X-MINING X-TALK Vol.3 Potential and Future Research and Development of CWO™

My involvement began with the development of a transparent material to shield electromagnetic waves emitted from the cathode-ray tube of a TV. In the process of searching for various transparent conductive materials to improve conductivity, we hypothesized that even if the material were not inherently transparent, for instance a pitch black powder, it could be made transparent theoretically by decreasing its size extremely into lower nano-scale. As a result, we were led to find the compound ruthenium dioxide as a greenish transparent material as nano-powders. While using ruthenium dioxide during the development process, we noticed that its transmission profile accompanied a small peak absorbing heat rays in the near-infrared wavelengths, which was the beginning of everything.

In other words, the discovery of CWO™ was originally not something that was meant to happen. At that point, the absorption was weak, but we thought that by improving the absorption and transparency on assumed mechanisms, we might produce an industrially useful transparent material that absorbs heat rays. So we tested various black conductive compounds and arrived at the transparent greenish nanoparticles of LaB6 and finally reached to the transparent bluish nanoparticles CWO™ as the ultimate product. I believe it was around 2002.

The details were summarized in a research report, which I had read. However, the research report began with LaB6, so I didn’t know that ruthenium dioxide was the beginning until I started doing research with Mr. Adachi.

My case is the same. CWO™ had already existed when I joined the company, but I heard about the way it had developed.

When I joined the company, the mission was already to find the next CWO™. It’s been ten years since then, and though we’ve been looking for the next material, the more research we conduct, the more we realize that there is no material as good as this one. I believe CWO™ is a truly unique material.

My position is to support research and development, so my perspective is different from these two. Still, even my impression is that this is an excellent material and truly a rare find, so it would be challenging to look for a material that surpasses it.

It was not found by my efforts alone but by mustering the intelligence of all the researchers at the time. It was really a product of serendipity, but I think this is a fairly common case for the material development.

That’s right. I think it’s as rare for researchers to work in sales now as it was then. Still, I had never seen a material with high transparency and powerful heat absorption like this before, and I thought it had versatile uses, so I went here and there to talk about it. For example, under a summer sun, it can get very hot inside a telephone booth, so a manager in Company N became very interested in the product and used it for a while.
Also, transparent plastics such as PMMA and polycarbonate are used as an organic glass for construction materials overseas while they are prohibited in Japan, so I also went out globally to sell the material, hoping that it could be put to use there. It’s a bit of a surprise how the laboratory and HQ management at the time let me travel to the US and Australia with a product we weren’t sure would sell. That might have been the Sumitomo’s traditional magnanimity at work. There is no doubt that the actions we were able to take then contributed to CWO™’s current expansion.

I myself have never sold a material that I developed directly to a customer, and I’ve heard very few cases like that. I’ve especially never heard such case that a researcher visited new oversea customers by himself, without going through the business department first. The people in the team who allowed it and Mr. Adachi who went through with it are very special.

As a computational engineer, I use a computer to look for ways to improve CWO™’s characteristics and find materials that have potential to surpass CWO™. I then propose these to Mr. Adachi and Mr. Machida.

I take these suggestions, produce them and substantiate their experimental properties. For CWO™, one of the areas of research is to try making more visible light pass through while enhancing the absorption of near-infrared rays more powerful. We are also putting all our efforts to make it more durable over a long period of time to match clients need, and also to produce greater volumes at lower costs.

One of my wishes is to make the CWO™ a little purer with less internal defects.

As Mr. Yoshio mentions, a pure material could exhibit even better characteristics. On the other hand, my hypothesis is that it might be the defects in the CWO™’s crystal structure that produce superior effects in those characteristics. There is no conclusion on this yet, and we are still discussing it daily.

That’s right. I am of course happy to have been involved in the development of CWO™. Seeking a limit of its functionality is certainly a valid development target, but I also hope they will develop a new material that surpasses CWO™.

