Takaaki Ikuno
PhD student
Catalysis Research Center and Chemistry Department
Technische Universität München
Lichtenbergstraße 4
85748 Garching, Germany
Curriculum
| 2015 - 2019 | PhD student at Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie II, Technische Universität München (Prof. Johannes A. Lercher) |
| 2012 - 2013 | Research stay at Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie II, Technische Universität München |
| 2012 - 2015 | Master studies in Chemical System Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan Master's Thesis: Mechanistic Study on the Crystallization of Zeolite Beta Using Tetraethylammonium Cation as an Organic Structure-Directing Agent (Prof. Tatsuya Okubo) |
| 2009 - 2012 | Bachelor studies in Chemical System Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan Bachelor's thesis: Synthesis of Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles with High Dispersibility (Prof. Tatsuya Okubo) |
Research
Catalytic conversion of methane to methanol Because of the increasing availability of methane as abundant resources, conversion of methane to fuels and chemicals is of great significance. Selective oxidation of methane to methanol, among others, is economically important yet one of the most challenging reactions, due to high C-H bond strength of methane and higher reactivity of its oxidation products. It is known that some specific enzymes, e.g. methane monooxygenases, can convert methane to methanol in one step on their iron and copper sites. Various homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts have been explored following the studies on enzymatic system. Cu-exchanged zeolites are especially promising heterogeneous catalysts in conversion of methane to methanol, and three-step reaction cycle can be applied to avoid simultaneous contact of methane and oxygen to successfully prevent over-oxidation of methane. Cu-exchanged zeolites and MOFs are used in my research to gain better understandings on the nature of active sites and elementary reaction steps, as well as to achieve higher methanol selectivity.
List of publications
Takaaki Ikuno, Watcharop Chaikittisilp, Zhendong Liu, Takayuki Iida, Yutaka Yanaba, Takeshi Yoshikawa, Shinji Kohara, Toru Wakihara, and Tatsuya Okubo, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015, 137 (45), pp 14533–14544, "Structure-Directing Behaviors of Tetraethylammonium Cations toward Zeolite Beta Revealed by the Evolution of Aluminosilicate Species Formed during the Crystallization Process"
H. Ishii, T. Ikuno, A. Shimojima, T. Okubo, J. Colloid Interface Sci., 2015, 448, 57-64, “Preparation of core-shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles with bimodal pore structures by regrowth method”
S. Schallmoser, T. Ikuno, M.F. Wagenhofer, R. Kolvenbach, G.L. Haller, M. Sanchez-Sanchez, J.A. Lercher, J. Catal., 2014, 316, 93-102, “Impact of the local environment of Brønsted acid sites in ZSM-5 on the catalytic activity in n-pentane cracking”
N. Koike, T. Ikuno, T. Okubo and A. Shimojima, Chem. Commun., 2013, 49, 4998-5000, “Synthesis of monodisperse organosilica nanoparticles with hollow interiors and porous shells using silica nanospheres as templates”
T. Ikuno, A. Nomura, K. Iyoki, A. Sugawara-Narutaki, T. Okubo and A. Shimojima, Chem. Lett., 2013, 42, 316-317, “Facile synthesis of well-dispersed hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles using iron oxide nanoparticles as template”