LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Kato Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A lab that creates inorganic materials for artificial photosynthesis, using photocatalysts to produce hydrogen from water.
AboutAbout the lab
Making hydrogen from water with light and inorganic materials
The Kato Lab develops inorganic materials that drive chemical reactions, with the aim of contributing to carbon neutrality.
Its main goal is to develop photocatalysts for artificial photosynthesis, which produces hydrogen from sunlight and water.
The lab also develops solid catalysts that convert plant-derived biomass into useful chemicals.
By investigating how solid-state properties such as crystal structure, crystal facets, and defects relate to function, the lab also works on synthesizing materials that have never existed before.
Key terms
- Photocatalyst
- A material that uses the energy of light to drive a chemical reaction when light shines on it
- Artificial photosynthesis
- Imitating plant photosynthesis to make fuels and chemicals from water and other substances using light energy
- Biomass
- A renewable carbon resource derived from living things such as plants
NewsLab news
A paper was accepted in ACS Applied Energy Materials
Students won the Best Poster Award and other awards at the 44th Symposium on Light-Related Catalytic Chemistry
Students won the Material Design Excellence Award and the Characterization Encouragement Award at the 19th MFD Research Meeting
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies photocatalysts and photoelectrodes for artificial photosynthesis, and solid acid-base catalysts for making effective use of carbon resources. By gaining a deep understanding of how solid-state properties such as crystal structure, crystal facets, and defects relate to function, it aims to improve how materials perform.
*Illustrative imageProducing hydrogen through artificial photosynthesis
Hydrogen made from fossil resources emits carbon dioxide during production, whereas hydrogen made from water using renewable energy such as sunlight is called green hydrogen. To achieve this through photocatalytic water splitting, the lab is exploring new photocatalysts and improving their performance by controlling band potentials and electron traps.
*Illustrative imageSolid catalysts that convert biomass
Biomass, which plants produce from atmospheric carbon dioxide, is a renewable carbon resource. From the standpoint of inorganic materials chemistry, the lab develops solid acid-base catalysts that convert biomass-derived sugars into useful chemicals such as HMF.
*Illustrative imageCreating new materials
To create highly functional inorganic materials, it is also essential to synthesize previously unknown substances. Focusing on differences in the size and valence of the ions that make up a material, the lab has produced new oxides, oxynitrides, and sulfides.
MembersFaculty
The Kato Lab consists of faculty members, a secretary, visiting researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHideki Kato
- Associate ProfessorRyota Osuga
- Assistant ProfessorShunya Yoshino
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Kato Lab
Tomai LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemistry and BioengineeringSupercritical × nano × electrochemistry: biomass conversion,…
Hattori LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemistry and BioengineeringOrganic synthesis, molecular recognition and function; devel…
Shuku LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemistry and BioengineeringBio-nanosensing; electrochemistry-based patterning of hetero…
Yin LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Chemistry and BioengineeringEnvironmental inorganic materials chemistry. Creation of env…The 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: “Photoreactor Sun Tracking LERF Timisoara RO 2” Mihai-Cosmin Pascariu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Producing hydrogen through artificial photosynthesis: “Titanium dioxide powder dispersing in water” Pixelmaniac pictures / CC0 (cropped)
- Solid catalysts that convert biomass: “Bagasse in Hainan - 01” Anna Frodesiak / CC0 (cropped)
- Creating new materials: “Tausonit-Perovskit-structure-closed-package-of-sphears” Bubenik / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tomai Lab): “Critical carbon dioxide-3” Bernhard Kuemel、Regi51 / CC BY-SA 2.0 at (cropped)
- Related lab (Hattori Lab): “Calixarene” Edgar181 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Shuku Lab): “Andrea Santiuste LydiaGarcía CristinaMoreno” PracticaGarSanMo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yin Lab): “Such different zinc oxide - nanowalls” Andrey P. Tarasov / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.