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Supramolecular and Polymer Chemistry Lab
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The lab freely controls the shape of ladder-shaped polymers, known as “ladder polymers,” to explore their new functions.
AboutAbout the lab
Ladder-shaped polymers, woven from two bonds.
The Ikai Lab studies polymers with special molecular structures never seen before.
Of particular interest are “ladder polymers,” which are shaped like a ladder. In ordinary polymers, monomers are linked by a single bond, whereas in ladder polymers they are linked by two or more bonds.
Taking advantage of the ladder shape, the lab carefully designs the molecular backbone and three-dimensional shape to develop ladder polymers with properties and new functions that ordinary polymers cannot achieve.
Key terms
- Ladder polymer
- A ladder-shaped polymer in which monomers are linked to each other by two or more bonds
- Chirality
- The property of not being superimposable on its mirror image, like the right and left hands
- Circularly polarized luminescence
- Emission of light whose direction of oscillation traces a right-handed or left-handed helix (circularly polarized light)
- Helicene
- A molecule in which several rings, like benzene, are linked together and twist into a helical shape because they bump into each other
NewsLab news
A master's student won an Excellent Poster Award at the 20th Polymer Joint Research Meeting (Orion-kai)
A master's student won an Excellent Poster Award at Molecular Chirality 2026
A review on polymers that memorize helical structure, co-authored with researchers at National Tsing Hua University, was published in Polymer Chemistry
A paper on controlling the helix of ribbon-like polymers composed of helicenes was published in Nature Communications (press release)
ResearchResearch themes
The lab focuses on “ladder polymers,” which have a ladder-like structure, and studies polymers with special molecular structures never seen before. By designing the molecular backbone and three-dimensional structure, it is developing ladder polymers with physical properties and functions that ordinary polymers cannot provide.
*Illustrative imageMaking ladder polymers with a defined shape
The lab has established “defect-free laddering,” a method for making ladder polymers without defects. By incorporating chirality into molecular design, it controls the three-dimensional shape of polymers at will, whether helical, twisted ribbon, or flat. It is also advancing materials development combined with computational science.
*Illustrative imageNew functions of ladder polymers
The lab explores functions that appear only when the three-dimensional shape is controlled. It has created polymers that show bright circularly polarized luminescence with a high degree of polarization. Ladder polymers with nanosized pores are also being applied to materials that separate molecules that are mirror images of each other (enantiomers).
*Illustrative imageSynthesis of helicenes
Using defect-free laddering, the lab synthesizes a variety of helicenes, which are helical molecules. It found that M-shaped expanded helicenes show circularly polarized luminescence at the highest level among helicenes. The lab is also making new polymers composed of helicenes.
MembersFaculty
The Ikai Lab consists of faculty, technical assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTomoyuki Ikai
- Assistant ProfessorMasaya Yoshida
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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: “Polymer chain SPT” SPT Paul Topham / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Making ladder polymers with a defined shape: “Plasma Polymer Ethylene Film” Smamzrk / CC0 (cropped)
- New functions of ladder polymers: “Fluorescence rainbow” Maxim Bilovitskiy / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Synthesis of helicenes: “Laboratory scientist conducts an experiment with a Rotary evaporator” National Eye Institute / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Supramolecular Design Lab): “Photoluminescent rhodium coordination complex crystals under UV light” RhAgchem / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Functional Polymer Chemistry Lab): “Glassware ( )” Anders Sandberg from Oxford, UK / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Polymer Physics Lab): “Laboratory bench3” Cjp24 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Emergent Measurement Chemistry Lab): “A group of scientists working in a laboratory Esculab” Esculab / CC0 (cropped)
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