Researcher unlocks mysteries of polymer crystallization, receives NSF Award
Congratulations to Dr. Toshikazu Miyoshi, Professor of Polymer Science, who was recently awarded a $594,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his research project, “Intramolecular and Intermolecular Packing in Polymer Crystallization.”
Over the last half century, the chain-folding structure of semicrystalline polymers has been debated in polymer science due to insufficient experimental resolutions. The PI group developed a novel experimental approach using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and 13C isotope labelling, which enables one to investigate the chain trajectory of semicrystalline polymers in a condensed state. A series of projects devoted to understanding the chain-level structure and crystallization mechanism of semicrystalline polymers have been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Materials Research (DMR) Polymers in the past 10 years. The renewal project (NSF DMR Polymers, 2004393, 2020/09/01-2024/08/31) will focus on fundamental subjects of i) intramolecular and intermolecular packing, ii) entanglement effect on chain trajectory, iii) chiral recognition, iii) sensitivity enhancement of NMR, iv) direct observation of polymer chains in pre-crystalline state, and v) development of novel and flexibile semicrystalline polymers.
Toshikazu Miyoshi obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry (1997) at Kyoto University, Japan. After postdoctoral work at the Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Germany, he joined the National Institute of Advanced Technology and Industrial Science (AIST), Japan, in 2000. He joined the Department of Polymer Science at The University of Akron in 2010. His research interests include the development of solid-state NMR techniques and their applications to structure and dynamics of self-assembly, biomaterials, semicrystalline polymers, and carbon materials.