On 10th June 2016, Mr. Tsukuru Masuda, Department of Materials Engineering, wins a 30th Advanced Technology Award.
<About awarded research>
Recently, the functional surfaces composed of well-defined polymer brushes have attracted much attention. It is possible to create a dynamic polymer brush surface by modifying self-oscillating polymer that we have been developing. The self-oscillating polymer is a random copolymer of N-isopropylacrylamie and Ru(bpy)3 which acts as a catalyst oscillating chemical reaction (the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction). The self-oscillation is spontaneously induced by chemomechanical energy conversion from an oscillating chemical reaction into mechanical motion of polymer chain. In this study, self-oscillating polymer brushes were prepared by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) and the surface structure and the dynamic behavior was systematically investigated. As a result, autonomous propagation of chemical wave was successfully observed. The result will be helpful for developing autonomous mass transport systems.
<Comments>
I am really glad to receive the honorable award. I am grateful to Prof. Ryo Yoshida, Dr. Aya Mizutani Akimoto (The University of Tokyo), Prof. Teruo Okano and Dr. Kenichi Nagase (Tokyo Women’s Medical University) for continuous guidance and helpful advices.
Research Associate Tsukuru Masuda recieved Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science; The Society of Polymer Science, Japan (2022)
