3) Ion-Conductive Liquid Crystals: Functional Nanostructured Materials

Ion-conduction and ion-transportation are important in materials and in life systems. Our aim is to obtain new low-dimensional ion-conductive materials for development of energy devices such as lithium-ion batteries by using molecular self-assembly and nanophase segregation of liquid crystals. For example,
(1) Self-assembly of ionic liquid crystals showing one-, two-, and three-dimensional ion conduction.
(2) Self-assembled liquid-crystalline materials consisting of lithium salts and low-molecular or polymeric mesogenic molecules containing oligo(ethylene oxide)s, showing two-dimensional ion conduction in smectic phases.
(3) Development of lithium-ion batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells using liquid-crystalline electrolytes.

These studies are conducted by collaborations with Prof. H. Ohno at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Dr. E. Hosono at National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Prof. H. Segawa and Prof. S. Uchida at The University of Tokyo, and Prof. L. Kloo at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

3-1) Development of lithium-ion batteries using liquid-crystalline electrolytes

3-2) 1D ion conduction in ionic liquid crystals

3-3) 3D ion conduction in bicontinuous cubic liquid crystals

3-4) Electric-field-responsive propylenecarbonate-based columanr liquid crystals

3-5) 2D ion conduction in the polymeric materials containing oligo(ethyleneoxide)s

3-6) Development of high-temperature dye-sensitized solar cells using smectic liquid-crystalline electrolytes


3-1) Development of lithium-ion batteries using liquid-crystalline electrolytes

Selected papers on this subject:

  1. Lithium-Ion Batteries with Fluorinated Mesogen-Based Liquid-Crystalline Electrolytes: Molecular Design towards Enhancing Oxidation Stability
    Shingo Takegawa, Kazuma Hamaguchi, Eiji Hosono, Shunsuke Sato, Go Watanabe, Junya Uchida, and Takashi Kato
    Nanoscale, in press (2024).
  2. Nanostructured Liquid-Crystalline Li-Ion Conductors with High Oxidation Resistance: Molecular Design Strategy towards Safe and High-Voltage-Operation Li-Ion Batteries
    Atsushi Kuwabara, Mayu Enomoto, Eiji Hosono, Kazuma Hamaguchi, Taira Onuma, Satoshi Kajiyama, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Sci., 11, 10631 (2020).
  3. Noncovalent Approach to Liquid-Crystalline Ion Conductors: High-Rate Performances and Room Temperature Operation for Li-Ion Batteries
    Taira Onuma, Eiji Hosono, Motokuni Takenouchi, Junji Sakuda, Satoshi Kajiyama, Masafumi Yoshio, and Takashi Kato
    ACS Omega, 3, 159 (2018).
  4. Liquid-Crystalline Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Batteries: Ordered Assemblies of a Mesogen-Containing Carbonate and a Lithium Salt
    Junji Sakuda, Eiji Hosono, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Takuro Matsumoto, Hiroyuki Ohno, Haoshen Zhou, and Takashi Kato
    Adv. Funct. Mater., 25, 1206 (2015).

3-2) 1D ion conduction in ionic liquid crystals

1D 1????????????

Selected papers on this subject:

  1. Ionic Switch Induced by a Rectangular-Hexagonal Phase Transition in Benzenammonium Columnar Liquid Crystals
    Bartolome Soberats, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Xiangbing Zeng, Hiroyuki Ohno, Goran Ungar, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 137, 13212 (2015).
  2. Columnar Nanostructured Polymer Films Containing Ionic Liquids in Supramolecular One-Dimensional Nanochannels
    Akihiro Yamashita, Masafumi Yoshio, Seiya Shimizu, Takahiro Ichikawa, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Polym. Sci., Part A, Polym. Chem., 53, 366 (2015).
  3. Zwitterionic Liquid Crystals as 1D and 3D Lithium Ion Transport Media
    Bartolome Soberats, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Mater. Chem. A, 3, 11232 (2015).
  4. Use of a Protic Salt for the Formation of Liquid-Crystalline Proton-Conductive Complexes with Mesomorphic Diols
    Akihiro Yamashita, Masafumi Yoshio, Bartolome Soberats, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Mater. Chem. A, 3, 22656 (2015).
  5. Non-Covalent Approach to One-Dimensional Ion Conductors: Enhancement of Ionic Conductivities in Nanostructured Columnar Liquid Crystals
    Harutoki Shimura, Masafumi Yoshio, Koji Hoshino, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130, 1759 (2008).
  6. Columnar Liquid-Crystalline Imidazolium Salts: Effects of Anions and Cations on Mesomorphic Properties and Ionic Conductivities
    Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Harutoki Shimura, Takayoshi Kagata, Atsushi Hamasaki, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 80, 1836 (2007).
  7. One-Dimensional Ion-Conductive Polymer Films: Alignment and Fixation of Ionic Channels Formed by Self-Organization of Polymerizable Columnar Liquid Crystals
    Masafumi Yoshio, Takayoshi Kagata, Koji Hoshino, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128, 5570 (2006).
  8. Spiropyran-Based Liquid Crystals: The Formation of Columnar Phases Via Acid-Induced Spiro-Merocyanine Isomerisation
    Boon Hooi Tan, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Commun., 2006, 4703.
  9. Self-Assembly of an Ionic Liquid and a Hydroxyl-Terminated Liquid Crystal: Anisotropic Ion Conduction in Layered Nanostructures
    Masafumi Yoshio, Takashi Kato, Tomohiro Mukai, Masahiro Yoshizawa, and Hiroyuki Ohno
    Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., 413, 2235 (2004).
  10. One-Dimensional Ion Transport in Self-Organized Columnar Ionic Liquids
    Masafumi Yoshio, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 126, 994 (2004).

