Professor

Hiroshi Jinnai

Associate Professor

Tomohiro Miyata

Assistant Professor

Shusuke Kanomi

Observations of structures and dynamics in soft materials by using electron microscopy

Polymers are industrially key materials and their properties can be widely controlled by mixing different polymers and polymers/inorganic materials as well as by tuning the chemical structure and molecular arrangement. The relationships between the microstructures inside and macroscopic properties of polymeric materials have not been clarified yet. Thus, we work on the atomic-resolution observation of single polymer chains, orientation mapping of polymer crystals, 3D observation of phase-separated structures, deformation-dynamics observation of nanoparticle composite materials, etc., by front-line transmission electron microscopy techniques. We aim to elucidate the relationships between microstructures/dynamics and macroscopic properties of polymeric materials through these observations.

Themes

• Atomic-scale analysis of organic/inorganic interfaces
• Elucidation of nanoscale deformation mechanisms in organic/inorganic composite materials
• Nanoscale structural analysis of semicrystalline polymers
• Direct observation of single polymer chains using electron microscopy
• 3D Observation and analysis of block copolymer self-assembled nanostructures