[2/20] The 28th “AIMR Seminar”
Speaker
Prof. Tadafumi Adschiri (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University)
Title
Supercritical Reaction -Fundamentals and Applications-
Date
February 20 (Fri), 2026, 15:00–15:55 on Japan Time
Venue
Seminar Room, 2nd floor, AIMR Main Building
Abstract
Supercritical fluids began to be used as separation solvents in the 1980s, leading to the creation of many new processes. I envisioned their potential as reaction media as well and, 35 years ago, began pioneering research into supercritical reactions.
Alongside physicochemical fundamental studies to understand reactions under supercritical conditions, I conducted basic research on both organic and inorganic reactions and further expanded into a wide range of applied studies, including biomass conversion, waste decomposition, and nanoparticle synthesis. Over the past three decades, the global research population in this field has increased rapidly, leading to the establishment of a distinct academic discipline. Moreover, the outcomes of these fundamental studies have contributed to the world’s first practical supercritical chemical recycling processes, as well as the commercialization of supercritical nanoparticle synthesis, waste treatment, and chemical recovery technologies.
Patent applications in this area have also surged dramatically. Over the past 20 years, the number of patents has exceeded the number of academic publications by more than an order of magnitude. Nearly 10,000 patents related to supercritical reactions are filed annually, and it is anticipated that many new supercritical processes will emerge in the near future.
Supercritical hydrothermal synthesis enables the production of nanomaterials that cannot be synthesized by any other method. It has made possible the fabrication of organically modified nanoparticles, which in turn allows hybridization with various polymers and the preparation of ultra-high-concentration nano-inks. We have also succeeded in synthesizing 1–2 nm metal oxide nanoparticles. These materials exhibit oxygen ion conductivity and catalytic activity that are orders of magnitude higher than those of conventional materials, and they are beginning to demonstrate magnetic and luminescent properties not observed in bulk materials. This approach is expected to serve as a high-speed, continuous synthesis process for the creation of new advanced materials.
AIMR Seminars and Tea Time
We hold AIMR Seminars and Friday Tea Time as part of the initiative to promote fusion research.
Seminars are presented by AIMR researchers and visiting scientists who provide a wide range of hot topics from materials science to mathematics. The aims of the AIMR Seminar are to build up mutual understanding, communication, and discussions of each other’s research fields.
Weekly held Friday Tea Time is where AIMR researchers and staff members can relax and talk freely while drinking coffee. Expectations of stimulating conversation may arise among the researchers and leading to new research.
From 2024, active fusion research through synergistic effects from AIMR Seminars and Friday Tea Time will be promoted.
Past AIMR Seminar
| 28th | Feb. 20, 2026 | Prof. Tadafumi Adschiri (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
|---|---|---|
| 27th | Jan. 30, 2026 | Dr. Tomohiro Otsuka (Jr. PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 26th | Dec. 5, 2025 | Dr. Hiroki Morishita (Device/System Group, AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 25th | Nov. 28, 2025 | Prof. Yusuke Nomura (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 24th | Oct. 31, 2025 | Prof. Yuichi Ikuhara (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 23rd | Oct. 8, 2025 | Prof. Yasumasa Nishiura (Research Adviser of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 22nd | July 22, 2025 | Prof. Yucheng Jiang (Suzhou University of Science and Technology, China) |
| 21st | July 18, 2025 | Prof. Toshiaki Kato (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 20th | June 27, 2025 | Dr. Jiayu Peng (University at Buffalo, U.S.A.) |
| 19th | June 20, 2025 | Prof. Bala Krishnamoorthy (Washington State University Vancouver, U.S.A.) |
| 18th | June 6, 2025 | Prof. Tomoki Ozawa (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 17th | May 16, 2025 | Dr. Kazutoshi Inoue (Jr. PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 16th | Apr. 25, 2025 | Prof. Takafumi Sato (PI of AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 15th | Mar. 26, 2025 | Prof. Shizuo Kaji (Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University) |
| 14th | Feb. 28, 2025 | Prof. Fernanda Albana Marchesini (National University of Litoral, Argentine) |
| 13th | Feb. 7, 2025 | Dr. Lewis Conway (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
| 12th | Jan. 17, 2025 | Dr. Sonia Mahmoudi (SUURI-COOL/Mathematical Science Group, AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 11th | Jan. 10, 2025 | Prof. Lorenzo Di Bari (University of Pisa, Italy) |
| 10th | Dec. 13, 2024 | Dr. Yuta Yoshimoto (Fujitsu Ltd.) |
| 9th | Nov. 29, 2024 | Prof. Zhiqiang Mao (Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.) |
