Regarding the "Stance toward Carbon Neutral as a Chemical Industry" released by the Japan Chemical Industry Association in May 2021, Introduce the background, the process that was created, the key challenges that must be addressed to achieve them, and future activities.

Our goal has been to create game-changing functional molecules and beautiful molecules through interdisciplinary approach merging synthetic chemistry, plant biology, animal biology, live imaging, and theoretical science. In this talk, I will describe the synthesis of new molecular nanocarbons and their material applications as well as our new adventure to explore a new field of nanocarbon biology.

Metallo-supramolecular polymers, coordination polymers having a main chain structure in which complexes are joined together, are colored by the metal-to-ligand charge transfer absorption. We found an electrochromic phenomenon that the color disappeared when a voltage was applied to the polymer film formed on an electrode. In my talk, I report on recent achievements in the polymer development and the dimming device applications.

Polymer materials “plastics” are an indispensable material for modern society. On the other hand, environmental pollution caused by mass consumption and disposal of plastics has become a big problem. We will give a seminar on bio-based materials derived from furfural and control of biodegradability as solutions of "mass consumption of fossil resources" and "environmental outflow".

In order to reduce CO2, introduction of natural energy and spread of electric vehicles are strongly required. Lithium ion battery (LIB) is the most suitable for these applications. However, next generation batteries (NGB) beyond LIB have attracted much attention. In this lecture, I would like to introduce the direction of research and development on LIB and NGB.

In this lecture, we will introduce the thermoplastic resin-based CFRP molding technology being promoted at the National Composite Center of Nagoya University. A fiber bundle directly taken out from a fiber bobbin is directly put into a biaxial extrusion kneader to create a base material, and then press molding is performed promptly to produce high-rigidity and high-strength structural members at low cost. Furthermore, we report the latest research cases on hybrid molding by combining various molding materials, recovery technology for recycled fibers, and laminating technology using recycled fibers.

We upcycle ash (coal, biomass, sewage) and by-products of alumina and lithium into adsorbent or antibacterial materials and have already completed several projects around the world. It has ion exchange structure and its pore size is adjustable as well as is able to adsorb and desorb CO2. AC Biode is also developing zeolite catalysts with Prof. Nishiyama of Osaka University. We have successfully decomposed plastic at a laboratory scale and aim to scale it up.

Japan is the second largest iodine producer in the world. Among the stable halogen elements, the largest iodine exhibits unique characteristics and reactivity. Recently, novel applications such as solar cells, catalysts and drugs have been developed by utilizing the unique characteristics of iodine. In this talk the front line of such iodine utilization research will be presented.

Lithium-air batteries are potential candidates for next-generation rechargeable batteries because of their high theoretical energy density. In the present talk, the critical factors for improving the performance were summarized.

Coating Additives in Evonik provides various solutions for coatings and inks to achieve a sustainable growth. As a key driver for new product development, the recent development activities and trend for sustainability will be introduced. For example, the solutions to improve coating production efficiency, reduction and replacement of hazardous components and increase the use of biobased and recyclable raw materials.