The Association of Powder Process Industry and Engineering, Japan, Encouragement Awards: Outstanding Research Award (KATO Kunihiko, Designated Assistant Professor), and Research Encouragement Award (XIN Yunzi, Designated Assistant Professor)

Winners

Designated Assistant Professor KATO Kunihiko and Designated Assistant Professor XIN Yunzi (Shirai Laboratory, Advanced Ceramics Research Center)

Award-winning research

Designated Assistant Professor KATO Kunihiko: New technology to reconstruct commercially available powders into next-generation air and water purification catalyst materials 

Designated Assistant Professor XIN Yunzi: Does green tea turn into oolong tea or black tea in a teacup? ―Functionalization of ceramic surfaces using powder technology and structural changes in tea catechins―

Related website of the winner

Website of the Laboratory to which the award winner belongs (Shirai Laboratory)

Related website

POWTEX2024, the 25th International Powder Industry Exhibition Tokyo: Academic Corner--Young Researchers Discuss the Future of Powder Technology--

Regarding the research projects presented at the Academic Corner--Young Researchers Discuss the Future of Powder Technology-- of POWTEX2024, the 25th International Powder Industry Exhibition Tokyo, which is hosted by the Association of Powder Process Industry and Engineering, Japan, awards are given to outstanding research projects that are recognized as contributing to the development of powder technology. The presented research projects were judged by a panel of 10 executives from powder-related companies from a variety of perspectives, including whether the technologies are useful to the powder industry, their academic originality, and the clarity of the presentations. As a result, the winners of the Outstanding Research Award and Research Encouragement Award were chosen from among 18 young researchers.

Research that has won the Outstanding Research Award
Presentation title: New technology to reconstruct commercially available powders into next-generation air and water purification catalyst materials
In this presentation, the technology to manufacture high-performance materials (next-generation environmental purification catalysts) through modification and composite processing using only common commercially available powdered raw materials and the related resource circulation strategy were highly evaluated.

Research that has won the Research Encouragement Award

Presentation title: Does green tea turn into oolong tea or black tea in a teacup? --Functionalization of ceramic surfaces using powder technology and structural changes in tea catechins--

This research project revealed for the first time in the world that tea catechins undergo a structural change due to the catalytic action of the glaze on the surface of ceramics. In addition, Designated Assistant Professor XIN Yunzi discovered that, by precisely controlling the composition and chemical structure of the glaze powder, tea catechins can be selectively oxidized to produce theaflavin, its oxides, and polymers such as thearubigins, which are found in large amounts in fermented teas such as black tea and oolong tea. In the future, we can expect to see the creation of new functions for tea and ceramics, which have been enjoyed all over the world since ancient times, such as in-situ synthesis of catechins that contribute to improving human health and the development of tea utensils that allow us to enjoy changing flavors. The research project was highly praised as outstanding research that is expected to contribute further to the development of powder technology by combining traditional and cutting-edge techniques.