Tag: Applied sciences and engineering

BIM-based Digital Collaboration Platform, Initiating Construction Digitalization

[ad_1]

Newswise — A Korean research team has developed a BIM-based digital collaboration platform that allows construction owners and engineers to collaborate with each other on digital design tasks.

The importance of digital transformation has been increasingly recognized worldwide. Digital transformation refers to the process of leveraging digital technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and big data, to innovate conventional operating systems. The Korean government is actively working toward achieving digital transformation in the construction industry by 2030, with a primary focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM), fundamentally changing the ways construction tasks are performed and information management systems work.

From a conventional perspective, collaboration in the construction sector is often seen as merely sharing an integrated workspace. However, this approach comes with drawbacks associated with space rents, difficulties in properly managing collaborative information, and ambiguity in defining roles and responsibilities. These problems can be addressed by establishing an integrated digital work environment for collaboration.

Against this backdrop, the BIM Cluster Research Team (led by Dr. Hyounseok Moon) of the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim Byung-suk), developed a cloud-based BIM collaboration platform aimed at digitalization of collaboration in order management and design tasks for the first time in Korea. The developed technology thoroughly complies with the Common Data Environment (CDE) system for BIM information management proposed by the international standard ISO 19650. It also integrates BIM order placement and design collaboration processes into an online environment.

The developed platform streamlines conventional order placement and design collaboration processes, reducing the time required by more than 30%. This platform integrates more than 20 BIM files to concurrently visualize, review, approve, submit, and manage them. Another key advantage is that it allows for real-time collaboration, regardless of when or where you are, through a digitalized construction work environment, eliminating the need for printed documents.

The research team established an online environment for digital collaboration while developing its own cloud environment to ensure data security across public facilities. For services using overseas public clouds, in particular, it is possible to build a platform that complies with a customized cloud environment while ensuring data security.

Predefined unit functions for collaboration are made available as open sources through a collaboration tool development framework. These features allow anyone to develop the online collaboration tools they want, adding scalability to this approach. Additionally, the research team has implemented an integrated web-based visualization viewer, specifically designed to visualize various BIM data for review on a single screen, including various meetings; issue management; schedule management; BIM data review, approval, and management; BIM models; documents; drawings; and images. This viewer facilitates online collaboration among relevant stakeholders, enabling them to work together seamlessly.

The researchers have recently developed an online collaboration web service in the form of software as a service (SaaS). This open-source-based integrated viewer allows various documents, drawings, and models to be visualized and displayed on a single screen. All these functions empower multiple team members to collaboratively review BIM models and efficiently record and address relevant issues in real time. Furthermore, when linked to commercial software packages and platforms (Autodesk, Bentley, etc.), this system also facilitates the seamless exchange and sharing of any BIM data created by engineers, demonstrating exceptional versatility and interoperability.

The developed platform can be an attractive, cost-effective option for countries, including Korea, aiming to establish their own BIM collaboration platforms that meet international standards.

Dr. Hyounseok Moon, who led the project, said, “There will certainly be a transition from traditional work processes reliant on written documents, offline interactions, and manual labor to BIM-based digital collaboration processes. The platform developed by KICT will significantly contribute to this digital transformation across the construction industry.”

###

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life.

This research was funded by the “Development of BIM-based Digital Collaboration Platform supporting Order and Design Process for the Infrastructure Projects(2022-2024, jointly conducted by Basissoft, Saman, NHNInjeINC, SangSangJinHwa, Korea Express Corporation)”project implemented by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement) as a research project for promoting road construction and traffic technology.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

November 26, 2023
KERI’s thermoelectric technology, key to space probes, attracting German attention

[ad_1]

Newswise — Drs. SuDong Park, Byungki Ryu, and Jaywan Chung of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) developed a new thermoelectric efficiency formalism and a high-efficiency multistage thermoelectric power generator module. This innovation can boost nuclear battery performance, crucial for space probes, and has attracted attention from the German Aerospace Research Institute.

A Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), known as a thermoelectric-based nuclear battery, is a dependable power source that has been used in space probes, rovers, and other remote operations. In an RTG, radioisotopes like plutonium-238 and americium-241 decay within a sealed vessel, producing substantial heat—typically ranging from 400-700 degrees Celsius. The RTG captures this heat and directly converts the thermal energy to electrical energy in the cold environment of space.

The core components of RTG technology are the “Radioisotope Heat Unit (RHU)”, which harnesses radioactive isotopes as a heating element, and the “thermoelectric power generator module” that converts this heat into electricity. While the development of the RHU is constrained by international restrictions, South Korea’s thermoelectric module fabrication technology is considered to be globally competitive.

In RTGs, thermoelectric power modules are designed with a layered arrangement of thermoelectric materials, transitioning from the hot to the cold sides, each optimized for peak performance within specific temperature ranges. This multistage design is crucial given the inherent temperature dependence of thermoelectric material efficiency. Strategically positioning the top-performing materials based on temperature distribution is essential. KERI’s landmark accomplishment is their world-class design, synthesis, and analysis of this highly effective layered thermoelectric module.

Initially, the research team identified the shortcomings and constraints of the ‘dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT)’, a traditional metric conventionally used in academia to evaluate thermoelectric performance. They then successfully formulated a new thermoelectric efficiency formalism and equations that allow for precise efficiency predictions. Leveraging this formalism and the thermoelectric data held by KERI, they can predict the performance of thermoelectric power generator modules across more than 100 million potential thermoelectric semiconductor stack combinations. By utilizing the thermoelectric device design program, pykeri, this design and search process has been expedited by several hundred times compared to previous methods. This innovation marks a substantial leap forward from earlier approaches that depended on single-stage thermoelectric materials and the traditional metric.

The KERI research team successfully fabricated multistage thermoelectric modules, achieving an efficiency that surpasses traditional single-stage modules by over 3% when the hot side exceeds 500 degrees Celsius.

Additionally, their innovative fabrication method permits these modules to be comprised of two to four layers, all fitting compactly within a height of just a few millimeters. This advancement not only ensures heightened efficiency but also offers superior compactness and a lightweight design compared to previous methods. Such an internationally competitive milestone stands out prominently in the space auxiliary power market—particularly for small satellites and exploration rovers—garnering significant attention in the civilian commercial sector.

SuDong Park of KERI remarked, “We are the first institute in Korea to conduct thermoelectric power generation research and have a long history and abundant source technology and practical data.” He further added, “This achievement is the culmination of convergence research that incorporates mathematics and physics into materials science.”

“The module technology developed at KERI is excellent when compared internationally” said Pawel Ziolkowski, Deputy Head of a group of Thermoelectric Functional Materials and Systems, at the German Aerospace Center, adding that “The achieved level of technological maturity provides the best conditions for the development of new RTG-based energy systems for space exploration. This makes a significant contribution to an expanding scope of human space exploration.”

The research team believes that this achievement has applications not only in the aerospace and defense sectors that utilize nuclear energy but also in various industries such as industrial waste heat recovery, cooling of communication equipment and optical devices and temperature control of electric vehicle batteries, and plans to strengthen cooperation with related organizations and companies.

Meanwhile, KERI is a government-funded research institute under the National Research Council of Science & Technology of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

October 24, 2023
A cheaper, safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries: aqueous rechargeable batteries

[ad_1]

Newswise — This summer, the planet is suffering from unprecedented heat waves and heavy rainfalls. Developing renewable energy and expanding associated infrastructure has become an essential survival strategy to ensure the sustainability of the planet in crisis, but it has obvious limitations due to the volatility of electricity production, which relies on uncertain variables like labile weather conditions. For this reason, the demand for energy storage systems (ESS) that can store and supply electricity as needed is ever-increasing, but lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) currently employed in ESS are not only highly expensive, but also prone to potential fire, so there is an urgent need to develop cheaper and safer alternatives.

