Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is a typical example of chemical oscillation. For an application of BZ reaction to engineering, the downsizing of reaction field will be needed. We focus on liquid marble (LM) to solve this subject. LM is a stable sphere liquid covered with hydrophobic microparticles. We observed BZ reaction in LM to investigate the reaction property in small space. We succeeded in observing chemical oscillation for a long time in LM. During the observation, no bubble was produced although carbon dioxide is contained as reaction products. We found that LM tends to exhibit regular oscillation mode with a decrease in droplet size. In addition, the period of BZ reaction changes with the size. This can be explained from the effect of oxygen and the amount of particles covering a droplet. As a result, the oscillation period can be controlled by the droplet size and the amount of particles.

Because of thermal stability, tunable porosity and modifiable surface, mesoporous silica is a promising material in catalysis, drag delivery and environmental applications. These industrial potentials could be enhanced by compounding mesoporous silica with Fe₃O₄ nano-particles, since its para-magnetism brings about the spatial mobility controlled under magnetic field. For the present research work, tetraethylorthosilicate was hydrolyzed and poly-condensed over the self-assembled surfactant micelles in the presence of Fe₃O₄ nano-particles in order to embed it in mesoporous silica SBA-15. Under the acidic condition caused by an aqueous solution of FeCl₃, the poly-condensates were formed into the well-ordered hexagonal arrays of one-dimensional channels without dissolution of Fe₃O₄ nano-particles. This was the first successful synthesis of SBA-15 in which Fe₃O₄ nano-particles were embedded. On the other hands, another approach where SBA-15 was synthesized over Fe₃O₄ coated with amorphous silica in HCl aqueous solution ended in failure because the coated silica could not prevent Fe₃O₄ from dissolving in HCl aqueous solution. For the SBA-15/Fe₃O₄ composite prepared successfully, a quaternary alkyl-ammonium salt was grafted in order to prove the catalytic application.

Multilayer technology has become indispensable for the miniaturization of electronic devices and reduces the working voltage of their piezoelectric components. This tutorial paper describes the processing of reduction-resistant BaTiO₃-based piezoceramics with excellent properties for multilayer-type component using base metal internal electrodes. Nonreducible (Ba,Ca)‍(Ti,Sn)O₃ ceramics that exhibited a high piezoelectric constant equivalent or superior to that of samples prepared in air were successfully fabricated at temperatures below the melting point of Ni metal. A desired reducing atmosphere was achieved by controlling the oxygen partial pressure with a suitable mixture of Ar, H₂, and CO₂ gases. Li₂CO₃ addition promoted grain growth in the ceramic samples, which were highly polarized following poling treatment. Optimizing the amount of Li₂CO₃ added to (Ba,Ca)‍(Ti,Sn)O₃ ceramics sintered under a low oxygen partial pressure resulted in improved piezoelectric properties while maintaining the high sintered density. Reduction-resistant BaTiO₃-based ceramics developed in this study are promising lead-free materials for applications in multilayer piezoelectric components.

For nano-cellulose materials, which have attracted attention in both academia and industry in recent years, to be used as a truly valuable material class, the author believes that their processing procedures must be both rational and simple. In addition, it is important to focus on areas where the outcomes cannot be achieved without these particular nanomaterials. These points also apply to nanomaterials obtained from the animal structural polysaccharide chitin. On this basis, the author’s group has recently achieved “creation of micro-patterning cell culture substrate by inkjet printing of chitinous nanocrystals” and “utilization of cellulose nanofibers as a module for microfluidic paper-based analytical device (μPAD)”. The direction of these projects also reflects some of the activities of the applied life science department that the author worked for until recently. The author hopes that research on nano-cellulose and nano-chitin will be enhanced through collaboration with powder technology researchers.

Recently, X-ray computed tomography (CT) has attracted attention as a powerful tool to determine internal structure of fine granules non-destructively. In this article, we explain an example of unique drug release characteristics from temperature-sensitive wax matrix formulations composed of low-melting-point microcrystalline wax using X-ray CT and review the usefulness of this analysis in the field of pharmaceutical development.