​Prof. Kazuhiro Takanabe is Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He is a Principal Investigator in the KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC), who heads the heterogeneous (photo)catalysis laboratory. He belongs to Chemical Science Program and is affiliated with Chemical Engineering Program in the Physical Sciences and Engineering Division (PSE). Before he joined KAUST in August 2010, he was Assistant Professor of the laboratory of Prof. Kazunari Domen in the Department of Chemical Systems Engineering at the University of Tokyo (2008-2010). Upon receipt of his doctoral degree in engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2006 under the supervision of Prof. Ken-ichi Aika, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley from 2006-2008 in the laboratory of Prof. Enrique Iglesia. During his doctoral study, Prof. Takanabe studied at the University of Twente in the Netherlands as an exchange student (2002-2004) under the supervision of Prof. Seshan. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Research Interests

Professor Takanabe's research encompasses heterogeneous catalysis that address potential solutions of the energy problems that society currently faces. His current efforts include bridging the gap among thermal catalysis, electrocatalysis and photocatalysis, by accurate description of chemical potentials of electrons; i.e., developing and connecting the knowledge in diverse fields of molecular chemistry, electrochemistry, material science, and solid-state physics. His research interests include development of novel nanomaterials and construction of efficient active sites for a variety of catalytic reactions, from conventional methane conversion to photocatalytic hydrogen production. Using rigorous kinetic and isotopic analyses as the basis of the research, various spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques are performed to improve the catalyst efficiency and to address detailed reaction mechanisms involved in the catalytic processes at a molecular level. Topics of study include: (1) Photocatalytic water splitting to generate harnessing hydrogen using solar energy. (2) Electrocatalysis using novel nanomaterials for energy conversion, including CO₂ reduction, water electrolysis and fuel cells. (3) Thermal catalysis for syngas, hydrogen generation, and C1 chemistry from natural gas, heavy hydrocarbons and biomass.