Companies that afford massive investments into research and human resources will probably develop great materials. However, if a company of our size wants to make new discoveries, we can’t brandish money or human resources. So how do we discover something new? It is essential for us to consciously rid our minds of preconceived notions. Preconceived notions can cause us to overlook opportunities when they present themselves. When you “discover” something, you are catching hold of something that has never been, so if you use common sense to deny unlikely possibilities, nothing can be discovered. I think clearing your mind of preconceptions and things you take for granted can lead to a “discovery.”
As a researcher, I’ve been examining the experimental data and trying to discover various materials out of them. However, good clues are often found in places away from the original research purpose. CWO™ is an example of this. When you conduct a great deal of research, there are times when unpredicted values are involved in casual data. It’s likely that another mechanism was hidden behind the values. By looking into that other mechanism and refining it, you are approaching to create something new. Nurturing this kind of awareness should lead to “discoveries,” and I think that is one way for a company of our size to compete.

That’s right. Unfortunately, however, research often goes on without those abnormal values being realized. The precious data are discarded because they don’t align with the original research target and objectives. Though that may mostly be the case, I hope for researchers to be more intrigued by these differences and pursue them. I also hope for companies to foster an atmosphere of openness that allows more diverse challenges for possibilities.

I think there are two main approaches. First, our generation has been educated to conduct by-the-book research and development where we define a clear objective, select decent methods, and execute them according to plan. This is one way to discover something. However, the awareness that these circumstances are not conducive to innovation has gradually come to take root. For example, when making ink for CWO™, I was taught by various people that it could only be dispersed in an organic oil-based solvent and not water, and this concept was ingrained in my mind. “You can’t disperse it with water, so don’t try to” was the message. However, someone who helped with the research unintentionally tried with water, which led to a successful dispersion. This discovery led to multiple topics for development. I realized how truly frightening preconceptions can be. I believe the second method to be valuing the experimental truth above all and in parallel finding something that glimmers outside the initial hypothesis.

As a computational engineer, the greatest “discovery” is finding an issue or approach that computation can contribute to. The computation I provide is not always useful for research, but I think it is important to acquire the ability to notice and discover issues independently.

If Mr. Yoshio does not make any discoveries, there is a chance that I don’t make any discoveries either, so I think collaborating with computational science is an absolute necessity. Particularly in the case of inventing a new material, we have to find a valid solution from the countless candidates that exist. Obviously, we cannot conduct experiments on them all. Still, if the number of candidates is narrowed down from 10,000 to 100 through computation, it will greatly increase our probability of discovery. In that sense, computation is a powerful tool for discovery. In fact, Mr. Yoshio cooperates with us quite frequently, and he is someone we couldn’t do without.

An understanding of principles for properties is at the basis of great computation. Comprehending correct mechanisms allow you to make excellent computations. However, it’s hard to come up with mechanisms via computation. Therefore, it is first necessary for human analysis to unravel the mechanism through experiments, and then apply the clarified mechanism to computational science to unleash its full power. I think that is the sequence in the current stage of material science. What do you think, Mr. Yoshio？

Computation is not useful if you don’t understand the principles, so I think you are right in that sense. On the other hand, I think computation is rapidly developing to cover the comprehension of a principle per se.

Our company is an inorganic material manufacturer. So if, for example, we shared principles and knowledge with an organic material manufacturer to make a new hybridized material, that would be a very meaningful undertaking.

I have the same opinion as Mr. Adachi. You can discover new things by investigating your area of expertise by yourself, but new things can also be born from interacting with people in different fields. Therefore, I hope to find more opportunities to have serious discussions with partners we can trust and to whom we can mutually disclose our knowledge.

In terms of usages for CWO™, possibilities include an application which reflects sunlight more strongly, or one as an ion conductor utilizing the microcavities in the hexagonal structure of WO3 octahedra.

We are a material manufacturer, so I hope to see a focus on materials and creation of innovative materials. To achieve this, we need to keep a keen watch on materials properties and the principles behind them. That goes without saying. To find a diamond ore among a vast pool of data, and to make a brilliant deduction free from preconceptions, each person really needs to pour himself into work. I would also like to assist such researchers.

The company’s official mission has always been to develop new transparent near-infrared absorption materials. However, I’ve always thought we need to take a step further. I’m particularly interested in the interactions between material and light, between electron and photon, which could result in new applicable characteristics other than a light absorption. That’s my hunch, and I want to investigate it to the fullest. While driving in on the research which is our mission, I want to keep an eye out on things that may become noticeable in the periphery.

I think one of my goals, as well as one of the company’s, is to create the precedent of detecting viable materials through computations that precede the experiments, which will then be substantiated through experiments.