Naoaki Yabuuchi was born in Kobe, Japan in 1978. He completed his PhD in 2006 at Osaka City University, Japan, under supervision of Prof. Tsutomu Ohzuku, and his postdoc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Professor Yang Shao-Horn. After returning Japan, He worked in Tokyo University of Science and Tokyo Denki University. In April 2018, He joined Yokohama National University as a Full Professor.
He has over 95 publications (h-index = 46) in these areas after his first contribution in 2003. He is the recipient of First International Award, “Science Award Electrochemistry” by Volkswagen and BASF, The 2nd ISSI Young Scientist Award, and ISE Prize for Applied Electrochemistry, The Young Scientists’ Prize from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan among other honors. He is a committee member of of Battery Technology, Japan.
His research contributes the development of renewable and sustainable energy society through the advanced battery technology, and the development of high-energy lithium rechargeable batteries. He developed advanced battery materials containing Nb ions, for instance, Li1.3Nb0.3Mn0.4O2, Li1.25Nb0.25V0.50O2 etc., and these materials are potentially used for electric vehicles. He also published many publications related to sodium insertion materials, which are possibly used electrode materials for a new high-energy battery system without less abundant elements, like lithium, nickel, and cobalt used for commercial rechargeable lithium batteries. Because the cost of materials for battery applications is a critical factor, especially for large format applications, such high-energy and large-scale batteries combined with renewable energy resources, like solar and wind, possibly contribute the sustainable development of society with less dependence on fossil fuel. He also works closely with industry and has many patents related to the rechargeable battery technology.
