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Soft Materials Interdisciplinary Chemistry Lab
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A lab that designs highly biocompatible medical materials by focusing on the state of water.
AboutAbout the lab
Mastering biomaterial science
The Soft Materials Interdisciplinary Chemistry Lab studies materials with excellent biocompatibility for use in medical and healthcare products.
The lab aims to understand, at the molecular level, the phenomena that occur at the interface between cells and materials, and to establish design guidelines for biocompatible materials.
In particular, it focuses on water molecules at the place where materials meet biological components, and has proposed the intermediate water concept.
On the lab's website, it is introduced under the name "Tanaka Lab".
Key terms
- Intermediate water
- Water that is weakly bound to a polymer and retains high molecular mobility even at low temperatures. Its properties lie between those of free water and non-freezing water
- Biocompatibility
- The property of a medical device material that makes it unlikely to cause foreign-body reactions or thrombus formation when it comes into contact with biological components such as blood
- Non-freezing water
- Water that is strongly bound to a material and has low molecular mobility
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received the Excellent Presentation Award at the 9th Engineering Planning Seminar
A master's student received the Best Presenter Award at the 2026 First-Semester Graduate Seminar
Prof. Tanaka received the CSJ Award for Creative Work from the Chemical Society of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
Materials with excellent biocompatibility are essential for making medical and healthcare products. The lab seeks to understand, at the molecular level, the phenomena that occur at the interface between cells and materials, to establish design guidelines for biocompatible materials, and to research medical materials that can be applied to diagnosis and treatment.
*Illustrative imageBiocompatible materials focused on intermediate water
The lab examines water adsorbed on materials by classifying it into free water, intermediate water, and non-freezing water. It has found that the adsorption and denaturation of proteins, which trigger foreign-body reactions, can be controlled by the amount of intermediate water.
*Illustrative imageDesign, synthesis, and functional control of polymers
Using organic chemistry methods that allow precise control of the chemical structure of polymers, the lab synthesizes polymers with well-defined structures. By understanding the relationships among chemical structure, hydration state, and biocompatibility, it aims to develop better biocompatible materials.
*Illustrative imageStructural and physical property analysis of bio-interfaces
The lab precisely analyzes the interfaces of biocompatible polymers to study how water and proteins adsorb. Using external facilities such as SPring-8 and J-PARC, it also carries out high-resolution measurements.
*Illustrative imageAnalysis of cell–material interactions
The lab aims to clarify the role of water molecules bound to biomolecules. By controlling the interactions between cells and biocompatible polymers to manipulate cell adhesion and behavior, it aims to apply this to early cancer diagnosis technology and regenerative medicine.
MembersFaculty
Members of the Tanaka Lab consist of faculty, academic researchers, technical staff, administrative assistants, commercialization producers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, visiting researchers, and visiting research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMasaru Tanaka
- Associate ProfessorTakahisa Anada
- Associate ProfessorSatoshi Honda
- Associate ProfessorShingo Kobayashi
- LecturerMika Kobayashi
- Assistant ProfessorCHO Iksung
- Assistant ProfessorSeigo Kimura
VoicesStudent voices
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Soft Materials LabInstitute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Division of Soft MaterialsThe information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
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: “Sample of Polyvinyl alcohol” LHcheM / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Biocompatible materials focused on intermediate water: “H2O Molecules as Water Vapor” Lizard125 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Design, synthesis, and functional control of polymers: “MIT 3.063 Polymer Physics, Spring 2007 - Ex situ Synthesis of NP Ligands” mitopencourseware / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Structural and physical property analysis of bio-interfaces: “Surface Tension 01” Kuebi Armin Kübelbeck / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Analysis of cell–material interactions: “Interaction between Kupffer cells, Stellate cells and endothelial cells” Bonnardel Johnny / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Functional Materials Interdisciplinary Chemistry Lab): “Photodynamic therapy (red)” John Crawford (Photographer) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Nano-Biodevice International Collaboration Lab): “Surface plasmon resonance device” Laundry / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Mechano-Biomaterials International Collaboration Lab): “CAR-T Gel Delivery” Kassidy Veasaw / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Soft Materials Lab): “Best Medical Equipment Supplier” Farah sharba / CC0 (cropped)
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