​Prof. Junji Nakamura

The mechanism of solid-state catalytic reaction is extremely complicated due to the non-uniformity of the surface structure and the diversity of reactant processes, and there are few examples where the mechanism has been elucidated at the atomic level. Junji Nakamura has been developing unique fusion research of surface science and catalytic chemistry with the aim of elucidating the complex functions of solid catalysts. His greatest feature is the skillful construction of model catalysts using single crystal surfaces. He established a model catalyst by confirming the quantitative agreement between the activities of the model catalyst and the powder catalyst and applied various surface scientific methods to the model catalyst to deepen the active site and mechanism at the atomic and electronic level. Furthermore, Nakamura has developed catalyst research that connects a wide range of fields from basics to applications by linking the basic knowledge obtained from surface science experiments to theoretical calculations and catalyst design. Nakamura has extensively studied heterogeneous catalysts, including methanol synthesis catalysts, water-gas shift catalysts, fuel cell catalysts including Pt/CNT (carbon nanotube), Pt/graphene, and nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts, CNT synthesis catalysts, catalysts for partial oxidation of CH₄, SOFC membrane catalysts as well as electronic structures of graphitic carbons.

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      Particularly, Nakamura has extensively studied catalytic mechanisms relating to methanol synthesis on Cu-based catalysts. Nakamura has clarified that the alloy site of Cu and Zn is the active site through model catalyst research. The "CuZn active site model" is known worldwide. Recently, Nakamura has found that formation of formate takes place through an extremely rare Eley-Rideal (ER) type mechanism as a catalytic reaction mechanism, which has been reported in Nature Chemistry (2019). 

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      Another outstanding research is the study of nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. There are two major types of doped nitrogen, graphitic nitrogen and pyridinic nitrogen, but which one forms the active site was a controversial issue. Nakamura conducted electrochemical measurements using a model catalyst that produced both nitrogen species separately and clarified that the pyridinic nitrogen forms an active site. The research paper has been published in Science in January 2016, which is the most cited paper with a keyword of “catalyst” published since 2016 (Google Scholar 3198 times).