At the catalyst scale, composition is only part of the story. Particle size, shape, distribution and surface structure can alter how a material disperses and reacts. Catalytic performance is partly determined before the material reaches the industrial process it is meant to influence.

TODA KOGYO [TYO:4100] has spent more than two centuries working with iron oxide, beginning with bengala pigment production in 1823. That materials heritage evolved significantly with the development of wet-synthesis technology, giving the company much finer control over the characteristics of iron-oxide particles. Today, that capability underpins its industrial catalyst work, from activated iron oxide for combustion to high-activity iron catalysts being developed for new hydrogen-production pathways.

The connection between these applications lies at the particle level. TODA does not approach catalyst development simply as a choice of chemical composition. Instead, it engineers the physical characteristics that determine how the material behaves once it enters the reaction.

Control Starts in the Solution

TODA’s wet-synthesis process forms particles through chemical reactions in solution. By changing reaction conditions such as temperature, pH and material concentration, crystal nucleation and growth can be controlled before the resulting powder is produced.

The company describes this particle-design discipline as TSSDS control: Type, Shape, Size, Distribution and Surface. Iron-oxide particle size can be engineered across a broad range, while inorganic and organic surface-treatment technologies allow additional functionality to be introduced when an application requires it.

That level of control becomes particularly important in catalyst development. Goethite, α-FeO(OH), can be produced as a fine, readily dispersed iron oxide whose catalytic characteristics make it useful as a combustion aid. TODA identifies improved combustion efficiency along with reductions in carbon monoxide and hydrogen chloride in exhaust gas among its application characteristics.

The underlying advantage is precision before scale. Instead of asking an industrial process to accommodate whatever powder is available, TODA can adjust the powder to suit the reaction it needs to serve. This makes particle engineering the first step in catalyst development.

Making Difficult Waste Burn More Completely

TIC is where TODA’s materials science becomes a commercial industrial catalyst.

Iron oxide naturally has catalytic activity that promotes oxidation. TODA developed TIC as an activated iron oxide that intensifies this behavior for combustion applications. The fine material helps promote more complete burning, including when the waste stream contains material that is difficult to combust efficiently.

The applications extend from waste incineration to coal and biomass power generation. More complete combustion can reduce unburned material and improve the way the furnace uses its fuel in the furnace. TODA also positions TIC around suppressing dioxin generation by addressing incomplete combustion, which originally led the company to investigate iron oxide as a combustion catalyst.

TIC emerged from a practical need to address that incomplete combustion. When dioxin emissions from waste incineration became a growing environmental concern, TODA examined the ability of iron oxide to accelerate combustion. The resulting active ferroxide TIC emerged from the same fine-particle expertise that had long supported the company’s other iron-oxide businesses.

The product represents more than an environmental additive. It shows how changing the characteristics of a familiar inorganic material can affect its performance in a specific industrial reaction.

Taking the Catalyst Into the Material

Combustion assistance does not always have to begin when a separate powder enters a furnace. TODA has worked with partners to incorporate TIC directly into polyethylene products such as refuse bags, allowing the catalyst to enter the incineration process with the material being burned. Its current product portfolio likewise identifies environmentally conscious plastic products as an application for the combustion catalyst.

TODA KOGYO builds catalyst performance at the particle level, where composition, shape, size and surface structure can be engineered for the reaction ahead.


In polyethylene products, the catalyst becomes part of the material itself before disposal rather than operating only as a furnace-side additive. By incorporating TIC into the polyethylene, TODA places the catalyst within the material before it enters the incineration process.

Dispersion becomes critical in such applications. Fine particles need to be distributed consistently through another material without losing the characteristics that give them catalytic activity. TODA’s wider capabilities in dispersion, surface modification, compounding and granulation become important when fine particles are incorporated into manufactured products. Together, these capabilities connect fine-particle design with end products that can be manufactured at scale.

The need for consistent particle properties remains important even when TIC is used directly. Industrial customers need more than strong laboratory activity. Particle properties have to remain repeatable across production volumes so the catalyst behaves consistently when introduced into an operating process.

From Particle Design to Industrial Repeatability

TODA’s catalyst work is built on a wider manufacturing base developed around inorganic fine particles. Its fundamental technologies cover fine-particle synthesis and production engineering, with analysis and simulation used alongside material development and commercial manufacturing processes.

Wet synthesis shapes the particle. Production technology determines whether those characteristics can be reproduced at an industrial scale. For catalyst manufacturing, the ability to reproduce particle characteristics is as important as designing them in the first place. A promising reaction in development only becomes useful when customers can receive material with dependable composition and physical properties from one batch to the next. TODA’s vast experience in manufacturing controlled iron oxides gives its catalyst work a direct link between laboratory design and production discipline.

The company retains manufacturing and R&D operations in Japan while participating in a wider network of 19 domestic and overseas locations. Its footprint includes operations across several Asia-Pacific markets, where it applies its fine-particle expertise across broader materials businesses.

Iron Catalysts for the Next Reaction

TODA is now applying its fine-particle and catalyst expertise to a different reaction pathway.

Its next-generation development work includes direct methane reforming, which converts methane into hydrogen and solid carbon rather than producing carbon dioxide as the carbon-containing output. TODA is developing a production process that uses a high-activity iron catalyst to generate hydrogen alongside carbon nanotubes.

  • Wet synthesis provides the ability to shape the particle. Production technology determines whether those characteristics can be reproduced at an industrial scale.


Although the work remains under development, it builds on the same use of iron that underpins TODA’s established combustion catalyst business. Iron remains the catalytic foundation while particle behavior and process conditions are engineered around a different reaction.

TODA’s research is moving in two directions. TIC addresses established industrial combustion, where more complete burning can improve process performance and reduce unwanted emissions. In direct methane reforming, TODA is exploring how iron catalysts can participate in emerging routes for producing hydrogen and solid carbon materials. TODA KOGYO’s recognition rests on its ability to apply material science to industrial applications. Its wet-synthesis expertise gives engineers control over the particle before the catalyst enters, while its manufacturing capabilities help carry those engineered characteristics to commercial production.

TODA engineers the iron oxide, controls the characteristics that influence how it reacts and then adapts that knowledge to new processes. From TIC in combustion systems to high-activity iron catalysts in development, the company continues to apply particle design to different industrial reactions.