Friday, September 11, 2026

A00177 - Hideki Shirakawa, Nobel Prize Winning Japanese Chemist

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Hideki Shirakawa
白川 英樹
Shirakawa in 2001
BornAugust 20, 1936
Tokyo, Japan
DiedAugust 24, 2026 (aged 90)
Yokohama, Japan
EducationTokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo)
Known forConductive polymers
AwardsNobel Prize in Chemistry (2000)
Person of Cultural Merit (2000)
Order of Culture (2000)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
WorkplacesTokyo Institute of Technology
University of Pennsylvania
University of Tsukuba

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Shirakawa Hideki (born August 20, 1936, Tokyo, Japan—died August 24, 2026, Yokohama) was a Japanese chemist who, with Alan G. MacDiarmid and Alan J. Heeger, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000 for their discovery that certain plastics can be chemically altered to conduct electricity almost as readily as metals.

Shirakawa earned a Ph.D. from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1966. That same year he joined the faculty of the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Tsukuba, where he became professor of chemistry in 1982; he retired as professor emeritus in 2000.

In 1974 Shirakawa and associates serendipitously synthesized polyacetylene, a polymer that was known to exist as a black powder, into a silvery film that possessed many properties of metal. In 1977 he began collaborating with MacDiarmid and Heeger at the University of Pennsylvania, where they exposed polyacetylene to iodine vapour. Their plan was to introduce impurities into the polymer much as in the doping process used to tailor the conductive properties of semiconductors. Doping with iodine increased polyacetylene’s electrical conductivity by a factor of 10 million, making it as conductive as some metals. Other conductive polymers were later discovered and were expected to play a significant role in the emerging field of molecular electronics.

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Hideki Shirakawa (白川 英樹, Shirakawa Hideki; August 20, 1936 – August 24, 2026) was a Japanese chemist and engineer who was Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and Zhejiang University. He was best known for his discovery of conductive polymers. He was co-recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Alan MacDiarmid and Alan Heeger.

Early life and education

Shirakawa with Yoshirō Mori (at the Prime Minister's Official Residence on October 18, 2000)

Hideki Shirakawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, on August 20, 1936, the second son of a military doctor. He was the third of five children.[1][2] Olympic marathoner champion Naoko Takahashi is his second cousin-niece.[3][clarification needed] He lived in Manchukuo and Taiwan during childhood. Around third grade, he moved to Takayama, Gifu, which is the hometown of his mother.

Shirakawa graduated from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1961, and his doctorate in 1966. Afterward, he obtained the post of assistant in the Chemical Resources Laboratory at Tokyo Tech.

Career

Emperor Akihito conferred the Order of Culture on Shirakawa (at the Imperial Palace on November 3, 2000)

While employed as an assistant at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) in Japan, Shirakawa developed polyacetylene, which has a metallic appearance. This result[clarification needed] interested Alan MacDiarmid when MacDiarmid visited Tokyo Tech in 1975.

In 1976, he was invited to work in the laboratory of Alan MacDiarmid as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. The two developed the electrical conductivity of polyacetylene along with American physicist Alan Heeger.[4][5]

In 1977 they discovered that doping with iodine vapor could enhance the conductivity of polyacetylene. The three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000 in recognition of the discovery. With regard to the mechanism of electric conduction, it is strongly believed that nonlinear excitations in the form of solitons play a role.

In 1979, Shirakawa became an assistant professor in the University of Tsukuba; three years later, he advanced to a full professor. In 1991 he was appointed chief of the Science and Engineering Department of Tsukuba's Graduate School (until March 1993), and chief of Tsukuba's Category #3 group (until March 1997).

Death

On August 24, 2026, Shirakawa died at a hospital in Yokohama, Japan, at the age of 90.[6]

Research

According the University of Tsukuba's web page on Shirakawa,[7] his research on conductive polymers can be broken down into four main categories: polyacetylene thin film synthesis, the causation of metallic conductivity due to chemical doping, the creation of conjugated (double or triple bonds in a molecule which are separated by a single bond) liquid crystalline polymers, and acetylene polymerization development that used liquid crystals as solvents.

