Professor

Hiroshi Jinnai

Associate Professor

Tomohiro Miyata

Assistant Professor

Shusuke Kanomi

Nano-scale investigations of structures and dynamics in soft materials using electron microscopy.

Polymers are essential materials for industrial applications due to their lightweight, flexibility, and processability. Their properties can be extensively controlled by adjusting chemical structures, blending diff erent polymers, and incorporating inorganic materials. However, the connections between microscopic structures and macroscopic properties of polymeric materials (soft materials) are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we have carefully observed the microscopic structures and dynamics within polymeric materials to reveal the microscopic origins of macroscopic properties.

Themes

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