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Yamamoto-Imaoka Lab
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A lab that makes particles smaller than 1 nm with the exact number of atoms specified.
AboutAbout the lab
A difference of a single atom changes a material.
The Yamamoto-Imaoka Lab studies precise inorganic synthetic chemistry that handles metal atoms one at a time.
Using dendrimers, which are branched polymers, as templates, the lab assembles metal atoms with a specified number and composition.
The sub-nanoparticles smaller than 1 nm made this way are highly reactive and show excellent properties as fuel cell electrocatalysts and photocatalysts.
Using electron microscopes that can image atoms directly, the lab is opening up the sub-nano world, which had been the limit of materials science.
Key terms
- Dendrimer
- A polymer with a structure that branches regularly from the center. It is used as a template to line up metals
- Sub-nanoparticle
- A particle smaller than 1 nm, made of a few to a few dozen atoms
- Superatom
- A particle made of several atoms that behaves like a different element. A cluster of 13 aluminum atoms resembles a halogen
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Outstanding Poster Presentation Award at the CSJ Chemistry Festa
A master's student won the Outstanding Poster Award at the Symposium on New Electrocatalysts
Prof. Yamamoto won the Contribution Award from the Japan Society of Coordination Chemistry
A master's student won the Young Researcher Outstanding Poster Award at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Nano Society
A master's student won the Grand Prize at a symposium on photocatalytic reactions
ResearchResearch themes
The lab has pioneered methods of making sub-nanoparticles with a specified number and composition of metal atoms, using polymer templates called dendrimers. While observing atoms directly, it investigates the properties and functions of matter at this unexplored size and advances its real-world application.
*Illustrative imageDendrimers that line up metals
An electronic gradient forms naturally inside a dendrimer, which makes it collect metals in order from the inside. Using this property, the lab reported for the first time in the world a precise metal assembly that arranges multiple kinds of metals with specified numbers and positions.
*Illustrative imagePrecise synthesis of sub-nanoparticles
The lab pioneered the "atom hybrid method," which uses dendrimers to control the number of metal atoms and their mixing ratio. For platinum, it can make particles with a specified number of atoms, such as 12, 13, or 19.
*Illustrative imageObserving the structure of sub-nanoparticles
Sub-nanoparticles do not form crystals and their shapes change constantly, so X-ray diffraction cannot reveal their structure. The lab records atomic-resolution videos with an aberration-corrected electron microscope and directly counts the atoms that make up a particle.
*Illustrative imageProperties and functions of sub-nanoparticles
In sub-nanoparticles, more than 90% of the atoms are exposed at the surface, so reactivity is high. A particle made of 19 platinum atoms shows high catalytic activity for oxygen reduction in fuel cells. The lab also works on synthesizing "superatoms," which behave like different elements.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Yamamoto-Imaoka Lab are faculty, doctoral and master's students, and undergraduates and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKimihisa YamamotoPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorTakane ImaokaPublications ↗
- Assistant Professor達也 森合Publications ↗
- Assistant Professor吉田 将隆
- Project Assistant ProfessorZou Quan
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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: “Platinum nanoparticles” PieroSpeleo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Dendrimers that line up metals: “PAMAM Divergent Synthesis Color-Coded” Blaboo10 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Precise synthesis of sub-nanoparticles: “Titania supported gold nanocluster” Kronber1 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Observing the structure of sub-nanoparticles: “Stem1” Materialscientist / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Properties and functions of sub-nanoparticles: “U.S. Department of Energy - Science - )” U.S. Department of Energy from United States / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Murahashi-Yamamoto Lab): “Palladium (Element - 46) 1” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fukushima-Shoji Lab): “Emerging geometry in life building blocks” FedeCaimi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Aoki Lab): “Rolling-element bearing 60 mm” Massimiliano Lincetto / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakazono Lab): “B-cyclodextrin” Materialscientist / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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