My JSPS fellowship began on November 9, 2001, when I left the United States for Japan and ended on November 28, 2001, when I returned to the United States. During the course of this Fellowship, I visited and presented lectures in six Japanese Universities and one Japanese company.

My host during the JSPS fellowship was Professor Toshio Masuda of Kyoto University. The focus of the fellowship visit to Professor Masuda's laboratory was to explore the wide range of substituted polyacetylene polymers which Professor Masuda has synthesized to identify suitable materials or new materials concepts as the basis for a joint research program to develop membrane materials for the recovery of organic vapors from mixtures with supercritical gases. Professor Masuda is the world's leading expert in the synthesis of novel, substituted acetylene polymers. My research program is one of the few to focus explicitly on gas separations in which the objective is to remove large components from the gas mixture and reject smaller, less condensable components. Professor Masuda has already supplied several polymers for this study whose properties have been described in several joint peer-reviewed papers and review articles in 2000 and 2001:

K. Nagai, T. Masuda, T. Nakagawa, B.D. Freeman, and I. Pinnau, "Poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] and Related Polymers: Synthesis, Properties, and Functions," Prog. in Polymer Sci., 26, 721-798 (2001)

Yampolskii, Yu.P., A.P. Korikiv, V.P. Shantarovich, K. Nagai, B.D. Freeman, T. Masuda, M. Teraguchi, and G. Kwak, "Gas Permeability and Free Volume of Highly Branched Substituted Polyacetylenes," Macromolecules, 34(6), 1788-1796 (2001)

G. Kwak, T. Aoki, L.G. Toy, B.D. Freeman, and T. Masuda, "Synthesis, Characterization, and Oxygen Permeability of Homo- and Copolymers from p-[Tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl]-phenylacetylene," Polym. Bull., 45, 215-221 (2000)

Nagai, K., L.G. Toy, B.D. Freeman, M. Teraguchi, T. Masuda, and I. Pinnau, "Gas Permeability and Hydrocarbon Solubility of Poly[1-phenyl-2-[p-(triisopropylsilylphenyl]acetylene]," J. Polym. Sci., Polym. Phys. Ed., 38, 1474-1484 (2000)

Toy, L.G., K. Nagai, B.D. Freeman, I. Pinnau, Z. He, T. Masuda, M. Teraguchi, and Yu.P. Yampolskii, "Pure-Gas and Vapor Permeation and Sorption Properties of Poly[1-phenyl-2-[p-(trimethylsilyl)phenyl]acetylene] (PTMSDPA)," Macromolecules, 33, 2516-2524 (2000)

We are continuing to test polymers that Professor Masuda had already sent to us, and our meeting during the fellowship period was a valuable opportunity to review the progress of this work. Additionally, Professor Masuda has agreed, based on the meeting during the fellowship period, to send other related polymers for this joint research program. It is anticipated that these samples will provide the basis for future peer-reviewed publications between Professor Masuda’s and my research groups.

The remainder of this section of the report is organized according to the itinerary of the fellowship. A brief overview of the interaction at each site is reported.

1. November 12, 2001. I presented an invited lecture entitled “Structure and Performance of Nanocomposite Gas Separation Materials” at Meiji University in Kawasaki, Japan. I visited the laboratories and students of Professor Tsutomu Nakagawa. As a result of discussions during this visit, one of Professor Nakagawa's senior Ph.D. students, Mr. Shuicih Takahashi, will likely apply as a postdoctoral fellow to begin work in my laboratory within the coming 18 months.

2. November 13, 2001. I presented an invited lecture entitled “Permeation Properties of Syngas Components in Polymers” at the Fifth Seikei University Mini-Symposium on Membranes organized by Professor Akon Higuchi, Department of Industrial Chemistry, Seikei University, Tokyo. Discussions regarding recent advances in membrane science were held with Professor Higuchi and the other participants in the symposium.

3. November 14, 2001. I presented a lecture at Daiso Company, in Osaka, Japan. This lecture was entitled “Permeation Properties of Syngas Components in Polymers.” Discussions were held with Dr. Takaaki Sakai, Manager of the Battery Materials Research Group, concerning fundamental scientific issues and practical industrial problems related to the use of polyethers as membranes.

4. November 16, 2001. I visited Professor Ken-Ichi Okamoto and Professor Hidetoshi Kita at Yamaguchi University in Ube, Japan. I also presented an invited lecture entitled “Structure and Performance of Nanocomposite Gas Separation Materials” at Yamaguchi University and attended a membrane discussion meeting at Ube Industries, Inc.

5. November 19, 2001. I presented a lecture entitled “Structure and Performance of Nanocomposite Gas Separation Materials” at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan. My host for this visit was Professor Toshio Masuda, Department of Polymer Chemistry, Kyoto University. I visited Professor Masuda’s laboratories and, as discussed above, planned future joint research work.

6. I visited Nagoya Institute of Technology (NIT) in the laboratories of Professor Yoshihara Tsujita, Department of Materials Science and Engineering. We discussed the research programs in progress in Professor Tsujita’s laboratories, in particular his comprehensive studies of physical aging in glassy polymer membranes. I presented a lecture entitled “Permeation Properties of Syngas Components in Polymers” at NIT.

7. November 25, 2001. I presented a lecture entitled “Structure and Performance of Nanocomposite Gas Separation Materials” at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan. My host for this visit was Professor Tadashi Uragami, Faculty of Engineering, Kansai University, Osaka. Professor Uragami is an expert in the area of pervaporation separation of liquid mixtures using polymer membranes. I visited Professor Uragami’s laboratories and discussed the future of vapor and pervaporation separations using membranes.

Overall, the state of science or, rather, of scientific research and training of students, in Japan is very good in many respects. I was generally very impressed with the extraordinary work ethic of Japanese students and professors and with the camaraderie pervading all of the research groups I visited. I wish my research group were as close as the Japanese groups seem to be. I was also very impressed with the infrastructure available in several of the new laboratories such as Professor Tsujita's laboratories in Nagoya. However, in general, by U.S. standards, many of the Japanese laboratories are very crowded (in terms of students per square foot of laboratory space). Many of the university research laboratories that I visited were antiquated from a building infrastructure viewpoint. However, several laboratories seemed poised for substantial renovation (i.e. new buildings) in the near future. Moreover, the research instrumentation available in most of the Japanese laboratories that I visited was the latest generation and, in fact, many of my Japanese colleagues have more recent instrumentation than I have in my laboratories. During the short stay of my fellowship, it was difficult to gauge the efficacy of graduate instruction in the universities. Most, but not all, of the Japanese professors have high teaching loads (by U.S. standards) and many students, but most of the students are undergraduate or master's level students, with only a few Ph.D. students. This system may limit the amount of very fundamental, long-range research that can be accomplished as the students are constantly graduating and new students require some time to become proficient in the experimental and theoretical aspects of their projects.

The fellowship program was an extremely attractive opportunity for me to meet new scientists in Japanese academia and industry and to renew and strengthen contacts with Japanese researchers whom I had previously met. In this regard, the program was very successful for me, and I believe that the fellowship has stimulated mutually beneficial, long-term relations between my laboratory and the best Japanese laboratories in my field. I hope to have the opportunity to apply again for a JSPS fellowship to nurture and expand upon the nascent collaborations begun as a result of this fellowship.

Kyoto: (left to right) Dr. Rioji Nomura, Kyoto University; Professor Benny Freeman, Dr. Ingo Pinnau, JSPS Fellow; Professor Toshio Masuda (JSPS host for Professor Freeman).