A research team led by Dr. Oh, Si Hyoung of the Energy Storage Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has developed a highly safe aqueous rechargeable battery that can offer a timely substitute that meets the cost and safety needs. Despite of lower energy density achievable, aqueous rechargeable batteries have a significant economic advantage as the cost of raw materials is much lower than LIBs. However, inveterate hydrogen gas generated from parasitic water decomposition causes a gradual rise in internal pressure and eventual depletion of the electrolyte, which poses a sizeable threat on the battery safety, making commercialization difficult.

Until now, researchers have often tried to evade this issue by installing a surface protection layer that minimizes the contact area between the metal anode and the electrolyte. However, the corrosion of the metal anode and accompanying decomposition of water in the electrolyte is inevitable in most cases, and incessant accumulation of hydrogen gas can cause a potential detonation in long-term operation.

To cope with this critical issue, the research team has developed a composite catalyst consisting of manganese dioxide and palladium, which is capable of automatically converting hydrogen gas generated inside the cell into water, ensuring both the performance and safety of the cell. Manganese dioxide does not react with hydrogen gas under normal circumstances, but when a small amount of palladium is added, hydrogen is readily absorbed by the catalysts, being regenerated into water. In the prototype cell loaded with the newly developed catalysts, the internal pressure of the cell was maintained well below the safety limit, and no electrolyte depletion was observed.

The results of this research effectively solves one of the most concerning safety issues in the aqueous batteries, making a major stride towards commercial application to ESS in the future. Replacing LIBs by cheaper and safer aqueous batteries can even trigger a rapid growth of global market for ESS.

“This technology pertains to a customized safety strategy for aqueous rechargeable batteries, based on the built-in active safety mechanism, through which risk factors are automatically controlled.” said Dr. Oh, Si Hyoung of KIST. “Moreover, it can be applied to various industrial facilities where hydrogen gas leakage is one of major safety concerns (for instance, hydrogen gas station, nuclear power plant etc) to protect public safety.”

###

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho) through the Nano Future Material Source Technology Development Project and the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project, and the results were published on August 1 in the international journal Energy Storage Materials (IF 20.4).

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

October 12, 2023
KERI, Transfer of ‘Ion Implantation Evaluation Technology for the SiC Power Semiconductor’ to Hungary

[ad_1]

Newswise — KERI succeeded in transferring the ‘Ion Implantation and its Evaluation Technology for the SiC (silicon carbide) Power Semiconductor’ to a Hungarian company.

Power semiconductors are key components in electricity and electronics, acting as the muscles of the human body by regulating the direction of current and controlling power conversion. There are many different materials for power semiconductors. Among them, SiC is receiving the most attention due to its excellent material properties, including high durability and excellent power efficiency. When SiC power semiconductors are incorporated into electric vehicles, they cut down the power consumption of the battery and reduce the body weight and volume of the vehicle, resulting in energy efficiency improvements of up to 10%

While SiC power semiconductors have many advantages, the manufacturing process is also very challenging. Previously, a method was applied to create a device by forming an epi layer (single-crystal semiconductor thin-film) on a highly conductive wafer and flowing current through that area. However, during this process, the surface of the epi layer becomes rough and the speed of electron transfer decreases. The price of the epi wafer itself is also high, which is a major obstacle to mass production.

To solve this problem, KERI used a method of implanting ions into a semi-insulated SiC wafer without an epi layer. Ion implantation, which makes a wafer conductive, is the work that breathes life into a semiconductor.

SiC materials are hard and require very high energy ion implantation followed by high temperature heat treatment to activate the ions, making it a difficult technology to implement. However, KERI has succeeded in securing the relevant technologies based on its 10 years of experience in operating ion implantation equipment dedicated to SiC.

“Ion implantation technology can significantly reduce process costs by increasing current flow in semiconductor devices and replacing expensive epi wafers,” said Dr. Kim, Hyoung Woo, Director, Advanced Semiconductor Research Center, KERI. He continued, “This is a technology that increases the price competitiveness of high-performance SiC power semiconductors and contributes greatly to mass production.”

