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Tokita Lab
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The lab explores soft matter from the intersection of polymers and liquid crystals.
AboutAbout the lab
Soft matter explored from the intersection of polymers and liquid crystals
The Tokita Lab controls the structure of soft matter such as polymers and liquid crystals, and studies their properties and functions.
The lab aims to link microscopic phenomena and properties at the molecular level to the emergence of visible, macroscopic functions and properties.
The molecules it works with are varied, ranging from liquid crystalline polymers and block copolymers to liquid crystal dimers and low-molecular-weight liquid crystals.
The lab values the real thrill of designing and synthesizing the molecules one works with, then measuring their structures and properties to understand them.
Key terms
- Liquid crystal
- A state between solid and liquid. The molecules are aligned in a common direction, and the state can change how light travels
- Block copolymer
- A molecule made by joining polymer chains with different properties. The chains separate from one another and form periodic nanoscale structures
- Alignment
- Molecules pointing in one common direction. Once aligned, properties appear differently depending on direction
NewsLab news
A researcher received the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Fiber Science and Technology, Japan
Assistant Professor Kurokawa and a researcher received the On-Demand Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Polymer Science, Japan
Press release on the development of a polymer coating material with antithrombogenic properties
Assistant Professor Kurokawa and a student received the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award and the Outstanding Poster Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Fiber Science and Technology, Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab controls the structure of soft matter (polymers and liquid crystals) and works on linking microscopic phenomena and properties at the molecular level to the emergence of macroscopic functions and properties. The molecules it works with are varied, including liquid crystalline polymers, block copolymers, and liquid crystal dimers and low-molecular-weight liquid crystals.
*Illustrative imageTurning changes in polymer chain conformation into deformation
A liquid crystalline polymer extends along the alignment direction in the liquid crystal state and forms a random coil in the liquid state. Using block copolymers in which amorphous polymers are attached to both ends of a liquid crystalline polymer, the lab studies how to extract this conformational change as the expansion and contraction of a film.
*Illustrative imageAligning liquid crystals well enough to make them transparent
Accurately measuring or utilizing the properties of liquid crystals requires large samples aligned in a single direction. The lab aligns highly viscous polymers by shear flow and investigates the conditions under which they become so highly ordered that the film turns transparent.
*Illustrative imageSynthesis and structural analysis of new liquid crystal molecules
The lab synthesizes newly designed liquid crystal molecules and investigates their phase transition behavior and liquid crystal structures. Using a state-of-the-art X-ray diffractometer, it analyzes structures and elucidates liquid crystal alignment not only in fiber samples but also in thin-film samples.
*Illustrative imageFunctional materials through structural control
This research aims to give light, transparent plastic films the ability to store and conduct electricity. By polymerizing polymer chains at high density from particle surfaces and dispersing the particles uniformly, the lab has developed transparent films with a high dielectric constant. It has also produced transparent, electrically conductive films using nanofibers.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Tokita Lab consist of faculty, project faculty and researchers, and PhD, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorMasatoshi TokitaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorNaruki KurokawaPublications ↗
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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 smectic texture” Alexprague / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Turning changes in polymer chain conformation into deformation: “Fingerprint texture of a liquid crystal resembling Van Gogh's style” Wojciech Tomczyk / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Aligning liquid crystals well enough to make them transparent: “Fingerprint texture of a liquid crystal resembling Van Gogh's style” Wojciech Tomczyk / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Synthesis and structural analysis of new liquid crystal molecules: “X-ray diffraction pattern 3clpro” Jeff Dahl / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Functional materials through structural control: “UV down-conversion EPE polymer photovoltaic module encapsulant film” Radiotrefoil / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Otsuka Lab): “Test d'usure d'élastomère (Ifremer )” Stephane Lesbats / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shishido-Kubo Lab): “Fingerprint texture of a liquid crystal resembling Van Gogh's style” Wojciech Tomczyk / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakajima-Liang Lab): “Nanobouillon ( )” UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences from London, UK / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Tomita-Hifumi Lab): “Ferrocene sublimation- Final product” Kate7234 / CC0 (cropped)
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