction zone, reduction of iron ore, control of surface reactions of additives, and elemental analysis techniques.
*Illustrative imageDischarges in Supercritical Fluids
When a gas is put under high pressure, it becomes a supercritical fluid, a state between liquid and gas, and density fluctuations become large near the critical point. The lab aims to clarify the nonequilibrium state that appears when plasma is generated in this fluid, using visualization and measurement with light and electricity.
*Illustrative imageMaking Materials in Fluctuating Fluids
Discharges in supercritical fluids, which are dense and have large fluctuations, create reaction environments unlike any seen before through the addition of charged particles and reactive species. Taking advantage of this, the lab explores the possibilities of nanomaterial synthesis and environmentally friendly processes.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Shigeta-Muneoka-Sugimoto Lab consist of faculty, secretaries, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research collaborators.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorHitoshi Muneoka
VoicesStudent voices
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Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Muneoka Lab
Shigeta-Sugimoto LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringFluid energy engineering
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Maruta LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringEnergy dynamics researchThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “Nano-plasma” Al126 at wiki / CC0 (cropped)
- Plasma and High-Temperature Molten Metal: “Metallurgical Furnace in Guwahati, Assam” Donvikro / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Making Iron with Plasma: “Iron ore pellets from Kiruna” JIP | Talk / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Discharges in Supercritical Fluids: “Plasma-filaments” The original uploader was Iantresman at English Wikipedia. / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
- Making Materials in Fluctuating Fluids: “Plasma globe 60th” Colin / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shigeta-Sugimoto Lab): “Plasma Cutter” Tim Drivas / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shimizu Lab): “NASA Earth radiation thermal balance energy budget atmosphere” NASA Earth Observatory / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Sato-Yamaguchi Lab): “Battery researcher” Altynay N Zhumabekova / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Maruta Lab): “ISS-65 Mark Vande Hei works on the Combustion Integrated Rack” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
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