From left, Dr. Teruaki Hayakawa, Dr. Padma Gopalan and Dr. Yuji Wada, Dean of School of Materials and Chemical Technology

<Field of Specialization>

Polymer Science and Materials Science and Engineering

<Brief introduction of collaborative research and aims at Tokyo Tech WRHI>

As a polymer scientist in a Materials Science and Engineering department, my research is highly interdisciplinary. My research philosophy to interface with the hard materials world and find solutions to technological problems in electronics and biology, by understanding and developing basic science. Specifically my research interests involve the molecular design, synthesis, and characterization of novel functional organic/polymeric materials directed towards electro-optic, photonic and biological applications. Efforts are targeted towards developing versatile synthetic strategies, which enable the control of nano-functionality, hence their structure and properties. Our current research focus is in four major areas: design, synthesis and directed self-assembly of polymeric materials to create dense periodic structures in sub-10 nm length scale, development of scalable strategies using polymer brushes for interfacial modification, addressing problems in sorting, assembling and device fabrication in carbon nanotube electronics by developing new organic inks, and development of chemically defined polymeric coatings for cell biology.

I am very excited to have this unique opportunity to interface with WRHI researchers. I have ongoing collaborations with Prof. Hayakawa on directed self-assembly of materials that I wish to develop further during my appointment. In each of the four areas that I have listed above there are outstanding scientists in WRHI that I look forward to interacting with.

<Collaborative Researcher>

Dr. Teruaki Hayakawa(Professor, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Tech)