| 8th | July 19, 2024 | Dr. Shuai Wei (Aarhus University, Denmark) |
| 7th | July 5, 2024 | Prof. Henning Schomerus (Lancaster University, U.K.) |
| 6th | May 10, 2024 | Prof. Hidekazu Kurebayashi (University College London, U.K.) |
| 5th | May 1, 2024 | Prof. Michael Hirscher (Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) |
| 4th | Apr. 26, 2024 | Prof. Konstantinos Danas (ELyTMax, CNRS-Tohoku University) |
| 3rd | Mar. 13, 2024 | Prof. Ryoko Tomiyasu (Institute of Mathematics for Industry, Kyushu University) |
| 2nd | Jan. 26, 2024 | Prof. Michael I. Ojovan (Imperial College London, U.K.) |
| 1st | Jan. 12, 2024 | Dr. William Chuck Witt (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
About Tea Time Talk
As part of an event during Friday Tea Time, AIMR has been hosting lectures by famed researchers and the archives up to 2023 are listed below:
| 43rd | July 21, 2023 | Prof. Feral Temelli (University of Alberta, Canada) |
|---|---|---|
| 42nd | June 30, 2023 | Dr. Douglas Brumley (The University of Melbourne, Australia) |
| 41st | Mar. 28, 2023 | Prof. Motomu Tanaka (Physical Chemistry of Biosystems, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Heidelberg University, Germany) |
| 40th | Nov. 10, 2022 | Prof. Masahiro Yoshimura (National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan) |
| 39th | June 17, 2022 | Prof. Rana Mohtadi (Toyota Research Institute of North America) |
| 38th | June 17, 2022 | Prof. Michael Hirscher (Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany) |
| 37th | June 3, 2022 | Prof. Reiko Oda (French National Centre for Scientific Research) |
| 36th | May 28, 2021 | Prof. Magda Titirici (Imperial College London, U.K.) |
| 35th | Mar. 26, 2021 | Prof. Yaroslav Blanter (Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology) |
| 34th | Oct. 23, 2020 | Dr. Kazuhito Tsukagoshi (PI:WPI-MANA, NIMS & AIMR) |
| 33rd | July 17, 2020 | Prof. Kaoru Tamada (IMCE, Kyushu University & AIMR) |
| 32nd | Jan. 17, 2020 | Prof. Miho Yamauchi (I2CNER / Kyushu University & AIMR) |
| 31st | Jan. 17, 2020 | Prof. Mickaël Lallart (INSA Lyon, Université de Lyon) |
| 30th | Oct. 25, 2019 | Assoc. Prof. Frédéric Gillot (Department of Solid Mechanics, Mechanical Eng. and Civil Eng., École Centrale de Lyon) |
| 29th | July 12, 2019 | Prof. Qian Niu (Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin) |
| 28th | May 17, 2019 | Prof. Damien Fabrègue (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
| 27th | Dec. 14, 2018 | Prof. Yukitoshi Motome (Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Japan) |
| 26th | July 13, 2018 | Dr. Shimpei Ono (Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Japan) |
| 25th | May 11, 2018 | Dr. Pierre-Antoine Geslin (Mateis lab, INSA Lyon/CNRS / ELyTMaX Lab at Tohoku University / Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University) |
| 24th | Apr. 27, 2018 | Prof. Masaru Tsukada (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 23rd | Dec. 8, 2017 | Prof. Jean-Yves Cavaillé (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
| 22nd | July 28, 2017 | Prof. Nicolas Mary (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX Lab at Tohoku University) |
| 21st | July 21, 2017 | Prof. Gael Sebald (INSA Lyon, France / ELyT MaX at Tohoku University) |
| 20th | July 7, 2017 | Prof. Arun Bansil (Northeastern University) |
| 19th | June 30, 2017 | Dr. Takeshi Nakanishi (AIST-Tohoku U Mathematics for Advanced Materials Open Innovation Laboratory (MathAM-OIL)) |
| 18th | June 23, 2017 | Prof. Denis Arčon (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) |
| 17th | Apr. 28, 2017 | Prof. Ayumi Hirano (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 16th | Nov. 29, 2016 | Dr. David Guy Austing (National Research Council Canada, Canada) |
| 15th | Sept. 30, 2016 | Prof. C. Suryanarayana (University of Central Florida, U.S.A.) |
| 14th | June 17, 2016 | Prof. Tomoteru Fukumura (AIMR, Tohoku University) |
| 13th | May 13, 2016 | Prof. Jean-Yves Cavaillé (ELyT MaX (Joint Lab at Tohoku University), University of Lyon, France) |
| 12th | June 26, 2015 | Dr. B. Muralidharan (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India) |
| 11th | June 27, 2014 | Prof. Michael B. Santos (The University of Oklahoma, U.S.A.) |
| 10th | Nov. 19, 2013 | Dr. Pawel Hawrylak (National Research Council Canada, Canada) |
| 9th | Oct. 1, 2013 | Dr. Yuan T. Lee (Nobel laureate in Chemistry, Academia Sinica of Taiwan) |
| 8th | June 28, 2013 | Dr. Bjorn Mysen (Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, U.S.A.) |
| 7th | Apr. 12, 2013 | Prof. Yiming Li (National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan) |
| 6th | Jan. 18, 2013 | Prof. Tomasz Dietl (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland) |
| 5th | Aug. 31, 2012 | Prof. John H. Perepezko (University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S.A.) |
| 4th | Aug. 17,2012 | Prof. Alain Reza Yavari (Grenoble Institute of Technology, France) |
| 3rd | Aug. 10, 2012 | Prof. Alan Lindsay Greer (University of Cambridge, U.K.) |
| 2nd | July 6, 2012 | Prof. Winfried Teizer (Texas A&M University, U.S.A.) |
| 1st | May 25, 2012 | Prof. Thomas P. Russell (The University of Massachusetts Amherst, U.S.A.) |