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Functional Molecular Engineering Lab
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The lab creates new soft matter from liquid crystals and polymers.
AboutAbout the lab
Creating new soft matter with synthesis and property evaluation as twin driving forces
The Functional Molecular Engineering Lab researches the creation of new soft matter by giving functional molecules, such as liquid crystals and polymers, distinctive ordered and organized structures.
The lab combines the functions of the molecules themselves with functions that arise from how the molecules assemble, investigates their structures and physical properties, and applies them to materials that exhibit electronic and photonic functions.
In materials research, synthetic chemistry (creating materials) and property evaluation (understanding their essence) are like the two wheels of a car, and in this lab both can be carried out at the same time within one lab, complementing each other.
On the lab's website, the lab is introduced under the name "Kikuchi-Okumura Lab."
Key terms
- Soft matter
- A general term for soft materials such as liquid crystals and polymers, whose properties change depending on how their molecules are arranged and assembled
- Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal
- A liquid crystal in which the molecules are aligned in one direction and which has spontaneous polarization, an electrical imbalance.
- Smectic phase
- One of the states of liquid crystals, in which the molecules are arranged in layers
- Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal
- A composite material in which liquid crystals are dispersed in a polymer. It switches between a light-transmitting state and a light-scattering state when voltage is turned on and off
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Wakaba Award at the Japanese Liquid Crystal Society Annual Meeting
A master's student won a Poster Award at the Joint Kyushu Conference of Chemistry-Related Chapters
Doctoral and master's students won the Iris Award and the Wakaba Award at the Japanese Liquid Crystal Society Annual Meeting
A master's student won a Poster Award at the Summer Seminar of the Research Group on Low-Dimensional Photofunctional Materials
A doctoral student won the Premio Iride at an international workshop on liquid crystals
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to create new soft matter by giving functional molecules, such as liquid crystals and polymers, distinctive ordered and organized structures, and by combining the functions of the molecules themselves with functions that arise from how they assemble. It investigates the structures and physical properties of the soft matter it creates and explores applications to materials that exhibit electronic and photonic functions.
*Illustrative imageMolecular design of ferroelectric liquid crystals
The lab synthesizes liquid crystal compounds whose molecular structures are modified step by step and investigates the conditions under which ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals appear. Through measurements such as phase transitions and dielectric relaxation, it explores the relationship with the molecular dipole moment.
*Illustrative imageElucidating ferroelectric smectic phases
Using X-ray diffraction measurements, the lab investigates smectic phases, in which molecules are arranged in layers, that have spontaneous polarization in the same direction as the molecular orientation. This result adds a new type to the classification of liquid crystal phases.
*Illustrative imageLight-control films with fast switching
Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films, made by dispersing ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals in a polymer, switch between a light-transmitting state and a light-scattering state with voltage. The lab has confirmed that their response after the voltage is turned off is faster than that of films made with common liquid crystal materials.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Functional Molecular Engineering Lab consist of faculty, staff, administrative staff, and master's and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorYasushi Okumura
- Project Assistant ProfessorHiroyuki Matsukizono
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Liquid Crystal” KarlGaff / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Molecular design of ferroelectric liquid crystals: “Ferroelectric liquid crystal image from a polarizing microscope” Ingo Dierking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Elucidating ferroelectric smectic phases: “Polarized light microscopy - 05” Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Light-control films with fast switching: “Passenger Experience Week 2018, Hamburg (1X7A3714)” Matti Blume / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nanomaterials Synthesis Lab): “Interaction of acetylcholinesterase with silver nanoparticle” Semen Yesylevskyy / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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- Related lab (Functional Inorganic Materials Engineering Lab): “Ceramic monoliths” S. Govender, H. Friedrich / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Crystal Physics and Engineering Lab): “Diamagnetic graphite levitation” en:User:Splarka / Public domain (cropped)
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