(7cr) Fabrication of Functional Nanofibers and Hydrogels: Gelation Behavior and Viscoelasticity of Polymer Solutions

Teaching Interests: Material Sciences, Mechanics of Materials

Research Interests:

My research topic is functionalizing polymer materials by regulating the nano- and micro-structure and viscoelasticity. I take advantage of the polymerization of copolymers, the fabrication of nanofibers by electrospinning, and the blend of nanofibers into polymer matrixes. I also study the structure-property relationships by using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), electron microscopy (EM), small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), and small angle neutron scattering (SANS).

The research topics are based on my research carreer. I started my research carrier as a bachelor student in Keio University. The undergraduate thesis was on “Fabrication of electrospun poly(styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) fibers and its structure” under the supervision of Professor Atsushi Hotta, a former postdoc researcher of Professor Ed Kramer. Then, I continued the carrier as a master’s course student in Keio University. The master’s thesis was on “Effects of gelation behavior of polymer solution on electrospun fiber morphology” under the supervision of Professor Atsushi Hotta.

I received Ph.D. degree in Keio University by the Ph.D. thesis on “Gel characteristics and viscoelasticity of semi-crystalline polymers and copolymers for the fabrications of nanofibers and hydrogels”. During the Ph.D. course, I also worked as a visiting scientist for Professor Craig Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara and engaged in the polymerization of new amphiphilic copolymers by anionic ring-opening polymerization. In addition, I also worked as a researcher for the packaging laboratories for packaging technologies in an industrial company in Japan. There I engaged in improving the gas barrier properties of polymers by depositing diamond-like carbon (DLC) onto polymers. I also joined Program for Leading Graduate Schools “Global Environment System Leaders (GESL) program” funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology as a research assistant.

Funding:

1. Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up, “Patterned nanofibers for cell culture by plasma treatment”, April 2015 – March 2017. (Amount：2,860,000 JPY)
2. Keio Leading-edge Laboratory Research Grant for Challenging Research, “Development of 3D printer with thermo-responsive hydrogels”, April 2016 – March 2017. (500,000 JPY)
3. Keio University Research Grant for Young Researcher’s Program “Fabrication of ionically-crosslinked hydrogels for cell culture”, April 2015 – March 2016. (1,380,000 JPY)
4. Keio Gijuku Academic Development Funds “Synthesis and nanofiber-fabrication of 2-methoxyetyl acrylate copolymers with anti-thrombogenicity”, April 2015 – March 2016. (500,000 JPY)

Publications (Selected):

1. S. Tazawa, A. Shimojima, T. Maeda, A. Hotta, 2017. “Thermoplastic polydimethylsiloxane with L-phenylalanine-based hydrogen-bond networks” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, in press.
2. M. Miyazaki, T. Maeda, K. Hirashim, N Kurokawa, K. Nagahama, A. Hotta, 2017. “􀠕PEG-based nanocomposite hydrogel: Thermoresponsive sol-gel transition controlled by PLGA-PEG-PLGA molecular weight and solute concentration” Polymer, 115, 246-254.
3. T. Maeda, K. Takaesu, A. Hotta, 2015. “Syndiotactic polypropylene nanofibers obtained from solution electrospinning process at ambient temperature” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 133, 43238.
4. S. Mizuno, T. Maeda, C. Kanemura, A. Hotta, 2015, “Biodegradability, reprocessability, and mechanical properties of polybutylene succinate (PBS) photografted by hydrophilic or hydrophobic membranes” Polymer Degradation and Stability, 117, 58-65.
5. T. Otsuka, T. Maeda, A. Hotta, 2014. “Effects of salt concentrations of the aqueous peptide-amphiphile solutions on the sol-gel transitions, the gelation speed, and the gel characteristics” Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B, 118, 11537-11545.
6. T. Maeda, K. Hagiwara, S. Yoshida, T. Hasebe, A. Hotta, 2014. “Preparation and characterization of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer nanofibers prepared via electrospinning for biomedical materials” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 131, 40606.

Teaching Interests:

Aside from my research career, I also have extensive teaching experience in Keio University as follows:

1. “Physics” for 1^st year of bachelor students (as teaching assistant)
2. “Experiment of science” for 1^st year of bachelor students
3. “Fundamental experiment of science and engineering” for 2^nd year of bachelor students
4. “Experiment of mechanical engineering” for 3^rd year of bachelor students

I mentored undergraduate students and graduate students in the group of Professor Atsushi Hotta, Professor Tetsuya Suzuki, and Professor Kazuyuki Shizawa.