Research

Okubo laboratory is focused on development of electrochemical energy storage devices such as batteries and capacitors. We have expertise in materials science including material syntheses, structural analyses, electronic analyses, and electrochemical analyses.

Batteries

Batteries, which store/supply electric energy at high density, play a major role in off-the-grid power sources. However, lithium-ion batteries face many challenges such as energy density, power density, cost, safety, and resource sustainability. We aim to develop, for instance, electrode materials that efficiently store/supply electric energy, and electrolytes/interfaces that transmit electric energy without loss. We will create materials that realize novel-concept next-generation batteries such as sodium-ion batteries, aqua batteries, and anion batteries.

A. Tsuchimoto, et al., Nature Commun., 2021, 12, 631. T. Sudayama, et al., Energy Environ. Sci., 2020, 13, 1492–1500. B. Mortemard de Boisse, et al., Nature Commun., 2019, 10, 2185. B. Mortemard de Boisse, et al., Nature Commun., 2016, 7, 11397. D. Asakura, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 2793-2799. M. Okubo, et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2011, 50, 6269-6273. M. Okubo, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129, 7444-7452.

Capacitors

Capacitors are an electrochemical energy storage device capable of rapid charge/discharge without chemical changes and are indispensable for backing up IT systems and adding flexibility to a power grid. Their performance improvement (energy density, power density, cost, etc.) would accelerate further wide deployment. We will develop, for instance, interfaces that store electric power at high density and materials that store energy via both electric and chemical energies, leading to the realization of higher-performance capacitors.

A. Sugahara, et al., Nature Commun., 2019, 10, 850. M. Okubo, et al., Acc. Chem. Res., 2018, 51, 591-599. X. Wang, et al., Nature Commun., 2015, 6, 6544.