Our proprietary technologies
１．Regular porous substances
We possess the technology to create regular porous materials, crystals with pores at the molecular level (0.2 to 2 nanometers).
Synthetic zeolite is a typical example of a regular porous material. Synthetic zeolite is used as an essential catalyst in modern life, such as in the production of gasoline. They are also used in gasoline and diesel vehicles as catalysts to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated during high-temperature combustion to harmless nitrogen.
Metal Organic Framework (MOF) is a regular porous material consisting of a metal core and an organic material as a linker between the metal core and the metal core. This has led to a flurry of research.
We possess the technology to increase the purity of materials and crystals with such a regular structure.
Porous materials with uniform pores at the molecular level have a crystal structure. Crystals are composed of regularly repeated arrays of atoms, and the greater the number of repetitions, the higher the crystallinity. Porous materials with high crystallinity tend to be more stable as well as more selective as catalysts and adsorbents.
２．Crystallization Technology
Crystallization technology is a technology to produce crystals in large quantities at low cost. Our key technology is crystallization technology.
Crystallization is a mass transfer phenomenon at the solid-liquid (or gas-liquid) interface where nucleation and growth proceed simultaneously, driven by supersaturation. The smaller the crystal grain size, the larger the interface area and the higher the production rate per unit time. On the other hand, smaller crystal grain size makes subsequent solid-liquid separation more difficult. We use a method (Toyokura design theory) to calculate this balance and optimize the process to design crystallization equipment. This method has a proven track record of scaling up by tens of thousands of times, and once the appropriate data is obtained in the laboratory, an actual device can be designed.
３．Mass Production Technology
Even if crystals can be created at the laboratory level, scaling up is not an easy task. Our key technology is one that can be scaled up using chemical engineering methods (including Toyokura design theory).
Designing the actual equipment for production requires know-how, which our group possesses.
Crystallizers are available in two types: batch type, in which raw materials are prepared one at a time, and continuous type, in which raw materials are supplied continuously.
The batch type is used for small-volume production or when precise composition control is required. The continuous type was used for large-volume and inexpensive production.
Microreactors, which were introduced around 1990, have greatly changed the concept of the continuous type, and are still being actively researched because they can be applied even to small quantities, the batch size can be freely determined, and mass production is possible by numbering up rather than scaling up.
We have a wide range of mass production technologies, from static batch reactions to continuous microreactors, and we select equipment according to the purpose.
４．Evaluation Technology
The degree to which the regular structure of a crystal is repeated is an important indicator that determines its performance as a catalyst or adsorbent.
This indicator is called crystallinity, and there are multiple methods for measuring it.
For particularly advanced methods, we collaborate with universities and research institutes.