3-3) 3D ion conduction in bicontinuous cubic liquid crystals

3D

Selected papers on this subject:

  1. 3D Anhydrous Proton-Transporting Nanochannels Formed by Self-Assembly of Liquid Crystals Composed of a Sulfobetaine and a Sulfonic Acid
    Bartolome Soberats, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Satomi Taguchi, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135, 15286 (2013).
  2. Induction of Thermotropic Bicontinuous Cubic Phases in Liquid-Crystalline Ammonium and Phosphonium Salts
    Takahiro Ichikawa, Masafumi Yoshio, Atsushi Hamasaki, Satomi Taguchi, Feng Liu, Xiang-bing Zeng, Goran Ungar, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 134, 2634 (2012).
  3. Co-Organization of Ionic Liquids with Amphiphilic Diethanolamines: Construction of 3D Continuous Ionic Nanochannels through the Induction of Liquid-Crystalline Bicontinuous Cubic Phases
    Takahiro Ichikawa, Masafumi Yoshio, Satomi Taguchi, Junko Kagimoto, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Sci., 3, 2001 (2012).
  4. 3D Interconnected Ionic Nano-Channels Formed in Polymer Films: Self-Organization and Polymerization of Thermotropic Bicontinuous Cubic Liquid Crystals
    Takahiro Ichikawa, Masafumi Yoshio, Atsushi Hamasaki, Junko Kagimoto, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133, 2163 (2011).
  5. Ion Conductive Behaviour in a Confined Nanostructure: NMR Observation of Self-Diffusion in a Liquid-Crystalline Bicontinuous Cubic Phase
    Anton E. Frise, Takahiro Ichikawa, Masafumi Yoshio, Hiroyuki Ohno, Sergey V. Dvinskikh, Takashi Kato, and Istvan Furo
    Chem. Commun., 46, 728 (2010)
  6. Self-Organization of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids Exhibiting Liquid-Crystalline Bicontinuous Cubic Phases: Formation of Nano-Ion Channel Networks
    Takahiro Ichikawa, Masafumi Yoshio, Atsushi Hamasaki, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129, 10662 (2007).

3-4) Electric-field-responsive propylenecarbonate-based columanr liquid crystals

Selected papers on this subject:

  1. Electric-Field-Responsive Lithium-Ion Conductors of Propylenecarbonate-Based Columanr Liquid Crystals
    Harutoki Shimura, Masafumi Yoshio, Atsushi Hamasaki, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Adv. Mater., 21, 1591 (2009).

3-5) 2D ion conduction in the polymeric materials containing oligo(ethylene oxide)s

3D

Selected papers on this subject:

