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Sasaki Lab
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An environmental remediation engineering lab that turns ironmaking and smelting waste into resources.
AboutAbout the lab
Turning steel and smelting waste into resources
The Sasaki Lab studies how to make use of waste from the steel industry and metal smelting as resources.
It works on creating photocatalyst composites from iron and steel slag and copper smelting slag that produce hydrogen using sunlight.
It also studies techniques that use the action of microorganisms to extract metals such as gold and zinc from ore and urban mines.
Working with resource-rich countries such as Uzbekistan, the lab pursues resource circulation technologies that are considerate of the global environment.
Key terms
- Photocatalyst
- A substance that causes a chemical reaction when exposed to light. Here, it is used to produce hydrogen using sunlight.
- Biohydrometallurgy
- A technique that uses the action of microorganisms to extract metals from ore and other materials.
- Iron and steel slag
- A by-product, made up of components other than iron, that emerges during the ironmaking process.
NewsLab news
Paper by Lecturer Cai published in an academic journal
A student wins the Young Poster Presentation Award from the Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan
Professor Sasaki receives the fiscal 2024 Academic Achievement Award from the Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The Sasaki Lab conducts research in environmental remediation engineering, using waste from the iron and steel industry and metal smelting as resources. Its work includes making photocatalysts from iron and steel slag and smelting slag, and using microorganisms to extract metals from ore and urban mines.
*Illustrative imageTurning Iron and Steel Slag into Photocatalysts
The lab converts iron and steel slag, produced in large quantities during ironmaking, into photocatalysts that respond to sunlight, and uses them in hydrogen-producing reactions.
*Illustrative imageClay Mineral–Photocatalyst Composites
The lab studies composites of clay minerals and photocatalysts such as TiO2, examining how the distribution of iron inside them affects how they function as photocatalysts.
*Illustrative imageTurning Copper Smelting Slag into Photocatalysts
In collaboration with Uzbekistan, a resource-rich country, the lab makes photocatalyst composites from slag produced in copper smelting and works on applying them to hydrogen generation.
*Illustrative imageBiotechnology for Precious Metal Recovery
The lab studies techniques that use the action of microorganisms to extract precious metals such as gold from ore and urban mines in ways with low environmental impact.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Sasaki Lab consist of faculty, foreign research fellows, research assistants, research fellows, and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKeiko Sasaki
- LecturerWenan Cai
VoicesStudent voices
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Nozaki LabSchool of Creative Science and Engineering, Department of Resources and Environmental EngineeringResource geochemistry, ore deposit geology, seafloor mineral…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: “Titanium(IV) oxide” Walkerma / Public domain (cropped)
- Turning Iron and Steel Slag into Photocatalysts: “Backlit ficus elastica leaf texture 2014 02” Julian Herzog / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Clay Mineral–Photocatalyst Composites: “Sheet mica, Namibia” Olga Ernst / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Turning Copper Smelting Slag into Photocatalysts: “Great Cobar mine - Slag with colouration due to copper (Sept 2025)” TrimmerinWiki / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Biotechnology for Precious Metal Recovery: “Gold heap leach pond” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Tokoro Lab): “Recycled Electronics - Circuit Boards ( )” Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamaguchi Lab): “Ore smelting furnace, Gedabey” Siemens Corporate Archives, Munich / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Kawabe Lab): “Berkeley Pit & Continental Mine & Yankee Doodle Tailings Pond (Butte, Montana, USA)” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nozaki Lab): “Active hydrothermal vent- Mushroom (OOI 222)” Ocean Observatories Initiative / Public domain (cropped)
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