Purpose and Significance of the Research

●Research overview and importance

Catalysts are indispensable tools for materials conversion in a sustainable economy.  Conversion of inexpensive raw materials and sustainable resources into high-performance substances (polymer materials, electronic materials, pharmaceuticals, etc.) and chemical energy sources (hydrogen, methanol, etc.), and the conversion of macromolecules (plastics and biomass) into useful small molecule products through decomposition are important objectives in today’s synthetic chemistry and biotechnology.  The development of superior catalysts and processes that skillfully handle catalysts will be important to achieve objectives.  Interdisciplinary fusion of chemistry and biotechnology is expected to yield powerful and innovative catalysts to transform the production of chemicals and materials from renewable resources.  In this project, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Osaka University and RWTH Aachen University join forces/expertise to develop new catalysts and contribute to training of the next generation of catalysis scientists. 

●Outline of Research

The team will focus on unifying a broad range of synthesis concepts by developing biohybrid catalysts (protein shells harboring chemical catalysis), cascade bioprocesses, small molecule conversions, computational and data science-driven catalyst design, applications of biomedical materials, and decomposition of existing chemicals and biomass.  These projects are expected to contribute to the development of catalysts for a sustainable bioeconomy.