Research Project

Development of high performance materials without using rare and toxic elements

This project is one of the tasks that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is carrying out in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry based on the Third Science and Technology Report and involves the development of an advanced technology for producing materials that can serve as an alternative for scarce resources and therefore can solve the problem of natural resources. The goal is to develop high performance materials without using rare and toxic elements by studying the nature and the role of the elements of the constructed material to determine its function and characteristics and by clarifying the inducement mechanism of the function and characteristics of materials.

The following topics are specifically being considered as the gateway for the research:

1. research on alternative materials consisting of abundant and harmless elements or substances
2. maximum use of the effective functions of strategic elements
3. developing a designing technology for the practical materials to generate an efficient use of the elements 

Upon the completion of the 5 year research period that began in 2007, the next target is to move to the stage of research that focuses on the practical applications to promote the basic and fundamental aspects of research.