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About us

Kajihara Lab. is a new laboratory, launched on April of 2018. In FY2020 Prof. Takashi Takei and Prof. Takashi Yanagishita have joined. We are studying photo-electrofunctional inorganic solids and related materials including ceramics and glasses, which are key materials serving as sustainable urban environment and low-carbon economy. Research interests include development of environment-friendly processes, search and structural-compositional modifications of materials, and their application to functional devices such as phosphors, lasers, and batteries.

Research area

  • Inorganic materials chemistry
  • Functionalization of ceramics, glasses, and silicon-based organic-inorganic hybrids
  • Silica and their applications to optical materials
  • Environmental-friendly synthesis of inorganic materials
  • Efficient energy conversion with inorganic materials
  • Photoinduced phenomena, diffusion, and chemical reactions in/on inorganic solids

Chronology

2025.12.15
A review article on negligible concentration quenching in transparent silica–rare-earth orthophosphate glass–ceramic phosphors developed in our group has been published.
2025.09.01
A paper on ambient-pressure synthesis and characterization of α-(Mn,Ti)O2 for rechargeable magnesium battery cathodes, co-authored with Prof. Masanao Ishijima, Mr. Yu Sakano (MC1 student), Mr. Kentaro Okada (BC graduate in FY2023), Prof. Tamao Ishida (Osaka Metropolitan Univ.), Dr. Toshihiko Mandai (NIMS), and Prof. Kiyoshi Kanamura has been published.
2025.08.12
Prof. Kajihara gave an invited talk entitled "Negligible concentration quenching in sol–gel-derived silica–REPO4 transparent glass-ceramic phosphors" in The 17th International Conference on the Physics of Non-Crystalline Solids (PNCS17) (Tsukuba, Japan)
2025.08.01
A review article on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of amorphous functional materials in our group has been published.
2025.06.26
Prof. Kajihara gave an ivited talk entitled "Cosolvent-free synthesis and characterization of poly(methylsilsesquioxane-co-dimethylsiloxane) liquids and deep-ultraviolet transparent elastic resins" on The 15th Symposium SiO2, Advanced Dielectrics and Related Devices (SiO2 2025) (Saint-Étienne, France).
2024.12.24
A paper on high-yield synthesis of hexanuclear rare-earth clusters, co-authored with Mr. Toshiki Tsuchiya (DC3 student) and colleagues has been published.
2024.11.29
Mr. Takahiro Itakura (DC1 student) received 2024 the Motoharu Kurata Student Award of the International Exchange Encouragement Award of the Ceramic Society of Japan (CerSJ). This award is presented to graduate students who achieved excellent results on glass science and technology.
2024.11.29
Prof. Kajihara received 2024 (the 79th) the Ceramic Society of Japan (CerSJ) Award for Academic Achievements in Ceramic Science and Technology (Review article), on "Studies on the development and spectroscopic characterization of amorphous functional materials."
2024.10.30
A paper on oxalate-assited Fe2O3 surface functionalization of transition metal oxide-based cathode materials for rechargeable magnesium batteries, co-authored with Prof. Masanao Ishijima, Ms. Arisa Omata (MC2 graduate in FY2023), Dr. Toshihiko Mandai (NIMS), Prof. Tetsu Ichitsubo (Tohoku Univ.), and colleagues has been published.
2024.06.04
A paper on cosolvent-free transesterification between alkoxysilanes and cosolvent-free sol–gel synthesis of macroporous silica gels, co-authored with Ms. Hiroka Koreeda (MC2 student) and colleagues has been published.