AKIZUKI Makoto
(Associate Professor/Associate Professor/Division of Environmental Studies)
Department of Environment Systems/Environmentally Process Engineering
Career Summary
2008: Graduated from Faculty of Engineering (The University of Tokyo)
2013: Received Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from The University of Tokyo
2013: Assistant Professor (The University of Tokyo)
2023: Associate Professor (The University of Tokyo)
Educational Activities
Environmentally Friendly Chemical Process, Foundations of Environment Systems Ⅰ, Separation Technology II/Advanced Lectures on Separation Engineering, First-Year Seminar for Natural Sciences Students, etc.
Research Activities
Our daily lives are supported by numerous chemical products. My research focuses on how to make chemical processes environmentally friendly, with green chemistry and green engineering as keywords.
As a specific subject, I’m focusing on chemical processes using supercritical fluids. Supercritical fluids have special solvent properties as well as adjustability of these properties. Therefore, it is expected to realize a reaction field with various characteristics while using solvents with low environmental impact, such as water, alcohol, and carbon dioxide. By taking this advantage, I am developing technologies for organic synthesis, inorganic nanomaterial synthesis, decomposition/recycling, and utilization of unused resources. I am also working to establish an academic foundation to support applied technologies, such as elucidating the solvent effects of supercritical fluids, solid catalysis in supercritical fluids, and designing reactors.
Literature
1) Wenjing Chen, Makoto Akizuki, Yoshito Oshima, In-situ regeneration of NbOX/TiO2 catalyst deteriorated due to coke deposition via supercritical water oxidation, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 194 (2023) 105857.
2) Makoto Akizuki, Kohki Ito, Yoshito Oshima, Effects of Alcohol Concentration on the Reactions of Ethyl Acetate and Diethyl Malonate in Hot Compressed Water–Alcohol Mixed Solvents, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58 (2019) 13076-13084.
3) Makoto Akizuki, Yoshito Oshima, Acid catalytic properties of TiO2, Nb2O5, and NbOX/TiO2 in supercritical water, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 57 (2018) 5495-5506.
4) Makoto Akizuki, Yoshito Oshima, Isomerization of α-Pinene to Monocyclic Monoterpenes in Hot Compressed Water Using TiO2 and WOX/TiO2 Catalysts, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 56 (2017) 6204-6212.
5) Makoto Akizuki, Yoshito Oshima, Kinetics of N-substituted amide hydrolysis in hot compressed water using ZrO2 catalyst, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 54 (2015) 3611-3617.
6) Makoto Akizuki, Kengo Tomita, Yoshito Oshima, Kinetics of solid acid catalyzed 1-octene reactions with TiO2 in sub- and supercritical water, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, 56 (2011) 14-20.
Other Activities
The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan (SCEJ)
Catalysis Society of Japan (CATSJ)
Future Plan
Research on chemical reactions using the interesting characteristics of supercritical fluids, is a novel field of research on solvents in chemical reactions, but it has a history of over 20-30 years. Some of the applied technologies have already reached the level of practical application. For example, the oil formation from waste plastics using supercritical water has attracted attention in recent years as a technology for achieving carbon neutrality. On the other hand, there are still many issues to be addressed in the science and engineering applications of this field. In the future, I’d like to develop research to deepen the science while challenging new applications of supercritical fluids.
Messages to Students
In the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, you will be able to meet many researchers from various backgrounds and proceed with your research on the basis of your own ideas. I hope you can enjoy performing unique research with us.