Speaker: Dr. Hiroyasu Furukawa

Webinar time：Nov. 8th 2025 (Saturday), 15:30

Venue：Room 200, New Environmental Building

Inviter：Xing Han

Abstract:

Over the past two decades, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and related materials have demonstrated exceptional capacity for adsorbing various gas molecules. This capability arises from their remarkable chemical and structural tunability compared to conventional adsorbents. Notably, some frameworks outperform traditional materials across multiple metrics, making them highly attractive for gas storage and molecular separation applications critical to both industry and environmental sustainability. In our recent work, we investigated the selective adsorption of guest molecules in several framework materials using a range of analytical techniques. These studies provided key insights into the structural and electronic factors governing their unique adsorption behaviors. This presentation will highlight recent findings on the adsorption of industrially relevant gases such as hydrogen and ammonia, and discuss how these insights inform the design and synthesis of next-generation framework materials for advanced gas separation processes.

About the speaker:

Dr. Hiroyasu Furukawa received his PhD from the University of Tokyo in 2000, following earlier degrees in chemistry from Yokohama National University. After holding research positions in Japan, including at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Waseda University, he pursued postdoctoral training in the United States with Prof. Omar Yaghi at the University of Michigan and UCLA. Since 2011, he has continued his research on porous framework materials at UC Berkeley, where he is currently a Project Scientist in the Department of Chemistry working with Prof. Jeffrey Long. His work focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of metal–organic and related porous materials for gas storage and separation. He has coauthored more than 110 papers, including 10 in Nature and Science, with a total of over 70,000 citations.