Koba Lab., Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo

Source: https://park.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/kobalabo/index-e.html Parent: https://gpes.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/faculty-staff/materials-systems-and-dynamics/kobayashi-hirokazu.html

Kobayashi Lab.

Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo\ \

Our research interest is in the catalysis for an efficient material cycle.\ Specifically, we focus on the catalytic conversion of biomass such as cellulose and chitin. Plastic chemical recycling is in our scope. We also investigate the oxidation of alkane to fundamental chemicals, the reaction selectively putting one oxygen atom into a saturated hydrocarbon. They are essential challenges to establish a future sustainable chemistry.

News

Mar. 19, 2026\ The work on cellulose pretreatment has been introduced in EurekAlert!. (link)
Mar. 4, 2026\ The paper on cellulose pretreatment authored by Dr. Nishimura et al. has been published in RSC Sustainability. (link)
Dec. 23, 2025\ A collaborative paper with Science Tokyo on the polymer catalysts for cellulose hydrolysis has been published in ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. (Link)
Dec. 16, 2025\ Dr. Kobayashi delivered an oral presentation in Pacifichem2025, held at Honolulu.
Nov. 7, 2025\ Dr. Kobayashi delivered an oral presentation in ICBP2025, held at Numazu.
Oct. 1, 2025\ Natasha Martin has joined as a PhD student in our laboratory.
Sept. 27, 2025\ Our viewpoint on designing catalysts for cellulose hydrolysis has been published in ACS Sustainable Resour. Manage. (link)
June 20, 2025\ Dr. Kobayashi delivered an invited lecture in TICC2025, held in TsingHua Univ., Taiwan.
June 12, 2025\ A collaborative paper with Hokkaido Univ. on the molecular catalysts for cellulose hydrolysis has been published in ACS Omega. (Link)
Apr. 7, 2025\ We took a lab photo. (Link)
Apr. 7, 2025\ Sato earned his master degree. (Link)
Mar. 13, 2025\ Our reserach on the catalyst for crystalline cellulose hydrolysis has been published in ACS Sustainable Resour. Manage.(link)
Mar. 12, 2025\ We had a farewell party for Sato and Watanabe.
Feb. 19, 2025\ Our paper published in Sci. Adv. was selected for JpSAC Outstanding Paper Award.
Nov. 29, 2024\ Dr. Kobayashi delivered an invited lecture in the Ehime-chiku lecture of a CSJ branch.
Oct. 16, 2024\ We had a party to welcome Wang and Gu. (Link)
Oct. 4, 2024\ Lan Gu, a research student, has joined our laboratory.
Oct. 4, 2024\ Nono Tanaka, a freshman, has joined our laboratory for a class.
Sept. 25, 2024\ A collaborative paper with Toyama Pref. Univ. on the synthesis of a vinyl polymer from chitin has been published in Polym. Int. (Link)
Sept. 25, 2024\ Yiming Wang, a Senior student of PEAK, has joined our laboratory.
Sept. 25, 2024\ Tenga Watanabe, a Senior student, has joined our laboratory.
Sept. 13, 2024\ Dr. Kobayashi delivered a lecture in the 13th Carbon Neutral Benkyo-kai.
Aug. 26, 2024\ The paper on chitin-derived aromatic compound, published in BCSJ, has been selected as a Selected Paper (Link)
Aug. 4, 2024\ A review article on the mechanochemcial conversion of polysaccharides has been published in J. Synth. Org. Chem., Jpn. (Link)
July 3, 2024\ A collaborative paper with Hokkaido Univ. on the reactivity of a chitin-derived aromatic compound has been published in BCSJ (Link)
May 15, 2024\ Dr. Kobayashi gave an invited lecture and Dr. Nishimura and Imai did poster presentations in ACS on Campus Symposium.
Apr. 10, 2024\ We took a lab photo. (Link)
Mar. 15, 2024\ A collaborative paper with Chiba Univ. on the deoxydehydration has been published in BCSJ (Link)
Mar. 13, 2024\ Taguchi earned the Head of Department Award from the Department of Integrated Science.
Feb. 22, 2024\ We have added a research page.
Jan. 16, 2024\ A review paper on mechanochemical conversion of biomass has been published in ChemPlusChem. (Link)
Jan. 1, 2024\ I would like to express my heartfelt sympathy to the victims of the earthquake in Ishikawa.
Jan. 1, 2022\ Our laboratory is launched.

For students\ Our laboratory belongs to (1) Komaba Institute for Science, (2) Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and (3) PEAK, a course in English.\ We welcome students pursuing Ph.D. degrees, students in PEAK (GPES) course, and undergraduates in Department of Integrated Sciences. Please see this page carefully.

Access\ Laboratory: Room M202, Komaba Open Laboratory Bldg., The University of Tokyo, Komaba 4-6-1, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.\ \ Graduate School: Department of Basic Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo.

Link\ Komaba Institute for Science\ Department of Basic Science\ Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University