Kazuki Nakanishi

Kazuki Nakanishi, born in Osaka, Japan in 1961, graduated from Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1983, and majored in physical chemistry of polymeric solids in Department of Industrial Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University (Master of Engineering, 1985). He joined the research group of Professor Naohiro Soga in 1986 at Kyoto University as a research associate, where he started his first works on sol-gel synthesis of inorganic materials. He encountered the phase separation of gelling silica system in August 1987, and has been enchanted by her for over a quarter century. He received his Doctor of Engineering degree from Kyoto University in 1991.

He started collaborating with Prof. Nobuo Tanaka, Kyoto Institute of Technology and Dr. Hiroyoshi Minakuchi (President of Kyoto Monotech Corp.) on the development of novel HPLC columns using his monolithic silica with controlled macro- and mesopores. The commercialization of the columns was achieved in collaboration with Merck KGaA, Germany. The first monolithic silica HPLC column was released worldwide in October 2000, and it received the Gold Award of Pittsburgh Conference in 2001.

During the above period, he was promoted to associate professor in 1995, received D.R. Ulrich Prize in 1997 and ICG Prize in Memory of Prof. Vittorio Gottardi in 1999. He stayed in Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany as a visiting professor invited by Prof. Klaus Unger in autumn 2000. He moved to Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University in 2005 where he continues extending his activity on sol-gel derived porous materials. He was awarded Academic Prize of the Ceramic Society of Japan in 2006. In September 2011, he stayed in University of Montpellier II as an invited professor.

Kazuki Nakanishi is the author of >350 peer reviewed publications with >20000 total citations (h index = 74), the holder of >60 patents, and the co-author of >40 book chapters. He has been serving as a co-editor of Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology since April 2009. He is the member of the American Ceramic Society, Materials Research Society, and acted as a Board Member of International Sol-Gel Society, ISGS (2007-2013, Vice President 2011-2013) as well as a chair of “XVIII International Sol-Gel Conference” in 2015 endorsed by ISGS. He is appointed as a fellow of ISGS in 2019. He was one of 5 conference chairs at “Fifth International Conference on Multifunctional, Hybrid and Nanomaterials” in 2017. He serves as a president of Japanese Sol-Gel Society since 2019. His research interest includes hierarchically porous monolithic materials in organic, inorganic and organic-inorganic hybrid compositions, and their applications to separation sciences and medical/catalytic/bioreactor devices.