RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Bioplastic Research Team
Team Leader: Hideki Abe (Ph.D.)
Research Summary

Our team aims to provide high-performance and specific functional bioplastic materials as environmental conscious polymeric materials. Particularly, paying attention to the biopolyesters produced by microorganisms, the advanced technology enable to bring out their potential and use as a practical plastic materials has been developed. We also employ various biomass substances to create novel polymeric materials, followed with biopolyesters. We achieve to construct the methodology of molecular design for bioplastics to predict their properties and functions, and new technology of efficient and precise bioplastic synthesis.
Main Research Fields
- Chemistry
Related Research Fields
- Engineering
- Polymer chemistry
- Green/Environmental chemistry
Keywords
- Bioplastics
- Polymer synthesis
- Biomass resources
- Polymer/Textile materials
Selected Publications
- 1.
Imada, M., Takenaka, Y., Tsuge, T., and Abe, H.:
"Copolymers incorporated with β-substituted acrylate synthesized by organo-catalyzed group-transfer polymerization"
Polym. J. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00493-z (2021) - 2.
Furutate, S, Kamoi, J., Nomura CT., Taguchi, S., Abe, H., and Tsuge, T.:
"Superior thermal stability and fast crystallization behavior of a novel, biodegradable alpha-methylated bacterial polyester"
NPG Asia Materials. 13, 31 (2021) - 3.
Omura, T., Goto, T., Maehara, A., Kimura, S., Abe, H., and Iwata, T.:
"Thermal degradation behavior of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate]"
Polym. Degrad. Stab. 183, 109460 (2021) - 4.
Imada, M., Takenaka, Y., Tsuge, T., and Abe, H.:
"Kinetic modeling study of the group-transfer polymerization of alkyl crotonates using a silicon Lewis acid catalyst"
Polymer Chemistry. 11, 5981–5991 (2020) - 5.
Yamamoto, A., Nemoto, K., Yoshida, M., Tominaga, Y., Imai, Y., Ata, S., Takenaka, Y., Abe, H., and Sato, K.:
"Improving thermal and mechanical properties of biomass-based polymers using structurally ordered polyesters from ricinoleic acid and 4-hydroxycinnamic acids"
RSC Advances. 10, 36562-36570 (2020) - 6.
Imada, M., Takenaka, Y., Tsuge, T., and Abe, H.:
"Effect of Disyndiotacticity on the Grass Transition Temperature of Poly(ethyl crotonate)s Synthesized by Group-Transfer Polymerization Catalyzed by Organic Acids"
Macromolecules, 53, 7759-7766 (2020) - 7.
Tachibana, K., and Abe, H.:
"Studies on thermo-mechanical and thermal degradation properties of bio-based polyurethanes synthesized from vanillin-derived diol and lysine diisocyanate"
Polym. Degrad. Stab., 167, 283-291 (2019) - 8.
Imada, M., Takenaka, Y., Hatanaka, H., Tsuge, T., and Abe, H.:
"Unique acrylic resins with aromatic side chains by homopolymerization of cinnamic monomers"
Commun. Chemistry, 2 (2019) - 9.
Takanaka, Y., and Abe, H.:
"Group-Transfer Polymerization of Various Crotonates Using Organic Acid Catalysts"
Macromolecules, 52, 4052-4058 (2019) - 10.
Goto, T., Iwata, T., and Abe, H.:
"Synthesis and characterization of biobased polyesters containing anthraquinones derived from gallic acid"
Biomacromolecules, 20, 318-325 (2019)
Related Links
Lab Members
Principal investigator
- Hideki Abe
- Team Leader
Core members
- Tomohiro Hiraishi
- Senior Research Scientist
- Masahiro Fujita
- Senior Research Scientist
- Yasumasa Takenaka
- Research Scientist
- Tatsuya Goto
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Senri Hayashi
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Iffa Farahin binti Jeepery
- International Program Associate
- Naoko Nakata
- Technical Staff II
Contact Information
601 Main Research Building
2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
Tel: +81-(0)48-467-9394
Email: habe [at] riken.jp