National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

About: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology is a government organization based out in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Thin film. The organization has 22114 authors who have published 65856 publications receiving 1669827 citations. The organization is also known as: Sangyō Gijutsu Sōgō Kenkyū-sho.

Particulate Photocatalyst Sheets Based on Carbon Conductor Layer for Efficient Z-Scheme Pure-Water Splitting at Ambient Pressure.

Abstract: Development of sunlight-driven water splitting systems with high efficiency, scalability, and cost-competitiveness is a central issue for mass production of solar hydrogen as a renewable and storable energy carrier. Photocatalyst sheets comprising a particulate hydrogen evolution photocatalyst (HEP) and an oxygen evolution photocatalyst (OEP) embedded in a conductive thin film can realize efficient and scalable solar hydrogen production using Z-scheme water splitting. However, the use of expensive precious metal thin films that also promote reverse reactions is a major obstacle to developing a cost-effective process at ambient pressure. In this study, we present a standalone particulate photocatalyst sheet based on an earth-abundant, relatively inert, and conductive carbon film for efficient Z-scheme water splitting at ambient pressure. A SrTiO3:La,Rh/C/BiVO4:Mo sheet is shown to achieve unassisted pure-water (pH 6.8) splitting with a solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency (STH) of 1.2% at 331 K a...

Forecasting Etna eruptions by real-time observation of volcanic gas composition

Abstract: It is generally accepted, but not experimentally proven, that a quantitative prediction of volcanic eruptions is possible from the evaluation of volcanic gas data. By discussing the results of two years of real-time observation of H2O, CO2, and SO2 in volcanic gases from Mount Etna volcano, we unambiguously demonstrate that increasing CO2/SO2 ratios can allow detection of the pre-eruptive degassing of rising magmas. Quantitative modeling by the use of a saturation model allows us to relate the pre-eruptive increases of the CO2/SO2 ratio to the refilling of Etna's shallow conduits with CO2-rich deep-reservoir magmas, leading to pressurization and triggering of eruption. The advent of real-time observations of H2O, CO2, and SO2, combined with well-constrained models of degassing, represents a step forward in eruption forecasting.

High Tunnel Magnetoresistance at Room Temperature in Fully Epitaxial Fe/MgO/Fe Tunnel Junctions due to Coherent Spin-Polarized Tunneling

Abstract: We fabricated fully epitaxial Fe(001)/MgO(001)/Fe(001) magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) and observed a magneto-resistance (MR) ratio of 88% at T = 293 K (146% at T = 20 K), the highest value yet reported. The origin of the high MR ratio is not the diffusive tunneling of Julliere's model but the coherent spin-polarized tunneling in epitaxial MTJs, in which only the electrons with totally symmetric wave functions with respect to the barrier-normal axis can tunnel. The bias-voltage dependence of the MR was very small, resulting in a high output voltage of 380 mV. This high voltage will help overcome problems in the development of high-density magnetoresistive random-access-memory (MRAM).