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Molecular Spectroscopy Lab
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A lab that uses spectroscopy to uncover how chemical reactions at interfaces work.
AboutAbout the lab
Reactions happen at interfaces, and light reveals how
The Molecular Spectroscopy Lab uses spectroscopic measurements to reveal how chemical reactions proceed at interfaces (solid–gas, solid–liquid, and between different solids), which play important roles in heterogeneous catalytic reactions, electrochemical reactions, and photoelectric conversion.
The atomic-level details of reactions at interfaces are often poorly understood, and this is a major barrier to developing materials with desirable properties.
The lab aims for breakthroughs in heterogeneous catalysis and energy conversion.
Key terms
- Heterogeneous catalyst
- A catalyst that promotes reactions of gas or liquid molecules on a solid surface
- Operando measurement
- Measuring a reaction while it is actually taking place
- Rate-determining step
- The slowest step among the steps of a multistep reaction, which determines the speed of the overall reaction
- Localized plasmon
- A phenomenon in which the electrons in a metal nanoparticle oscillate collectively together with light
ResearchResearch themes
The lab approaches the mechanisms of reactions at interfaces using photoelectron spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy, and nonlinear spectroscopy with ultrashort pulse lasers.
*Illustrative imageUnderstanding Reaction Mechanisms at Interfaces
Complex interfacial reactions are broken down into elementary steps that pass through reaction intermediates. By measuring reactions as they occur (operando measurement) and model systems with photoelectron and vibrational spectroscopy, the lab clarifies reaction mechanisms from the structures of intermediates and active sites.
*Illustrative imageGetting to the Essence of the Rate-Determining Step
In redox reactions at electrode interfaces and charge transfer in organic solids, solvent fluctuations and molecular vibrations drive the reaction. The lab applies nonlinear spectroscopy with ultrashort laser pulses to interfaces, aiming to capture fluctuations on femtosecond to picosecond timescales.
*Illustrative imageCatalysis through Strong Coupling between Radiation Fields and Matter
The lab fabricated metal nanoparticles that show localized plasmon resonance in the deep ultraviolet, and found that large energy modulation occurs when they are coupled with the electronic transitions of small molecules such as water. It is now exploring what changes this brings to chemical reactions.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Molecular Spectroscopy Lab are faculty, secretaries, doctoral and master's students, and fourth-year undergraduates.As of 2026
- ProfessorKazuya Watanabe
- Associate ProfessorTakanori Koitaya
- Assistant ProfessorNaoki Nagatsuka
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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: “Electrochemical test cell” Hansjoachimkohnke / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Understanding Reaction Mechanisms at Interfaces: “Cyclic voltammetry of V(IV) solution” Kavin Teenakul / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Getting to the Essence of the Rate-Determining Step: “Iodide photoelectron image” JJJNewman / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Catalysis through Strong Coupling between Radiation Fields and Matter: “Nanoparticle lspr 2” Tem5psu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Surface Chemistry Lab): “STM-image of n-alkane C46H94 monolayer” Anton Senenko / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Physical Chemistry Lab): “Carrier relaxation probed with 2D electronic spectroscopy” Johannes M. Richter, Federico Branchi, Franco Valduga de Almeida Camargo, Baodan Zhao, Richard H. Friend, Giulio Cerullo & Felix Deschler / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Physics of Disordered Systems Lab): “European XFEL DESY Beschleunigermodule 2” Dirtsc / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantum Chemistry Lab): “Amniote rhodopsin 3D structures” Constanze Bickelmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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