Magnetic-field–induced alignment of weakly magnetic materials has emerged as a powerful, non-contact strategy for controlling crystallographic and hierarchical structures in materials science. This session will highlight recent advances in the alignment of various diamagnetic and paramagnetic systems—including superconducting materials, polymer crystals, organic–inorganic hybrids, and biomolecular assemblies—and explore how magnetic orientation can be used to develop new functionalities or enhance existing ones. Orientation driven by magnetic anisotropy enables directional ordering of crystallites, mesoscale structural control, and orientation fixation during solidification, leading directly to improved electrical, thermal, optical, and mechanical performance. Notably, magnetic alignment has contributed to increased critical current density in superconductors, anisotropy engineering in electronic and photonic materials, and deeper understanding of hierarchical structure formation in biopolymers. This session aims to provide a comprehensive platform covering fundamentals, processing methodologies, and device-level applications of magnetic alignment as a transformative tool in materials science.

 

Submission System: https://www.zmeeting.org/submission/iceim2026

 

T. Kimura is a Specially Appointed Professor at KUAS and Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University, specializing in Magneto-science. His research focuses on, diamagnetic anisotropy, magnetic-field alignment, polymer crystallization, microcrystal orientation, etc. He has extensive expertise in the development of magnetic alignment techniques for weakly magnetic materials, including polymers, organic crystals, biobased materials, and superconducting systems.
He has published numerous papers on magnetic-field alignment, structure–property relationships, and crystallographic analysis. Representative publications include: [1–3]. He has also contributed to international conferences and collaborative research projects on functional materials and external-field processing. His experience and research leadership make him well suited to serve as an organizer of this session on magnetic alignment in materials chemistry.

 

Shigeru Horii is currently a Professor and the Department Head in the Faculty of Engineering at the Kyoto University of Advanced Science (KUAS), Kyoto, Japan. He obtained Dr. Eng. from the Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, in 1999. He worked at Institute of Solid State Physics and Department of Superconductivity of the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, as a post-doctoral fellow of JSPS from 1999 until 2000. He joined Department of Superconductivity and Department of Applied Chemistry of the University of Tokyo as an Assistant Professor from 2000 until 2009, then worked at the Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, as an Associate Professor from 2009 until 2013. He worked at Graduate School of Energy Science of the Kyoto University, Kyoto, as an Associate Professor from 2013 until 2019. He joined the Faculty of Engineering of KUAS in 2019 and is focusing on triaxial magnetic alignment in layered functional materials and design of magnet arrays for the generation of modulated rotating magnetic fields as research topics.