Aiming to make many contributions to society through soft materials with new functionality

Within the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Technology at Keio University, Atsushi Hotta’s research lab is investigating soft materials that are crucial to materials science, regarding polymers including plastics and elastomers, and composites that are so widely used these days.
“I think it’s a lot like cuisine."
“When people eat, they judge their food based on whether it’s delicious, or not, but I don’t think most people give much thought to the ingredients that the food is composed of."
“You can think of the study of materials science as a field much like that; to create interesting materials with a high degree of functionality, we have to control the microstructure, or manipulate the materials on a very small scale, and create the structure we want, ultimately to create materials with desirable functionality.”
Soft materials are commonly composed of macromolecules – like polymers, which are made up of very long molecules.
The structure of these materials can be manipulated not only at the molecular level, but also at the nano- and micro level, as well as at the macro level. If things go well, by controlling the structure of the materials in accordance with their ultimate end application, it is possible to create new materials that possess the desired functionality.
“Soft materials, polymers, in and of themselves, demonstrate extremely interesting characteristics. This is a commonly used example. These materials here… go ahead."
“As you can see, these materials look exactly alike, but bounce very differently. You can see that this might be useful in creating, for instance, earthquake-resistant materials."
“This is another example of an interesting property of polymers. You pour water in, like this. After a while, the water stops moving. This is a material called a gel. This material is also in actual use today, and is a component found in disposable diapers.”
At the Hotta Research Lab, soft materials are being studied under four major research themes. These are: Functional materials, with the goal of supporting current and future real-world applications; bio-materials, materials that are compatible with the human body for medical applications; eco-materials, which allow humans and materials to co-exist with maximum consideration for the environment; and composites, which provide superior functionality including durability, heat resistance, and impermeability.
“Specifically, regarding functional materials, there are unique materials such as those which possess shape memory, or self-healing – like this here which will stick back together after being cut, and thus regain its original properties."
“In bio-materials, we are particularly working to develop materials for use in stents. We’re also developing materials such as gels to be used in cell cultures.”
“In eco-materials, we’re looking at biodegradable materials. For example, those who play golf have probably seen areas with golf tees scattered around. If these were made of materials that allow them to break down easily, and return to the soil, or to the air, it would avoid polluting the environment. We’re looking at optimal materials like that."
“Composites are materials composed of multiple types of raw materials; these have many uses. We’re particularly interested in those with high durability and heat resistance, and those that make good gas barriers, things that can be put to practical use in future industrial applications."
The Research Lab is also pursuing joint research with corporations, medical organizations, universities, and research facilities. By evaluating the microstructure and new properties of these newly developed materials in a variety of ways and from a variety of perspectives, the Lab is working daily on the basic research needed to get ever closer to the creation of useful materials. All members of the Hotta Research Lab are working together to make great contributions to society through these new materials.
“This field, it’s a really difficult field. Polymers have many degrees of freedom, and very often don’t give you the answer you’re expecting. So, I want my researchers to grow and become the type of researcher who thinks that sort of unexpectedness is interesting, and that works really hard, and who has the end goal of creating materials that help people and are useful to society. I hope we all have this attitude, and work with humility and enthusiasm to produce valuable and useful results for society as a whole.”