chemistry

Takuzo Aida

Takuzo Aida is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Takuzo Aida rather than just read about it. In short: Takuzo Aida (相田卓三, Aida Takuzō, born 3 May 1956) is a Japanese polymer chemist specializing in supramolecular chemistry and materials science. He is deputy director of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Tokyo.

Key takeaways

Takuzo Aida belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Takuzo Aida to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Takuzo Aida from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Takuzo Aida (相田卓三, Aida Takuzō, born 3 May 1956) is a Japanese polymer chemist specializing in supramolecular chemistry and materials science. He is deputy director of the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Tokyo.

Early life and education Aida was born in Ōita Prefecture, Japan. He earned a Bachelor of Engineering in physical chemistry from Yokohama National University in 1979. He then pursued graduate studies in polymer chemistry at the University of Tokyo under Shohei Inoue, receiving a Master of Engineering in 1981 and a Doctor of Engineering in 1984.

Career Following his doctorate, Aida joined the University of Tokyo as a research assistant in 1984, advancing to lecturer in 1989 and associate professor in 1991. He was appointed full professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology in 1996. In 2008, he began a concurrent appointment at RIKEN, where he served as director of the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute until 2012 and has been deputy director of the Center for Emergent Matter Science since 2013. In 2022, the University of Tokyo designated him a distinguished professor. Aida has served on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science since 2009 and on the advisory board of the Journal of the American Chemical Society from 2014 to 2021. He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020, a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2021, and an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2023.

Research Aida's research focuses on supramolecular polymers, including self-assembly, controlled polymerization, and applications in functional materials such as conductive nanotubes and self-healing polymers. Key contributions include:

Development of "immortal polymerization," a living polymerization technique tolerant to chain transfer (1988). Self-assembled graphitic nanotubes from hexabenzocoronene derivatives, enabling electronic conductivity and helical chirality (2004–2011). Chain-growth supramolecular polymerization, distinct from traditional step-growth mechanisms (2015). Thermally bisignate supramolecular polymerization, yielding distinct structures upon heating or cooling (2017). Mechanically robust, self-repairable poly(ether thiourea) via noncovalent cross-linking (2018). Solvent-free autocatalytic supramolecular polymerization of phthalocyanines (2021). His work also encompasses photoenergy harvesting in dendrimers and redox-responsive nanostructures.

Awards and honors Aida's contributions have been recognized with numerous awards, including:

1993: Society of Polymer Science, Japan Award 2005: Inoue Prize for Science 2008: Chemical Society of Japan Award 2009: ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry 2010: Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon 2011: Humboldt Research Award 2015: Leo Esaki Prize 2017: Chirality Medal 2018: Japan Academy Prize 2021: Ryoji Noyori ACES Award 2021: Netherlands Award for Supramolecular Chemistry

References

External links Official website RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science: Emergent Soft Matter Function Research Group

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Takuzo Aida

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Takuzo Aida claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Takuzo Aida before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Takuzo Aida ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Takuzo Aida

In research: Takuzo Aida appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Takuzo Aida in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Takuzo Aida is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Japanese chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Takuzo Aida outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Takuzo Aida” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Takuzo Aida in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Takuzo Aida means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Takuzo Aida out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Takuzo Aida in simple terms?

Why does Takuzo Aida matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Takuzo Aida?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Takuzo Aida.