We work on molecular mechanisms for macroscopic properties of polymer and soft materials. One of our targets is to understand toughening mechanisms of polymeric materials. We study nano-structure and dynamics of the tough polymeric materials by means of small-angle and quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements with deuterium labelling. By combining the nano-scale structure/dynamics measurements, macroscopic mechanical tests, and molecular dynamics simulations, we aim to establish molecular understandings of toughening mechanisms for polymeric materials and discover novel molecular designs for tough materials.

Our group accepts master and doctoral students from Department of Advanced Materials Science, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. We also welcome postdoctoral fellows of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). If you are interested in joining our group, please contact us via e-mail (kmayumi@issp.u-tokyo.ac.jp).