This technology was recently transferred to ‘SEMILAB ZRT (CEO: Tibor Pavelka)’, a semiconductor metrology equipment company located in Budapest, Hungary. With a 30-year history, SEMILAB has manufacturing plants in Hungary and the United States. SEMILAB owns patents for medium-sized precision measurement equipment and material characterization equipment, and has the world’s leading technology in semiconductor electrical parameter evaluation system.

They predict that through this technology transfer, they will be able to standardize high-quality SiC. SEMILAB plans to use KERI technology to develop specialized equipment to evaluate the ion implantation process of SiC power semiconductor. Park Su-yong, the president of SEMILAB Korea, said, “Through the development of specialized equipment, we will be able to progress in-line monitoring of implant processes on SiC wafers for immediate, accurate, and low-cost production control of implant systems and in-line monitoring for pre-anneal implant.” He added, “This will be a great foundation for stably securing a high-quality ion implantation mass production process with excellent uniformity and reproducibility.”

The KERI(Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute) is a government-funded research institute under the NST(National Research Council of Science & Technology) of the Ministry of Science and ICT. It has a total of more than 120 intellectual property rights in the field of power semiconductor research. As of the last 10 years, power semiconductor division of KERI has achieved more than KRW 3 billion in technology transfers, the highest level in South Korea.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

September 7, 2023
Easier and faster materials microstructure analysis through human-AI collaboration!

[ad_1]

Newswise — The research team led by Dr. Se-Jong Kim and Dr. Juwon Na of the Materials Data Management Center in the Materials Digital Platform Division together with the research team led by Professor Seungchul Lee of POSTECH has developed a technology that can automatically identify and quantify materials microstructure from microscopic images through human-in-the-loop machine learning. KIMS is a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Microscopic imaging systems visualize material structure information at multiple levels, from the nanoscale to the mesoscale. Quantitative analysis of microstructure is the process of extracting structural statistics from microscopic images. However, due to the complexity and diversity of microstructure, there have been many limitations for humans or AI to perform this alone.

By effectively integrating human and AI capabilities, the research team has developed an integrated framework for quantitative microstructure analysis. This technology enables the AI to perform microstructure segmentation using only a single microstructure image and its corresponding scribble annotation by domain experts. In addition, the AI interacts with humans by actively requesting scribble annotation from experts in order to bring additional improvements in both the model’s performance and reliability. Through extensive experiments, the research team confirmed that the framework of human-AI collaboration is universal and can be applied to a wide range of materials, microstructures, and microscopic imaging systems.

While previous research has required the collection of large amounts of dense annotation, this study has greatly reduced annotation costs by replacing dense annotation with scribble annotation that can be easily drawn using a pen or mouse. This technology will be incorporated into the Automated Microstructure Quantitative Analysis System (TIMs) being developed by KIMS. This will make it easy for general researchers to use.

Dr. Juwon Na, a senior researcher at KIMS, said, “This study is the result of improving the existing subjective and time-consuming quantitative analysis of microstructure into an objective and automated process,” and Professor Seungchul Lee of POSTECH, added:“Our framework that interacts with experts is expected to be widely used as a core analysis technology in industry and research, and through this, we expect to dramatically reduce the cost and time of new materials research and development and further significantly improve reliability.”

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the basic project of the Korea Institute of Materials Science, the mid-career researcher support project of the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the Alchemist project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The research results were published on 15 August in Acta Materialia (first author: Dr. Juwon Na), the most authoritative journal in the field of metallic materials.

————————————————————————-

###

About Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS)

KIMS is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea. As the only institute specializing in comprehensive materials technologies in Korea, KIMS has contributed to Korean industry by carrying out a wide range of activities related to materials science including R&D, inspection, testing&evaluation, and technology support.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

September 5, 2023
Newly Developed BIM-based Digital Design Workflow for Road Safety Improvement

[ad_1]

Newswise — The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, led by President Kim Byung-suk) developed a digital model designed to identify dangerous roads where traffic accidents frequently occur while further finding optimal measures to improve the safety of such roads, thereby minimizing the risk of traffic accidents.

The Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, jointly with the country’s local government agencies, has been implementing a project titled the “Alignment Improvement Project for Dangerous National and Provincial Roads”to prevent traffic accidents. This project aims to identify roads with a high risk of major traffic accidents and improve structural hazards found on them, preventing future traffic accidents and enhancing their functionalities as well. Under this project, dangerous roads are selected based on a combination of various factors, including their geometry, e.g., how the roads curve and slope, the number of traffic accidents, the amount of traffic, regional characteristics, and investment expenditures. Among them, however, geometry is the most significant factor in the scoring system. Simply put, the geometric structure of roads, which determines their overall shape, is considered among the major causes of traffic accidents.

The existing procedure for a feasibility study for the safety improvement of dangerous roads is composed of sequential steps, including traffic accident analysis, dangerous road identification, and improvement measure establishment. Each step is conducted according to the corresponding manual and also in a fragmented manner. Among the steps of this feasibility study, formulating and designing a route plan for a single dangerous road costs about $30,700(40 million Korean won) and takes a period of more than one and a half months.

Against this backdrop, a research team led by Dr. Hyounseok Moon at KICT’s BIM Research Cluster developed a digital design model to create an optimized linear road model capable of identifying dangerous roads and minimizing the risk of traffic accidents on them. The developed digital design model employs big data to ensure that dangerous roads are identified and selected in an objective manner, unlike the existing method in which the selection process is conducted in a fragmented manner. Furthermore, this model is capable of creating an optimal digital road model that effectively addresses geometric safety issues found in the selected roads and minimizes the risk of traffic accidents on them.

The developed digital optimization model for dangerous roads was employed to conduct a feasibility study on a single road. Priority determination based on traffic analysis and assessments, followed by the formulation and design of alternative linear routes, all cost about $23,000(30 million Korean won) and took a period of two to three weeks at the minimum. This means that the developed digital design optimization model for dangerous roads reduces the required cost and period by 30-35% on average.

This research outcome was achieved as follows. First, the Traffic Accident Analysis System (TAAS), a traffic accident big data system provided by KoROAD, was analyzed to identify and select dangerous roads, thereby determining the relationship between geometric factors and the occurrence of traffic accidents. In doing so, a total of 37,128 traffic accidents (especially fatal ones) that occurred on the country’s national and provincial roads from 2012 to 2020 were analyzed. Among them, 1,138 cases (accounting for 3%) were then selected, which satisfied specific conditions, for example, accidents that occurred on curved roads or inclined roads. From the ones selected above, 77 cases were further selected in which two or more traffic accidents occurred. These 77 traffic accident cases were considered to have occurred on dangerous roads, and an in-depth examination based on topographic-map and road-view analyses was further conducted on four cases among them.

The digital model developed by KICT was designed to quickly and easily provide multiple optimal alternatives to the selected road design in the form of a 3D model simply by inputting conditions and entering values for variables. In addition, it can also compare these alternatives in terms of the risk of traffic accidents and the volume of earthwork required, immediately determining whether each of these alternatives satisfies the design requirements. This process allows policymakers to determine which alternative will be the best solution to minimize the risk of traffic accidents.

The distinctive advantage of the developed technology is that it integrates the entire process of decision-making, from the identification of dangerous roads to the generation of optimal alternatives using a digital model; that is, maximizing the efficiency of the process via digital transition.

Dr. Hyounseok Moon said, “This technology developed by KICT can be applied not only to road alignment improvement projects but also to the rapid, digital design of new, safe roads, and it will be widely used as one of the key technologies by combining various ICT solutions, including big data and AI, thereby ushering into the era of digital transformation in the construction industry.”