  1. Polyacetylene Synthesis: Polyacetylene was expected to have certain properties, with insolubility making the substance difficult to work with. Dr. Shirakawa found that polyacetylene thin films can be synthesized, and with the thin films, the doctor clarified the molecular and solidified structures of polyacetylene.
  2. Creation of Metallic Conductivity: Dr. Shirakawa found that, when a trace of a halogen such as bromine or iodine is added to thin film polyacetylene, its electric conductivity increases, and it exhibits metallic conductivity. Shirakawa found that partial electron transfer between dopants and p-electrons of polyacetylene can generate metallic conductivity.
  3. Using Liquid Crystals to Develop Acetylene Polymerization: Dr. Shirakawa developed a method for the production of highly conductive polyacetylene thin films which paralleled the polymerization of acetylene. Furthermore, he succeeded in the synthesis of thin films of helical polyacetylene whose chirality is controllable.
    1. 'Chirality:[8][circular reference] a property of asymmetry, meaning a molecule is distinguishable from its mirror image; that is, it cannot be superimposed onto it
  4. Creation of Conjugated Liquid Crystalline Polymers: Dr. Shirakawa created self-oriented, conjugated liquid crystalline polymers by introducing liquid crystalline groups into the side chains of p-conjugated polymers such as polyacetylene. He also macroscopically oriented the polymers with electric or magnetic fields and succeeded in having the molecules electric anisotropy.

The general definition of electrical anisotropy describes the variation of an electrical property depending on the lateral or vertical direction (x,y,z) in which a current flows.[9]

Recognition

The Nobel Prize

Shirakawa was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with UPenn's physics professor Alan J. Heeger and chemistry professor Alan G. MacDiarmid, "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers".[12] He also became the first Japanese Nobel laureate who did not graduate from one of the National Seven Universities and the second Japanese chemistry Nobel laureate.

Over the years, Shirakawa has expressed that he did not want the Nobel Prizes to receive too much special treatment from mass media (especially the Japanese media). He hoped that many vital areas in fields outside the Nobel Prize categories will also become more widely known.[13]

Relatives

One of his relatives, Hitomi Yoshizawa, is a member of the singing group Morning Musume Morning Girls. He is also related to Naoko Takahashi, the women's marathon gold medalist of the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Public issues

On 6 December 2013, the House of Councillors (Japan) approved the bill of the State Secrecy Law. Shirakawa and physics Nobel laureate Toshihide Maskawa issued a statement saying that the law:

"threatens the pacifist principles and fundamental human rights established by the constitution and should be rejected immediately...(omitted)...Even in difficult times, protecting the freedom of the press, of thought and expression and of academic research is indispensable."[14]

See also

Notes

  1.  Shirakawa, Hideki; 白川英樹 (2001). Kagaku ni miserarete. Iwanami Shoten. p. 156. ISBN 4-00-430709-0. OCLC 47173441.
  2.  McClain, Dylan Loeb (September 4, 2026). "Hideki Shirakawa, Who Helped Turn a Lab Error Into a Nobel, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2026.
  3.  "Chubu Honsha-ban". Asahi Shimbun. October 12, 2000. p. 20.
  4.  Shirakawa, Hideki; Louis, Edwin J.; MacDiarmid, Alan G.; Chiang, Chwan K.; Heeger, Alan J. (1977). "Synthesis of electrically conducting organic polymers: Halogen derivatives of polyacetylene, (CH) x". Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications (16): 578. doi:10.1039/C39770000578. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017.
  5.  "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000: Alan Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa".
  6.  "Japanese Nobel Laureate Hideki Shirakawa Dies at 90; Won Chemistry Prize in 2000 for Work on Conductive Polymers (UPDATE 1)". The Japan News. September 3, 2026. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
  7.  "Dr. SHIRAKAWA Hideki – University of Tsukuba". www.tsukuba.ac.jp. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  8.  "Chirality", Wikipedia, November 25, 2022, retrieved December 9, 2022
  9.  "SURAGUS Everything about electrical anisotropy measurement". www.suragus.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  10.  会員個人情報 | 日本学士院
  11.  "Nobel Laureate Hideki Shirakawa Appointed as an Honorary Professor-Archives-Zhejiang University".
  12.  The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000
  13.  "Shirakawa unhappy with way Japanese media reports Nobel issues | The Japan Times". Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  14.  Updated: Over Scientists' Objections, Japan Adopts State Secrets Law | Science | AAAS

References

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Hideki Shirakawa, Who Helped Turn a Lab Error Into a Nobel, Dies at 90 - The New York Times

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