Professor Hiromitsu Maeda and his colleagues’ research results published in Small

A research team including Professor Hiromitsu Maeda (RARA Fellow) and Mr. Yuto Maruyama, a doctoral student in the Graduate School of Life Sciences at Ritsumeikan University, collaborated with the National Institute for Materials Science and RIKEN to successfully synthesize π-electronic ion pairs with precisely controlled positions for introducing hydrophilic groups. As a result, they have elucidated that it is possible to form two-dimensional sheet structures via ordered arrangement under aqueous conditions, utilizing the hydrophobic effect of the π-side regions that lack hydrophilic groups. The research findings were published in Small (Wiley-VCH) on November 25, 2025 (local time).

Paper title: Multidirectionally Controlled Arrangement via Ion-Pairing Assembly of Amphiphilic Charged π-Electronic Systems
Authors: Yuto Maruyama, Biplab Manna, Koji Harano, Hayato Kanai, Yasuhiro Ishida, Hiromitsu Maeda
Publication journal: Small
Publication date: November 25, 2025
DOI：https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202511729
Press release: https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=676800&f=.pdf (in Japanese)