###

This research was funded by the “Creation of Intelligent Technology-based Alignment Improvement Model for Dangerous Roads and Development of Key Technology for Geometric Verification (2021-2022, jointly conducted by Seoyoung Engineering”project implemented by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement) as a research project for promoting road construction and traffic technology.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

July 27, 2023
‘Super premium’ industrial motor that benefits both business and the environment

[ad_1]

Newswise — After its successful development of industrial electric motors (three-phase induction motors) with super-premium class efficiency (IE4) for the first time in Korea, the Electric Machine and Drive Research Center of Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI) has established an “open platform” that enables SMEs to utilize related technologies.

Industrial motors are the machines that consume the most considerable amount of electricity in the world. Industrial motors account for more than 50% of total electricity consumption in Korea. In 2018, KERI published a report¹⁾ finding that increasing the efficiency of electric motors by just 3% would replace building 108 1GW nuclear power plants and save about KRW 34 trillion in value.
^{1) ‘Special Report on the Development of High-Efficiency Electric Motors Worldwide’ published by the working group A1.47 responsible for rotating generators and electric motors at the world’s largest power industry technical organization (CIGRE). KERI’s Dr. Dohyun Kang chaired the working group and led the publication.}

Industrial motors’ efficiency improvement is one of the most effective ways to save energy and reduce GHG emissions. Many countries are implementing policies to phase out low-efficiency motors, requiring more efficient ones and investing significant budgets in their development.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) categorizes electric motors according to international efficiency standards as standard effieicncy (IE1), high efficiency (IE2), premium (IE3), super premium (IE4), and ultra-premium (IE5). Korea has been taking action to mandate the production and sale of only IE3 motors in the industrial sector since 2018. However, some developed countries started regulations to promote IE4 class getting ahead of others.

KERI’s achievement is developing the core source technology to increase the capacity of motors with a total of 15kW or less, accounting for 80% of domestic industrial motors, to IE4 level. Even IE3-class motors boast high efficiency as labeled as premium. To develop motors with higher efficiency than that, KERI’s research team has developed IE4 class motors after years of research and development, which are 1-2 percentage points higher in efficiency than IE3 class motors and reduce energy loss by 20%.

However, not only efficiency improvement but cost reduction of material is also essential for developing IE4 class motors. While achieving high efficiency with expensive materials is easy, KERI focused on securing market competitiveness for domestic SMEs. To this end, KERI partnered with top research institutes in each field: the Korea Electronics Technology Institute for electric motors, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology for production and manufacturing, and the Korea Institute of Materials Science for materials technology. KERI and partners’ expertise has brought about a synergy effect to achieve high efficiency and price reduction.

The research team has established a web-based open platform (URL: iexdesign.com) to expand and apply IE4-class motors to industrial sites. Companies need a lot of R&D investment, experts’ design skills, and expensive commercial import softwares to produce high-efficiency motors well. It has been a big huddle for small and medium-sized enterprises. Against this backdrop, KERI was able to provide an open platform at a lower cost by utilizing the design and open source-based analysis programs developed in partnership with the Korea Electronics Technology Institute and an engineering software company, Clew. During the project period (2019-2022), participating companies have shown excellent results, with increased annual sales of electric motors by more than 20% on average. It raises many expectations regarding the impact of the technology.

“An open platform to provide electric motor design, material utilization, and production process database will significantly lower the barriers for domestic companies to access IE4 industrial high-efficiency motor technology,” said Dr. Pilwan Han of KERI. “Policy support and promotion are also needed to help domestic companies in need actively adopt IE4 high-efficiency motors to respond to the energy crisis.”

The global industrial motor market is estimated at USD 68 billion in 2023. The domestic market is expected to reach USD 2 billion, with an annual growth rate of 7.9%. Korea is expected to implement IE4 class motor regulations by 2026 to achieve carbon neutrality, and many motor companies are expected to grow during this period.

With its publishment of 11 SCI(E) papers and application for 11 patents related to the technology, KERI aims to meet the demands of the times by developing IE4-class motors for medium and large capacities between 15kW and 200kW and developing variable-speed and non-rare-earth permanent magnet motors for IE5-class.

