Japanese scientist Hideki Shirakawa, co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died at 90. Shirakawa, along with American scientists Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid, discovered that plastic could conduct electricity like metal. This breakthrough led to applications in electronics, such as solar cells and mobile phone screens. The University of Tsukuba, where Shirakawa taught and researched, announced his death on Aug. 24. Japan’s largest newspaper, the Yomiuri, reported he died at a hospital in Yokohama. Shirakawa was born in Tokyo in 1936, and earned his doctoral degree in engineering in 1966.
Japanese scientist Shirakawa, co-winner of 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry, dies at 90
Japanese scientist Hideki Shirakawa, co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died at 90. Shirakawa, along with American scientists Alan Heeger and Alan MacDiarmid, discovered that plastic could conduct electricity like metal. This breakthrough led to applications in electronics, such as solar cells and mobile phone screens. The University of Tsukuba, where Shirakawa […]


