Structures and Physical Properties of Liquid Crystals|Focusing on Intermolecular Interactions

How to make molecular materials more attractive?|The Physics of Molecular Groups as Considered by Organic Chemists

A single molecule has a function. For example, a dye molecule absorbs light, thus giving it color. On the other hand, when many molecules are gathered together, they can be used as "molecular materials" utilizing various phenomena that would not occur with a single molecule, for example, water is used in various situations as ice, water, and water vapor. Our research focuses on the design, synthesis, and function of molecular materials in which molecules function as a group.

Molecules are formed by the bonding of atoms, and molecular materials are formed by the aggregation of molecules interacting with each other. Chemistry has accumulated academic knowledge on the formation, substitution, and cleavage of bonds between atoms, while physics has accumulated academic knowledge on the properties of the aggregation state of molecular materials as separate fields. Recently, on the other hand, there has been a growing collaboration between chemists and physicists in an effort to design molecular materials in a total cross-disciplinary manner. Our characteristic is to design total molecular materials within a single laboratory by emphasizing close collaboration among the members, each of whom conducts his or her own research in either chemistry or physics. As a specific research subject, we mainly deal with "liquid crystals".

The following link provides a brief explanation of liquid crystals.

Characteristics of Liquid Crystals|Why each molecule is attractive

The Importance of Interactions|More than the sum of the molecules properties

Research Introduction 1|Remote manipulation of soft materials with light and magnetic fields

Both magnetic fields and light, as stimuli capable of transmitting energy without contact, are expected to be used to drive battery-free ultra-compact devices in a future IoT-based society. In addition, if the self-organization of liquid crystals is used successfully, they are expected to be much more energy-efficient. Therefore, we are conducting basic research on the magnetic and optical properties unique to liquid crystals with the aim of developing magnetic and optical materials that take advantage of the flexibility of liquid crystals. The following link provides a brief description of this research.

Research 1-1 Magnetic Properties of Liquid Crystals

Study 1-2 Liquid Crystal Microcapsules

We are working on various "liquid crystal devices after displays," such as AI that uses the collective intelligence of molecules to perform calculations with devices that resemble liquid crystal displays, and micro robots as IoT devices connected by light.

Research Introduction 2|Synthesis of materials that use soft materials as templates

In molecular self-assembly, molecules create an aggregate structure on their own without any energy applied by us. While templates are often used to create materials with desired shapes, self-assembly saves energy and does not require special equipment. The Nishiyama Lab is developing a soft template method that uses molecular templates. Among them, the soft template method using liquid crystals and emulsions has different characteristics from the previous ones. The following link provides a brief description of this research.

Study 2-1 Liquid crystals as templates

Study 2-2 Emulsions as templates

We are conducting research to realize various functions using self-assembly, such as highly sensitive detection of substances such as viruses, and applications in medicine.

Achievements

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