[Solutions] Industry-academia-government collaboration – Okabe Mica Co., Ltd.

Widely utilizes industry-academia-government networks
Superior chemical approaches
Capability of procuring materials with speediness
Proposing product forms with consideration for usability

Joint research through industry-academia-government collaboration utilizing each sector’s advantages

Background	It has long been known that mica has the characteristic of selectively adsorbing specific ion species. A public research institutes and university in Fukuoka Prefecture are studying adsorbents for environmental purification, and have requested the cooperation of Okabe Mica with know-how for mica, and the company joined the collaborative research project. Government Public laboratory in Fukuoka Academia University in Fukuoka Request for cooperation Industry Okabe Mica Advanced fields • Procurement of mica materials from Japan and overseas • Expertise in chemistry (chemical reaction, analysis) • Proposal of secondary processing from the user's perspective
Challenges	Basic research was necessary to obtain optimal conditions for a highly efficient mica adsorbent.
Solutions	It is known that by replacing potassium ions coordinated in the mica crystal layer with other ions, it becomes a highly efficient adsorbent for specific ion species. To perform this substitution reaction efficiently with good yield and low cost, the type and shape of mica were optimized to achieve high selectivity as an adsorbent. Industry Benefit-oriented value provided by Okabe Mica Prompt procurement of mica materials from Japan and overseas. Staff were mainly assigned from those who majored in chemistry. Because they were familiar with chemical reactions, they could smoothly make proposals about production, etc. Feature High ion-selective adsorbing performance. Stable inorganic powders even in a strict environment. Proposing product forms with consideration for usability from the user’s point of view. Because there were personnel who could evaluate manufactured items, they knew which analysis laboratory and equipment should be used and could create rationales for developed products, even if there was no evaluation equipment in the company. Test description As a representative characteristic, we evaluated the adsorption and removal characteristics of specific ions when RIA-01 was added to a solution containing specific ion species. Test condition After adding 0.1 g of RIA-01 into 10 ml of specific ion species solution with 100 ppb, we left it as it is for a week. Analysis method Using ICP-MS, we measured concentration of specific ion species.
Conclusion	Okabe Mica has the ability to procure mica. Additionally, we have the ability to conduct experiments by staff specializing in chemistry. In this project, personnel with analytic chemistry experiences performed qualitative confirmation and identification of prototype substituted mica to analyze how ion species were adsorbed. We also looked for the best method through a wide range of industry-academia-government networks and promptly studied synthetic methods and granulation.