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Kubo Lab
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A lab that uses supercomputers to design materials and devices from the atoms up.
AboutAbout the lab
Designing materials and devices, starting from the atoms.
The Kubo Lab uses computational science simulations to design systems and materials from theory.
Its core is multiscale technology that connects nanoscale chemical reactions, mesoscale microstructures, and macroscale heat and fluid flow.
The lab also handles phenomena in which chemical reactions, friction, impact, stress, fluid flow, light, electrons, heat, and electric fields are intricately intertwined, treating them all together.
The target fields are wide-ranging, including fuel cells, aerospace equipment, electric vehicles, and semiconductor processes.
Key terms
- Multiscale
- An approach that links phenomena of different sizes, from nanometers to meters, and treats them all at once
- Multiphysics
- Treating different kinds of phenomena, such as chemical reactions, friction, heat, and fluid flow, at the same time
- Supercomputer
- A computer that performs enormous calculations at high speed. It can reproduce the motion of atoms on a large scale
NewsLab news
A paper on friction and wear at the interface between diamond-like carbon and Fe was accepted by Langmuir
A paper on polymer brushes was accepted by Macromolecules
A paper on a composite material of SiC and carbon nanotubes was selected for a Supplementary Cover of Langmuir
A paper by a doctoral student on polymer electrolyte fuel cells was accepted by Chemistry Letters
A master's student received the Outstanding Student Presentation Award from the Japanese Society of Tribologists
ResearchResearch themes
To help solve energy and environmental problems and build a safe and secure society, the lab develops multiscale, multiphysics computational science simulation techniques. Using supercomputers such as the one at the Institute for Materials Research, it carries out large-scale calculations that treat atoms one by one.
*Illustrative imageFriction and wear simulation
The lab deals with the tribology of aerospace equipment and automobiles. By tracking the chemical reactions that occur when diamond-like carbon is subjected to friction, it showed that gas molecules such as methane and ethane evaporating from the friction surface cause wear.
*Illustrative imageCalculations for building fuel cell electrodes
For fuel cells used in power generation and in homes, the lab calculates how nickel aggregates in a large-scale fuel electrode (anode) model of 3 million atoms. This made it possible to design not the elements, but the structure of the electrode layer itself, such as porosity, tortuosity, and composition ratio.
*Illustrative imageMetal cracks and stress corrosion cracking
The lab simulates stress corrosion cracking using a large-scale steel model of 2 million atoms. It revealed how a chemical reaction between the metal surface and water forms an oxide film that accelerates cracking, and how cracking proceeds when accompanied by a phase transition.
*Illustrative imageElectrode catalyst layers for automotive fuel cells
The lab simulates how an electrode catalyst layer made of platinum catalyst, carbon particles, Nafion, and water forms. It revealed the dynamics of ethanol and water evaporating from a catalyst ink that contains them.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Kubo Lab include faculty, researchers, secretaries, technical assistants, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMomoji Kubo
- Project Associate ProfessorNobuki Ozawa
- Associate ProfessorYusuke Otani
- Project Associate ProfessorYayoi Terada
- Assistant ProfessorShogo Fukushima
- Assistant ProfessorShandan Bai
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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: “BalticServers data center” BalticServers.com / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Friction and wear simulation: “Abandoned concrete factory mechanism” Diacritica / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Calculations for building fuel cell electrodes: “Apollo SM fuel cell” James Humphreys - SalopianJames / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Metal cracks and stress corrosion cracking: “Stress-Corrosion-Cracking-Quench-Pipe” CEphoto, Uwe Aranas / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Electrode catalyst layers for automotive fuel cells: “Platinum nanoparticles” PieroSpeleo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Omori-Ito Lab): “Aluminium etched” Alchemist-hp (talk) (www.pse-mendelejew.de) / CC BY-SA 2.0 de (cropped)
- Related lab (Nogami Lab): “Iron runners - Trumbull-Cliffs Blast Furnace” "New Trumbull-Cliffs 600-Ton Blast Furance", The Iron Age, September 15, 1921, p. 676 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Xu-Uchiyama Lab): “Триболюминесценция в кварце” Yaroslav Ulyushin / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Saito Lab): “Molybdenite-251617” Robert M. Lavinsky / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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