Sophia University, Horikoshi laboratory

Introduction of research subjects Link

Horikoshi Laboratory
Novel development of Green Chemistry toward a technology for environmental remediation, preservation and energy development

Current efforts in our laboratory deal with research for environmental remediation, green chemistry, and alternative energies (for example, formation of chemical fuels such as H₂ and CH₄). Organic and inorganic compounds have been reported to amount to nearly 65,000,000, so that our life is the richer thanks to new substances. However, many of these chemical substances can cause significant pollution to the environment (air, water, soils). Our laboratory focuses on environmental remediation when the environment is polluted and avoidance of pollution altogether through three principal approaches. The 1^st approach involves novel environmental remediation techniques which in essence involve the decomposition of the polluting chemical substances (dioxins, agricultural chemicals, etc....). The 2^nd approach involves the development of chemical synthesis methods that produce little or no wastes and are accompanied with energy saving that might be beneficial to chemical industrial processes. Typically, chemical syntheses are carried out with organic solvents, and often with unreacted materials are discharged as wastes in large quantities into the various ecosystems. The new chemical synthesis methods are so designed as not to use organic solvents and are to be efficient such that they meet the strictest rules in green chemistry. The 3^rd approach is to develop a technology based on electromagnetic waves toward the production of chemical fuels such as hydrogen, well known energy vectors. In order to study such novel technologies in the environmental and energy fields

Microwave Chemistry

Target: microwave specific effects (e.g. magnetic effect, frequency effect, hot-spot on the catalyst surface) in the chemical reaction

Chemical reaction: Organic synthesis, Nanoparticle synthesis, Heterogeneous catalytic reaction
Field: Organic synthesis, Hydrogenation, Environmental protection

Microwave Discharge Electrode Lamp (MDEL)

Video
cover page of Photochem. Photobiol. Sci.

Merit of MDEL: Distinctive features that make MDEL devices attractive are (a) the relatively long lifetime of the electrodeless lamp, (b) no complications in lamp shape because the lamps are electrodeless, (c) no variation in light intensity, (d) the ignition time to lighting the MDEL device is shorter than for a typical electrode lamp, (e) the UV radiation can be supplied external to the reactor to avoid absorption of the microwave radiation by the reactor contents, (f) the facility of lamp replacement, and finally (g) both UV and MW radiations are simultaneously available to induce oxidative/degradative processes to destroy organics and microorganisms using a microwave energy source alone.
Field: Environmental protection(wastewater, VOCs), Photo-isomerization

Promotion of photocatalytic activity by microwave

The photocatalytic activity is enhanced by using UV/vis irradiation coupled to microwave radiation. It was clarified that the promoted effect was not by mere heat.

Microwave liquid plasma

Photo
An energy-saving and simple liquid plasma device was manufactured using a novel integrated design that coupled microwaves and an ultrasonic homogenizer. The simple device was evaluated by carrying out the degradation of the toxic material (e.g. perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
Field: Environmental protection(wastewater)

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