This research was conducted under the project ‘A Construction and Operation of Open Platform for Next-Generation Super Premium Efficiency (IE4) Motors’ (May 2019 ~ Dec 2022). This project was supported through the ‘Energy Demand Side Management Program’ organized by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Based on the support of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, KERI has been carrying out research to secure high-efficiency motor technology for SMEs, such as ‘Premium-class high-efficiency induction motors’, ‘High-efficiency induction motors under the minimum efficiency regulation,’ and ‘Inverter-driven super-premium (IE4) synchronous reluctance motors.’

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

July 20, 2023
Developing NMR method for drug structure elucidation

[ad_1]

Newswise — In the late 1950s and 1960s, more than 12,000 malformed babies with short arms and legs were born as a side effect of thalidomide, a drug sold to pregnant women to prevent morning sickness. The tragedy was caused by the drug’s side effect, which exists in a racemic mixture of two mirror-image forms. Research to determine the molecular structure of various compounds is essential for understanding biological phenomena and developing drugs to treat diseases and is mainly based on the interpretation of frequency signals measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).

Drs. Jinwook Cha and Jinsoo Park of the Natural Product Informatics Research Center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that they have developed the first NMR method (Ultraselective Heteronuclear Polarization Transfer Method, or UHPT) that can selectively measure the information of carbon atom nuclei linked to specific hydrogen in a single measurement.

Even with existing ultra-high field NMR equipment costing 10 billion won, only selective NMR signal measurement of specific hydrogen nuclei was possible. Still, rapid measurement of carbon nuclei signals was not possible, making it difficult to secure a satisfactory level of specific hydrogen-carbon NMR signal resolution. In addition, there were limitations in identifying the chemical structure of pharmaceutical raw materials and drugs of toxicity concern.

With the UHPT method, the researchers were able to distinguish the carbon associated with a specific hydrogen atom nucleus in a single measurement among complex carbon-carbon NMR signals, with a signal resolution of several hertz (Hz). The method enabled them to clearly analyze the structure of natural products with complex molecular structures, such as the anticancer drug dactinomycin, which is composed of optical isomers of amino acids. It also enabled the accurate assignment of the fungicide iprovicarb, a mixture of diastereoisomers.

The UHPT method is fast, accurate, and economical compared to conventional methods. When applied to NMR equipment owned by universities and companies, it has been confirmed that equivalent NMR signal resolution can be achieved in about one-fifth the measurement time of ultra-high field NMR equipment.

“The new NMR method can be used as a standard analysis technique for identifying and standardizing the active ingredients of new materials in the natural product bio industry,” said Dr. Jin-Wook Cha of KIST. “It is expected to contribute to the development of the natural product bio industry by solving the challenges of the drug development process by using it to identify the structure of partial particulate matter, which plays a crucial role in determining the efficacy and safety of drugs.”

###

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

The research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho) through the KIST Major Project and was published on June 2 as the cover article in the latest issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition (IF 16.82), an academic journal in the field of chemistry.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

July 18, 2023
Developing new materials to accelerate the arrival of ‘air taxis’

[ad_1]

Newswise — In order for future mobility, such as urban air mobility (UAM), to become a reality, it must be fuel efficient and reduce carbon emissions, which requires the development of new materials with excellent physical properties and recyclability. Self-reinforced composites (SRCs) are inexpensive, lightweight, and have advantages in terms of disposal and recycling as the reinforcement and the base material are composed of the same material. For this reason, it is attracting attention as a next-generation composite material to replace carbon fiber-reinforced composites used in aircraft.

Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok Jin Yoon) announced that Dr. Jaewoo Kim of the Solutions to Electromagnetic Interference in Future-mobility(SEIF), together with Prof. Seonghoon Kim of Hanyang University and Prof. O-bong Yang of Jeonbuk National University has successfully developed a 100% SRC using only one type of polypropylene (PP) polymer.

