Research activities at laboratory of polymer materials chemistry, Nagaoka University of Technology is briefly introduced. The key concept of our laboratory is “Creation of new polymer that never exists” and the motivation for the research activities is based on the curiosity to explore the possibility of polymerization of new conjugated dienyl monomers containing functional groups. Through the study of dienyl monomers containing functional groups, we have found that introduction of functional groups sometimes dramatically changes the stability and polymerizability of monomers. Although 2-ethoxycarbonyl-1,3-butadiene is not stable at room temperature, its equivalent, 2-triethoxymethyl-1,3-butadiene, is stable and can be polymerized by free-radical initiator to give polydienes containing ester function in every repeating unit. Alkoxysilyl groups attached to the 2-position of 1,3-butadienyl framework decreased the reactivity of active chain-end carbanion in the anionic polymerization. The microstructure was controlled to cis-1,4 if the steric hindrance of alkoxy group is very large. 1,3-Butadiene derivative containing N,N-dialkyl amide group at 2-position can be polymerized by free-radical and anionic initiators but the microstructure of the resulting polymer changed depend on the condition. Current research topic such as polymerization of [3]dendralene derivatives are also described.

In this article, the roots and the current status of Nakajima laboratory is first introduced. Then, polymer nanomechanics performed in this laboratory is explained, which is divided into three categories; nanofishing of a single polymer chain, atomic force microscope-based polymer nanomechanics on various polymeric materials, and polymer nanorheology.

The objective of our laboratory is development of new polymer composites with superior performance and reliability using experimental and analytical approaches. Nowadays, we have been working on three research themes for new polymer composites: self-healing polymer composites, high thermal conductive polymer composites, and polymer composites with cellulose nanofibers. This article introduces research facilities and outline of three research themes in our laboratory.

The goal of our research group is to understand fundamental structure and properties of polymer materials and to develop new ones. We deal with versatile polymer materials including rubbers, crystalline and amorphous plastics. Molecular aggregation structure and mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, and adhesive properties have been investigated combining various mechanical deformation modes and in situ multiscale structure analyses such as small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) measurements, polarized optical microscopic observation, vibrational spectroscopy. Concrete research topics are (1) network and microphase-separated structure analyses of styrenic triblock thermoplastic elastomer, and polyurethane under uniaxial/biaxial/bulge deformation, (2) change in molecular aggregation structure of polycarbonate, and poly (methyl methacrylate) under uniaxial/biaxial/bulge deformation, (3) analysis of local mechanical property of polymers using synchrotron X-ray beam, and high-speed polarized optical microscopic observation, (4) adhesive and fatigue properties of epoxy, and polyurethanes.