Overview of Research Topics in Our Laboratory 

  • Seawater desalination (reverse osmosis (RO)
  • Gas separation, such as hydrogen separation, carbon dioxide separation, and hydrocarbon gas separation
  • Pervaporation (PV) and vapor permeation (VP)
  • Reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF)
  • Membrane reactors
  • Photocatalytic membranes
  • Proton-conducting membranes for fuel cells
  • Thin-film membrane fabrication by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (plasma CVD)

Examples of Experimental Facilities Used in Our Laboratory 

Membrane Fabrication and Permeation/Separation Systems

  • Membrane fabrication
    • High-temperature electric tubular furnace
  • Gas separation
    • Experimental systems for pure gas permeation and mixed gas separation
  • Pervaporation separation
    • Batch-type PV system operated below the boiling point
  • Vapor permeation separation
    • Batch-type VP system operated at the boiling point
  • Nanofiltration
    • Batch-type cells (stainless steel and acrylic resin)
    • Continuous-flow cells
    • Ultra-high-pressure systems (up to 200 bar)
  • Membrane reactors
    • Catalytic membrane reactor systems

Analytical Instruments

  • Colloidal particle size analysis
    • Electrophoretic light scattering (ELS) combined with dynamic light scattering (DLS)
  • Pore structure characterization
    • Nanopermporometry (Kelvin diameter; condensable vapors: water vapor and organic solvents)
    • Automatic gas adsorption analyzer (volumetric method)
  • Thermal properties
    • Thermogravimetric analyzer (TG)
    • Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)
  • Other analytical instruments
    • Gas chromatography (GC)
    • Liquid chromatography (LC)
    • Ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer (UV–Vis)
    • Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR)
    • X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrometer
    • Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
    • Laser scanning microscope
    • Atomic force microscope (AFM)
    • Centrifuge