LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Kitano Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A lab that creates catalysts from common elements to help realize a decarbonized society.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward a decarbonized society with catalysts made from abundant elements.
The Kitano Lab studies catalysts with a low environmental burden that use elements abundant on Earth.
Precious metals such as platinum and rhodium make excellent catalysts, but they are rare resources available only in limited amounts.
Using substances in which the oxygen in metal oxides is replaced with nitrogen or hydrogen, and electrides, in which electrons are incorporated into the crystal, the lab creates catalysts that do not depend on precious metals.
The lab works on ammonia synthesis and decomposition, the conversion of carbon dioxide into methanol, and more.
Key terms
- Catalyst
- A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without itself being changed
- Electride
- A substance in which electrons themselves occupy the crystal in place of anions
- Hydrogen carrier
- A substance that hydrogen is converted into so that it can be transported more easily than hydrogen itself
NewsLab news
A doctoral student won a poster award at the international conference TOCAT10
Paper on an ammonia synthesis catalyst published in Nature Communications
Joint research with Shanghai Jiao Tong University published in Nature Communications
A master's student won the GSC Poster Award at the JACI/GSC Symposium
A doctoral student won a poster award at the international conference MRM2025
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to create new functional materials by making full use of elements abundant on Earth, and to build catalytic processes with a low environmental burden. It studies catalysts that contribute to a carbon-neutral society, such as those for ammonia synthesis and decomposition and carbon dioxide conversion.
*Illustrative imageCatalysts Using Heteroanions
The lab synthesizes compounds in which part of the oxygen in a metal oxide is replaced by nitrogen, hydrogen, or electrons, and uses those sites as the stage for reactions. It has realized an ammonia synthesis catalyst that works without immobilizing a metal such as ruthenium.
*Illustrative imageTurning CO2 into Useful Substances
The lab found that using a PdMo intermetallic compound with a hexagonal structure as a catalyst makes it possible to hydrogenate carbon dioxide and synthesize methanol at room temperature. Few solid catalysts work at room temperature.
*Illustrative imageAmmonia Decomposition Without Precious Metals
Ammonia stores hydrogen at high density and is promising as a hydrogen carrier. When a nitrogen-containing compound is used as the support for nickel, nitrogen vacancies in the support become the active sites, and the catalyst works at temperatures more than 100°C lower than conventional nickel catalysts.
*Illustrative imageCatalysts Using Electrides
The lab immobilized ruthenium nanoparticles on C12A7 electride, a stable inorganic oxide that donates electrons as readily as metallic potassium. This catalyst can efficiently dissociate nitrogen molecules, making ammonia synthesis more energy-efficient.
MembersFaculty
The Kitano Lab's members consist of faculty, postdoctoral researchers, technical staff, doctoral students, master's students, undergraduate students, and collaborators.As of 2026
- ProfessorKitano MasaakiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorShinya MasudaPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorShun SatoPublications ↗
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.
On a 4-point scale, ● marks where students' answers fall
Who is this lab for?
What's great about this lab?
What did you learn after joining?
What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
Where do graduates go?
RelatedLabs similar to Kitano Lab
Yasui LabSchool of Materials and Chemical Technology, Department of Materials Science and EngineeringCeramic synthesis, functional oxide materials, energy conver…
Nakajima-Isobe LabSchool of Materials and Chemical Technology, Department of Materials Science and EngineeringEnvironment, energy, surfaces and interfaces, inorganic chem…
Sannomiya LabSchool of Materials and Chemical Technology, Department of Materials Science and EngineeringTransmission electron microscopy, nano-optical materials, pl…
Michinobu LabSchool of Materials and Chemical Technology, Department of Materials Science and EngineeringOrganic chemistry, polymer chemistryThe 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: “Pipes” Hermann Luyken / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Catalysts Using Heteroanions: “Ammonia-3D-balls-A” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Turning CO2 into Useful Substances: “Methanol-3D-vdW” Ben Mills / Public domain (cropped)
- Ammonia Decomposition Without Precious Metals: “Electrolytic nickel” Jurii / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Catalysts Using Electrides: “Chlormayenite” David Hospital / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (安井研究室): “Ceramic fracture” Mtbusca / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (中島・磯部研究室): “Kutani-Style Arita-Ware, 17th century, Japan, porcelain - Art Institute of Chicago - DSC00212” Daderot / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (三宮研究室): “Gold Colloid of varying size” Kumarbarc / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (道信研究室): “1inchpolymersolarcell” Aromaticmoleculessmell / CC BY 3.0 (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.