Prof. Daigo Miyajima from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, was invited to visit AISMST on the afternoon of June 21st to give an academic talk on Exploration of Future Materials Based on One-dimensional Assemblies of π-conjugated Molecules. He shared research progress on one-dimensional assembly materials based on π-conjugated molecules and discussed strategies for controlling the arrangement of π-conjugated molecules without strong intermolecular interaction units, as well as the exploration of future materials based on this molecular arrangement strategy.

The physical properties of molecular materials depend not only on the constituting molecules but also on their assembly manners. With the development of computational science, it is becoming possible to predict the physical properties of individual molecules. On the other hand, predicting how molecules are assembled is still challenging, Professor Daigo Miyajima stated in his presentation. To address this issue, his research group utilized hydrogen bonds of amide groups as tools to control the assembly structure and developed various materials such as supramolecular polymers and columnar liquid crystals. Recently, they have also discovered a self-replication reaction with amide groups that combines solid-state supramolecular polymerization and self-replicating reactions. Professor Daigo Miyajima pointed out that using structural units with strong intermolecular interactions, such as hydrogen bonds and coordination bonds, does not always lead to desirable assembly structures and physical properties. Therefore, they introduced their strategies to control the arrangement of π-conjugated molecules without using strong intermolecular interaction units and discussed the exploration of future materials based on their molecular arrangement strategies. Furthermore, he presented organic molecules that exhibit unprecedented photophysical properties.

Professor Miyajima mainly focuses on the self-assembly of small molecules and macromolecules and has published multiple papers as the first author or corresponding author in top journals such as Nature, Science, Nature Materials, and Nature Chemistry. In terms of practical applications, he actively collaborates with pharmaceutical and chemical companies and holds several patents.