  1. Liquid-Crystalline Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Design of Two-Dimensional Molecular Assemblies for Efficient Ion Transport and Thermal Stability
    Daniel Högberg, Bartolome Soberats, Ryo Yatagai, Satoshi Uchida, Masafumi Yoshio, Lars Kloo, Hiroshi Segawa, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Mater., 28, 6493 (2016).
  2. A Columnar Liquid-Crystalline Shape-Persistent Macrocycle Having a Nanosegregated Structure
    Harutoki Shimura, Masafumi Yoshio, and Takashi Kato
    Org. Biomol. Chem., 7, 3205 (2009).
  3. Nano-Segregated Polymeric Film Exhibiting High Ionic Conductivities
    Kenji Kishimoto, Tomoyuki Suzawa, Tomoki Yokota, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 15618 (2005).
  4. Nanostructured Anisotropic Ion-Conductive Films
    Kenji Kishimoto, Masafumi Yoshio, Tomohiro Mukai, Masahiro Yoshizawa, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 125, 3196 (2003).
  5. Liquid-Crystalline Complexes of Mesogenic Dimers Containing Oxyethylene Moieties with LiCF3SO3: Self-Organized Ion Conductive Materials
    Toshihiro Ohtake, Masumi Ogasawara, Kaori Ito-Akita, Naoko Nishina, Seiji Ujiie, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Mater., 12, 782 (2000).
  6. Liquid-Crystalline Ion-Conductive Materials: Self-Organization Behavior and Ion-Transporting Properties of Mesogenic Dimers Containing Oxyethylene Moieties Complexed with Metal Salts
    Toshihiro Ohtake, Yasuyuki Takamitsu, Kaori Ito-Akita, Kiyoshi Kanie, Masahiro Yoshizawa, Tomohiro Mukai, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Macromolecules, 33, 8109 (2000).
  7. Liquid-Crystalline Complexes of a Lithium Salt with Twin Oligomers Containing Oxyethylene Spacers. An Approach to Anisotropic Ion Conduction
    Toshihiro Ohtake, Kaori Ito, Naoko Nishina, Hideyuki Kihara, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Takashi Kato
    Polym. J., 31, 1155 (1999).

3-6) Development of high-temperature dye-sensitized solar cells using smectic liquid-crystalline electrolytes

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Selected papers on this subject:

  1. Self-Assembled Liquid-Crystalline Ion Conductors in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Effects of Molecular Sensitizers on Their Performance
    Daniel Högberg, Bartolome Soberats, Masafumi Yoshio, Yurika Mizumura, Satoshi Uchida, Lars Kloo, Hiroshi Segawa, and Takashi Kato
    ChemPlusChem, 82, 834 (2017).
  2. Liquid-Crystalline Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Design of Two-Dimensional Molecular Assemblies for Efficient Ion Transport and Thermal Stability
    Daniel Högberg, Bartolome Soberats, Ryo Yatagai, Satoshi Uchida, Masafumi Yoshio, Lars Kloo, Hiroshi Segawa, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Mater., 28, 6493 (2016).
  3. Nanostructured Two-Component Liquid-Crystalline Electrolytes for High-Temperature Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
    Daniel Högberg, Bartolome Soberats, Satoshi Uchida, Masafumi Yoshio, Lars Kloo, Hiroshi Segawa, and Takashi Kato
    Chem. Mater., 26, 6496 (2014).

Review Papers

  1. Transport of Ions and Electrons in Nanostructured Liquid Crystals
    Takashi Kato, Masafumi Yoshio, Takahiro Ichikawa, Bartolome Soberats, Hiroyuki Ohno, and Masahiro Funahashi
    Nature Rev. Mater., 2, 17001 (2017).
  2. Liquid Crystals as Ion Conductors
    Masafumi Yoshio and Takashi Kato
    Handbook of Liquid Crystals 2nd Edition (Eds. J. W. Goodby, P. J. Collings, T. Kato, C. Tschierske, H. Gleeson, P. Raynes), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Vol. 8, 727 (2014).
  3. From Nanostructured Liquid Crystals to Polymer-Based Electrolytes
    Takashi Kato
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 49, 7847 (2010)
  4. Self-Assembly of Functional Columnar Liquid Crystals
    Takashi Kato, Takuma Yasuda, Yuko Kamikawa, and Masafumi Yoshio
    Chem. Commun., 729 (2009)
  5. Functional Liquid-Crystalline Polymers for Ionic and Electronic Conduction
    Masahiro Funahashi, Harutoki Shimura, Masafumi Yoshio, and Takashi Kato
    Struct. Bond., 128, 151 (2008).
  6. Functional Liquid-Crystalline Assemblies: Self-Organized Soft Materials
    Takashi Kato, Norihiro Mizoshita, and Kenji Kishimoto
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 45, 38 (2006).
  7. Self-Assembly of Phase-Segregated Liquid Crystal Structures
    Takashi Kato
    Science, 295, 2414 (2002).
  8. Liquid Crystalline Ionic Liquids
    Takashi Kato and Masafumi Yoshio
    Electrochemical Aspects of Ionic Liquids, H. Ohno Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p. 307 (2005).

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