We are making efforts to shed light on the formation mechanisms of surfactant morphologies

About Kondo Lab., Tokyo University of Science

Our research group was established in April 2007. In our laboratory, we deal with amphiphilic molecules (surfactants = compounds with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups in the molecule). It would be easier to say that we are dealing with detergents and their relatives. Our bodies are composed of elaborate self-assemblies of amphiphilic molecules, and various molecular assemblies are involved in biological activities in our bodies. Surfactants and their aggregates can be found everywhere in our daily laundry, shampoo, milk, butter, lotions, creams, and so on. Surfactants are thus very familiar compounds. Research on surfactants and their applications, especially from an industrial perspective, has been active since the mid-1900s. The properties of surfactants such as "surface tension reduction," "solubilization," "emulsification," "dispersion," "wetting," and "wetting" have all been useful in our daily lives. From this point of view, we are working on our research with the hope, albeit somewhat optimistically, that the properties of new surfactants will also be useful to us. One of the goals of our laboratory is to organically synthesize new types of surfactants with different molecular structures from those of conventional surfactants and to elucidate their solution properties. We are also pursuing how the self-assembled forms of these familiar surfactants are determined, and vigorously aim to apply the functions and formation mechanisms of these assemblies to various fields, including industrial fields.

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