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Functional Polymer Science Lab
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A lab that gives polymers functions through helical structures and stacked π-electron systems.
AboutAbout the lab
Functions for polymers, from helices and stacking.
The Functional Polymer Science Lab (Nakano Lab) studies polymers and supramolecules with highly controlled structures.
The lab synthesizes polymers with helical structures and π-stacked polymers in which π-electron systems are regularly stacked.
It investigates functions such as luminescence, nonlinear optics, and electrical conductivity, and has also begun research on polymer catalysts.
Polymers made by choosing either right-handed or left-handed helicity can serve as materials for separating pharmaceuticals and for asymmetric catalysis.
Key terms
- π-stacked polymer
- A polymer with a structure in which parts that have π electrons are regularly stacked. DNA is one example
- Optical activity
- The property of rotating the plane of polarized light. It appears when one of two mirror-image forms is present in excess
- Circularly polarized light
- Light whose direction of oscillation rotates as it travels. It is chiral light, with right-handed and left-handed forms
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the synthesis and functions of polymers and supramolecules with highly controlled structures. It makes helical polymers and π-stacked polymers and brings out luminescence, conductivity, and chiral properties.
*Illustrative imageπ-stacked polymers
A polymer in which π-electron systems are regularly stacked is called a π-stacked polymer. Natural DNA is one example, but as a material it was fragile and hard to use. The lab found that polymerizing dibenzofulvene gives π-stacked vinyl polymers with completely controlled structures, and it is advancing the structural design of materials with conductivity and charge transport functions.
*Illustrative imagePolymers that emit circularly polarized light
Circularly polarized light is chiral light, and its practical use is awaited in 3D displays as a light source that sends separate images to the right and left eyes. Few polymers emit circularly polarized light at a practical level, and most require long heat treatment at high temperature. The lab's branched, optically active polymers show high circular polarization efficiency even in the amorphous state.
*Illustrative imageSynthesis of optically active helical polymers
Helices are a structure common in natural polymers, and right-handed and left-handed helices are mirror images of each other. Synthesizing only one of them gives optically active polymers that can be used for separating pharmaceuticals, asymmetric catalysis, and nonlinear optics. The lab is developing asymmetric radical polymerization, which is simpler and milder than asymmetric anionic polymerization, where controlling the conditions is difficult.
*Illustrative imageMaking optically active polymers with circularly polarized light
Chiral polymers have mainly been made by polymerization using asymmetric catalysts, a method that often requires expensive catalysts and strict control of conditions. The lab works on simpler, more energy-saving asymmetric synthesis that uses circularly polarized light as the source of chirality, and it has succeeded in efficiently obtaining optically active polymers through cooperative effects unique to polymers. The ultimate goal is to establish a synthesis method that uses sunlight.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Functional Polymer Science Lab are faculty, researchers, a secretary, and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTamaki Nakano
- Associate ProfessorZhiyi Song
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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: “The Depths of Orvieto - Flickr - aparlette” Andrew Parlette from Elkridge,MD, US / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- π-stacked polymers: “DNA Helix CPK” Ude / Public domain (cropped)
- Polymers that emit circularly polarized light: “Polarized Stress Glasses” Spigget / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Synthesis of optically active helical polymers: “Alpha helix neg60 neg45 topview” WillowW / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Making optically active polymers with circularly polarized light: “Summer clouds over Tuntorp 2” W.carter / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Physical Chemistry Lab): “Nanoscale Plasmonic Resonator Structures ( )” National Institute of Standards and Technology / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Quantum Chemistry Lab): “Benzene IBO” Alicesu / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Theoretical Chemistry Lab): “Potential Energy Surface for Water” AimNature / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Structural Chemistry Lab): “Human Oxy-Hemoglobin Protein” PDB code 2DN1 1.25 a resolution crystal structures of human haemoglobin in the oxy, deoxy and carbonmonoxy forms. Park, S.-Y., Yokoyama, T., Shibayama, N., Shiro, Y., Tame, J.R. (2006) J Mol Biol 360: 690-701 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb. Image created using JSmol (Javascript) / CC0 (cropped)
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