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Yamada-Kitada Lab
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The lab develops new electrode and electrolyte materials for next-generation batteries.
AboutAbout the lab
Designing next-generation batteries, starting from the materials
The Yamada-Kitada Lab studies materials for secondary batteries, which store and release electricity.
The lab's research targets solid electrode materials and liquid electrolyte materials.
The lab handles the whole process in one continuous flow, from synthesizing new materials to elucidating reaction mechanisms and verifying how they perform as batteries.
Experimental and computational researchers work on equal footing in the lab, exchanging insights daily as they advance their research.
Key terms
- Secondary battery
- A battery that can be recharged and used repeatedly, such as a lithium-ion battery.
- Electrolyte
- A liquid inside a battery that does not conduct electrons but mediates the movement of ions between the electrodes.
- First-principles calculation
- A method of calculating the properties of materials from the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, without relying on experimental values.
- Synchrotron radiation
- Bright light emitted when electrons traveling at nearly the speed of light are bent by magnets. It is used to examine the structure of materials in detail.
NewsLab news
Prof. Yamada wins the EnSM Award
New electrolyte design principle for metal secondary batteries published in Nature Chemistry
Master's and undergraduate students win presentation awards for their master's and bachelor's theses
Open electrolyte database developed in collaboration with researchers inside and outside the university
Prof. Yamada wins the Dongjin Lectureship Award
ResearchResearch themes
The Yamada-Kitada Lab covers the entire process in one continuous flow: developing and synthesizing materials, evaluating their structures and properties, elucidating reaction mechanisms as battery materials, and developing energy storage devices. The lab looks beyond lithium-ion batteries to sodium-ion batteries, which are free from resource constraints, and other next-generation batteries.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of electrode materials
The lab identifies regions of chemical space where new materials remain undiscovered and searches for electrode materials there. It also aims to understand and control the mechanisms at interfaces where materials meet.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of highly concentrated electrolytes
The lab focuses on electrolytes in which salt is dissolved at higher concentrations than usual. In this regime, long considered unfavorable, it has discovered many electrolytes that are electrochemically stable and offer fast reaction kinetics.
*Illustrative imageCombining computation and experiment
Using first-principles calculations, the lab investigates the properties of electrodes, electrolytes, and interfaces at the atomic scale. Experimental and computational researchers exchange insights on a daily basis as they work.
*Illustrative imageReaction analysis with synchrotron radiation and neutrons
After building up insight through fundamental experiments, the lab uses synchrotron radiation and neutrons at facilities such as the Photon Factory, SPring-8, and J-PARC, when needed, to analyze in detail the reactions inside batteries.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Yamada-Kitada Lab consist of faculty, principal researchers, technical staff, secretaries, and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- ProfessorYamada AtsuoPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorKitada AtsushiPublications ↗
- Project LecturerNorio TakenakaPublications ↗
- LecturerKo SeongjaePublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorTristram JenkinsPublications ↗
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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: “Lithium-ion coin cell batteries in laboratory testing fixture” Chingo K / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Development of electrode materials: “LiFePO4 crystal structure” Aherthabey / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Development of highly concentrated electrolytes: “A Supersaturated Solution” Cuterjeans / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Combining computation and experiment: “Acetone LUMO wiki” Fhenatizs / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Reaction analysis with synchrotron radiation and neutrons: “Sp8-3972” Nnn / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tung Lab): “Molybdenite-238917” Robert M. Lavinsky / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Wakihara Lab): “Freiberg, Terra mineralia, Stellerit, Laumontit, Apophyllit” Dguendel / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tsuji Lab): “Viscous fingers in a TiO2 sol-gel thin film formed from a Saffman-Taylor instability. 200x magnification reflected light” Claire Trease, Kingston University / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Muraoka Lab): “MFI zeolite structure” Prashant Kumar et al. / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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