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Structure and Function Chemistry Lab
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A lab that designs tiny nanosized spaces with metal complexes to explore new reactions and functions.
AboutAbout the lab
Nanospaces, built the way buildings are.
The Matsuda Lab studies the chemistry of spaces smaller than a nanometer, known as "nanospace chemistry."
In nanospaces, very strong forces that capture molecules come into play, and captured molecules react differently from how they normally do.
Using metal complexes, the lab designs and constructs these spaces at will, much as one builds a building, and discovers new reactions and phenomena.
Its themes include carbon dioxide capture and the effective use of thermal energy, and it also conducts joint research with industry.
Key terms
- MOF (metal–organic framework)
- A crystal formed by regularly linking metal ions and organic molecules. It contains countless tiny pores of uniform size inside.
- Molecular conductor
- A substance made of stacked flat molecules that conducts electricity. Its properties change greatly with slight changes in its surroundings.
- Synchrotron radiation
- Very bright light, such as X-rays, emitted by electrons accelerated to nearly the speed of light. It is used to investigate the fine structure of materials.
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Tokai Branch Chair's Award of the Chemical Society of Japan
A master's student won the BCSJ Award at the 56th Autumn Meeting of the Federation of Chemistry-Related Societies in the Chubu Area
A master's student won a Poster Award at the 38th Research Presentation Meeting of the Japan Society on Adsorption
Project Assistant Professor Qu won the WILEY ADVANCED Chemistry Europe Poster awards at EuroMOF 2025
A master's student won the Student Presentation Award at the 75th Symposium on Coordination Chemistry of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab centers on MOFs (metal–organic frameworks), crystals formed when countless coordination bonds link metal ions and organic molecules, leaving many tiny pores. By designing the size and properties of the pores, it selectively captures molecules and brings out reactions and electrical and thermal behavior unique to nanospaces.
*Illustrative imageSelectively capturing and separating gas molecules
Gas molecules attract one another only weakly and are similar in size, so separating them once they are mixed is not easy. By designing the nanospace size and surface properties of MOFs, the lab is developing MOFs that can separate acetylene, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and other gases with a selectivity higher than other nanospace materials can achieve.
*Illustrative imageMaking nanospaces special reaction sites
Molecules captured in nanospaces are strongly restricted in orientation and arrangement, so they react differently than they do in ordinary liquids or gases. By designing the structure of the space, the lab achieves reactions that are hard to imagine by conventional thinking, and it is also pioneering new reactions that use radicals, which can exist stably inside nanospaces.
*Illustrative imageMOFs that conduct electricity and respond to molecules
The lab built molecular conductor portions, made of stacked flat molecules, inside a MOF and developed a new MOF that conducts electricity. Using it, the lab aims to create electronic materials that respond to molecules, such as low-power sensors and electrode catalysts.
*Illustrative imageMeasuring simultaneously to uncover the mechanism
The lab has independently developed a system that can perform X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic measurements at the same time as measuring molecular adsorption. Also using measurements at synchrotron radiation facilities, it investigates the mechanisms and the essence of the phenomena by which nanospaces capture molecules.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Matsuda Lab are faculty, administrative assistants, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and visiting students from overseas.As of 2026
- ProfessorRyotaro Matsuda
- Associate ProfessorHiroaki Iguchi
- Project Associate ProfessorYu Hijikata
- LecturerShinpei Kusaka
- Project Assistant ProfessorLiyuan Qu
- Project Assistant ProfessorJenny Pirillo
- Project Assistant ProfessorJunichi Usuba
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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: “4,4'-Diaminodiphenyl Ether-3D-molecular-model-engraved-render-CAS-101-80-4” MolGod Scientific / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Selectively capturing and separating gas molecules: “Oxygen Generator Applications” mentis engineering / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Making nanospaces special reaction sites: “Equipment and glassware” Belikov Maxim / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- MOFs that conduct electricity and respond to molecules: “Potenciostato3” Sinister-br / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Measuring simultaneously to uncover the mechanism: “X-ray diffractometer-1” Sufangxi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (超分子設計学研究グループ): “Photoluminescent rhodium coordination complex crystals under UV light” RhAgchem / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (機能物質工学研究グループ): “RLLvsSXTLgraphite” P. Fraundorf / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (化学遺伝学研究グループ): “Pipetten” No machine-readable author provided. Newbie~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (生体分子応用化学研究グループ): “Coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2” Alexey Solodovnikov (Idea, Producer, CG, Editor), Valeria Arkhipova (Scientific Сonsultant) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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