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Research Teams Announce Separate Discoveries in Catalyst Design for Oxygen Reduction and Greenhouse Gas Removal

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Breakthroughs in Catalyst Design: Three Teams Tackle ORR and Greenhouse Gases

Three independent research teams from South Korea and Japan have published distinct approaches to catalyst design, focusing on improving the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and removing greenhouse gases. Their findings, published in peer-reviewed journals, offer new pathways for energy and environmental technologies.

KAIST & Seoul National University: Electric Field Catalyst Design

A research team led by Professor Seung Jun Hwang (KAIST Department of Chemistry), in collaboration with Professor Jaeyune Ryu's team (Seoul National University), has proposed a novel catalyst design strategy that adjusts the electrical environment around a catalyst by placing cations to generate an electric field.

The proportion of the desired reaction increased from approximately 12% to 52%.

Published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) on April 12, 2025, this method enhanced the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), a critical process in batteries and fuel cells. The researchers noted that the principle may be applicable to other catalytic processes, such as carbon dioxide reduction and hydrogen production.

The study was supported by the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation, the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the Nano and Material Technology Development Program.

Tohoku University: Iron-Based Catalyst for Zinc-Air Batteries

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a catalyst using a heterointerface of Fe₂O₃ and Sm₂O₃ to enhance the ORR in zinc-air batteries.

Key highlights include:

  • The catalyst accelerates ORR kinetics by inducing charge redistribution, orbital hybridization, and super-exchange-mediated spin modulation.
  • Fe₂O₃ was selected due to its abundance, low cost, and structural stability under alkaline conditions.
  • The heterointerface weakens excessive Fe-OH bonding, improving OH desorption and reaction kinetics.
  • In practical tests, the catalyst powered a small LED lamp and charged a smartphone.

"The catalyst achieves high ORR activity, improved reaction kinetics, excellent durability, and superior performance in both liquid and flexible all-solid-state zinc-air batteries."
— Professor Hao Li, Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR)

The findings were published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. on May 25, 2026, under the title "Matching the Coupling of Valence Electrons in the Oxide Interface to Perturb the Magnetic Order Enhancing Oxygen Reduction in Zinc-Air Batteries." The research was conducted by Jing Li, Ningkang Peng, Jianhua Ma, Tingyu Lu, Haibin Zhu, Guangyao Zhou, Yizhou Zhang, Yanhui Gu, Yawen Tang, and Hao Li.

KAIST & Seoul National University: Size-Dependent Oxygen Utilization in Ceria Catalysts

South Korean researchers have identified a principle for catalyst design involving ceria (CeO₂), revealing that the catalysts selectively utilize different oxygen sources depending on their size and the reaction environment.

A joint research team, including Professor Hyunjoo Lee and Professor Jeong Young Park from KAIST, and Professor Jeong Woo Han from Seoul National University, announced on February 4th that they determined ceria completely changes its oxygen usage method based on its size.

Key findings include:

  • Small ceria catalysts operate as an "agility type," quickly taking oxygen from the air for immediate reactions.
  • Large ceria catalysts function as an "endurance type," continuously supplying internally stored oxygen to the surface.
  • This mechanism was validated through both advanced experimental analysis and artificial intelligence-based simulations.
  • Applying this principle to methane removal, small ceria catalysts stably removed methane in low-temperature and high-humidity environments by utilizing oxygen from the air.

"By adjusting the catalyst's size, one can choose between using atmospheric oxygen or internally stored oxygen based on specific reaction conditions."

Professor Hyunjoo Lee stated that this research differentiates the two core mechanisms of oxygen operation in catalysts for the first time, potentially enabling the design of high-efficiency catalysts.

The study's joint first authors include Ph.D. candidate Yunji Choi and Ph.D. candidate Jaebeom Han from KAIST, and Dr. Seokhyun Choung from Seoul National University. The research was published in Nature Communications on January 9th, supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea.