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Molecular Interface Engineering Lab (Itoh Lab)
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The lab creates molecules that act on interfaces, the boundaries between substances, to produce new materials.
AboutAbout the lab
Creating new materials with molecules that act at interfaces
The Molecular Interface Engineering Lab studies new molecules that act on interfaces, the boundaries where substances meet.
Interfaces make up only a small part of a material as a whole, yet their influence is so great that one could say most of a material's properties and functions are determined at the interface.
Using synthetic organic chemistry and polymer chemistry, the lab designs and synthesizes molecules, aiming to develop unprecedented ways of making materials and new functional materials.
Recently, the lab has been working on porous polymer membranes that are lightweight yet rigid, and on materials that make use of new properties of amides.
Key terms
- Interface
- The boundary surface where substances with different properties meet, such as a solid and a liquid or a solid and a gas
- Polymer
- A large molecule made by linking many small molecules (monomers) together. Also called a macromolecule
- Amide
- A type of bond found in proteins and in fibers such as nylon. It serves to connect molecules to one another through hydrogen bonding
- Aromaticity
- A property that makes a molecule especially stable, depending on the number of electrons linked together in a ring
NewsLab news
Paper on controlling excited-state energy with amides accepted by Chem. Sci.
Paper published on making polymer films one molecule thick by electropolymerization
Associate Professor Itoh receives the Gutenberg Chair Award (France)
A master's student receives a poster award at PACIFICHEM2025
International joint research begins at CNRS ICS in France
ResearchResearch themes
When a substance functions as a material, its interactions with other substances take place through interfaces. The lab designs and synthesizes new molecules that act on the interfaces of substances, aiming to develop entirely new methods of materials synthesis and new functional materials.
*Illustrative imageLightweight yet rigid porous polymer membranes
The lab made thin films of a porous polymer that is full of voids yet rigid, similar to a loofah sponge, using an original electrochemical method that uses only water as the solvent. These films are expected to contribute to applications such as seawater desalination.
*Illustrative imageA new world of amides: "Amide 3.0"
The main role of amides is to join molecular parts together through hydrogen bonding. Focusing on their double-bond character, the lab is working to create new optoelectronic functional materials and polymers that conserve resources.
*Illustrative imageFluorine nanotubes that let water pass quickly
Earlier research by the lab found that very narrow tubes whose inner walls are lined with fluorine let water pass through at ultrahigh speed while not letting salt through. They are expected to be applied to next-generation water treatment membranes.
*Illustrative imageA molecule that flaps rapidly with light
The lab showed experimentally for the first time that aromaticity appearing in the excited state (the state of a molecule exposed to light) has the effect of stabilizing the molecule. Based on this molecule, the lab has also developed polymerization reactions that can be paused with light.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Molecular Interface Engineering Lab consist of faculty, secretaries, postdoctoral researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorYoshimitsu ItohPublications ↗
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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: “Water droplet on a 5 grains of hydrophobic sand” Aidar.Seralin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Lightweight yet rigid porous polymer membranes: “Close-up texture of luffa sponge” Leo219 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- A new world of amides: "Amide 3.0": “Bottes de fibres de nylon pour brosses à dents” MRousse / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Fluorine nanotubes that let water pass quickly: “U.S. Department of Energy - Science - )” U.S. Department of Energy from United States / Public domain (cropped)
- A molecule that flaps rapidly with light: “Cyclooctatetraene-3D-balls” Benjah-bmm27 (Ben Mills) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Hojo Lab): “Hoar frost ice crystals in Tuntorp 2” W.carter / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Aida Lab): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Fluorine Organic Chemistry Lab (Kawaguchi Lab)): “9104 - Milano - Museo storia naturale - Fluorite - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 22-Apr-2007” Giovanni Dall'Orto / CC BY-SA 2.5 it (cropped)
- Related lab (Organic Functional Design Lab (Masai Lab)): “Laboratory vacuum distillation apparatus on a benchtop” KiveVictor / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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