Faculty of Textile Science and Technology Research Activity2015｜Shinshu Universi

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42Functional Polymer ScienceExploring the future of biochemical researchDivision of Chemistry and MaterialsI am carrying out bioscience and biochemical research into fibers made by organisms that live in water. My research primarily covers the phyla Mollusca and Arthropoda. Bivalve clams that live in the ocean create a type of fiber called byssus.Kousaku OhkawaAfter graduating from the Functional Polymer Science Course at the Faculty of Textile Science and Technology (FTST) and completing the rst semester of a doctoral program at the Graduate School of Engineering, Professor Ohkawa participated in a graduate course oered by the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Biological Science. He subsequently returned to the Institute of High Polymer Research (IHPR) run by the FTST at Shinshu University in 1996 as an assistant professor and later submitted his doctoral thesis to the University of Tokyo (Doctorate of Science, 1998). He was promoted to associate professor at the IHPR in 2003. His has served as a professor in the Division of Biological and Medical Fibers at the Institute for Fiber Engineering (IFES) at Shinshu University since 2014.Living organisms leverage their acquired knowledge to create exceptional bers in the water. There is a great deal that researchers can learn from ber materials created by living organisms. This knowledge will lead to the ber material engineering of the future.Outlook for researchGraduates are employed as R&D engineers by manufacturers involved in the following businesses: spinning; ber production; non-woven material production; food ingredient production; sports product production; plastic processing; processing, manufacture, and sale of natural polysaccharides; and chemical product manufacturing.Outlook for students after graduationByssus bers are generated by the adhesive disk at the end (left: the sticky part), the distal section (center: a hard, strong ber), and the proximal section (right: a tough, strong ber).The Asian green mussel creates this strange byssus ber underwater.ProfessorFunctional Polymer ScienceMasahiro SuzukiProfessorCreating gels from numerous liquids throughout the world and investigating a wide array of applications for supramolecular gelsDivision of Chemistry and MaterialsI am carrying out research into the development and application of low-molecular-weight gelling agents for gelling such liquids as oils, organic solutions, and water solutions. There is high demand for low-molecular-weight gelling agents in many fields, including oil-processing agents, cosmetics, medical and pharmaceutical applications, foods, writing supplies, paints and inks, electronic devices, and LCDs.Professor Suzuki took his current position in 2015 after working as an assistant professor and associate professor at the Shinshu University Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Technology. His principal areas of research include low-molecular-weight gelling agents, functional polymer materials, and articial photosynthesis.Much research into applications for these materials focuses on low-molecular-weight gelling agents because they form nanobers within supramolecular gels. It is expected that low-molecular-weight gelling agents will permeate daily life in much the same way that polymers have.Outlook for researchGraduates are primarily employed by chemical manufacturers. Their skills as chemical researchers enable them to nd work in a wide variety of elds.Outlook for students after graduationA nano-structure formed in a supramolecular gel by a low-molecular-weight gelling agent, the gel electrolyte of a dye-sensitive solar cell, TiO2 cast production, and application as a cell-culture substrateSupermolecular gels formed from organic solutions using an L-amino acid-based low-molecular-weight gelling agent. We have created solid gels that do not fall out, even when held upside-down.Supermolecular gels from organic solutionsAcetoneSilicon oilEthanolTolueneNitrobenzeneGelling agent nano structureTiO2 nano berCulturing of broblastsDye sensitive solar cellSupramolecular gel

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