Until now, in the manufacturing process of SRCs, chemically different components have been mixed in the reinforcement or matrix to improve fluidity and impregnation, resulting in poor physical properties and recyclability. The research team succeeded in controlling the melting point, fluidity, and impregnation by adjusting the chain structure of the polypropylene matrix through a four-axis extrusion process.

The developed SRCs achieved the highest level of mechanical properties, with adhesion strength, tensile strength, and impact resistance improved by 333%, 228%, and 2,700%, respectively, compared to previous studies. When applied as a frame material for a small drone, the material was 52% lighter than conventional carbon fiber reinforced composites and the flight time increased by 27%, confirming its potential for next-generation mobility applications.

Dr. Kim of KIST said, “The engineering process for 100% SRCs developed in this study can be immediately applied to industry, and we will continue to work with the joint research team and industries to secure the global competitiveness of magnetically reinforced composites.”

###

The research was funded by the National Research Council of Science & Technology(NST)’s Convergence Research Center Project (CRC22031-000) on “Development of Materials and Component Technologies for High Frequency/High Power Electromagnetic Wave Solutions to Secure Future Mobility Operation Reliability” (2016R1A6A1A03013422), the Korea Research Foundation’s Basic Research Project (2016R1A6A1A03013422), the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project (2021R1A2C11093839), and the Ministry of Education’s LINC 3.0. The results were published in the Chemical Engineering Journal (IF:16.744, top 2.448% in JCR), a world-class international journal in the field of chemical engineering.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

July 16, 2023
Joint research team from Korea and Germany seeks to enhance production efficiency of fuel cells with laser machining technology

[ad_1]

Newswise — Fuel cells used for vessels and airplanes are becoming increasingly lighter to improve efficiency, and this is leading to a decline in the thickness of bipolar plate. In this regard, a laser machining technology for thin bipolar plate, which can help to enhance the production efficiency and quality of fuel cells, has been developed through international R&D innovative collaboration project.

Through international joint research between Korea and Germany, the joint research team consisting of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang-jin Park, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, K-Lab (Representative Goo-cheol Kwon), a Korean small and medium-sized enterprise, and Germany’s Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and BBW Lasertechnik GmbH developed a new 2D on-the-fly* composite equipment by applying a scanner that allows for laser welding and cutting of materials for bipolar plates for fuel cells with thickness of 0.075mm.
^{*2D laser scanner-stage real-time cross-coupling control technology (2D on-the-fly): 2D on-the-fly is a laser machining technology whereby the stage continuously moves through an algorithm that generates the optimal route, and the scanner corrects position errors.}

Principal Researcher Su-jin Lee of KIMM Department of Industrial Laser Technology and the joint research team focused their attention on the demands from fuel cell manufacturers that require the welding of large-scale thin plates of various forms as well as high-quality cutting at the same time. The joint research team used the conventional technology where the stage and the scanner move simultaneously, and succeeded in developing a Top-Lamp* composite processing machine capable of welding and cutting large areas (400mm x 400mm or larger) in various forms by cross-coupling the cutting gas output nozzle to the stage.

*Top-Lamp: The name of the newly developed equipment, and it is also the name of the international joint project (Technology platform for advanced laser beam processes of metallic fuel cell plates).

Additionally, the research team developed and utilized the function of maintaining machining accuracy by automatically correcting the work area through the same axle of the scanner and the vision system of the external angle in real-time. Using this function, a technology that enables the correction of the center position of the diameter of the nozzle throat and irradiation of the laser beam within 3mm from the diameter of the nozzle during the process has been applied. The hybrid composite equipment developed as above, which can perform high-speed welding and nozzle cutting at the same time, has been installed at and is being operated by BBW Lasertechnik GmbH, a German partner institution.
^{*Irradiation: the act of exposing or directing laser beams onto a target material surface.}

With the conventional 2D on-the-fly technology, it has been difficult to precisely control the form of the material because of the change in speed caused by acceleration or deceleration at the time of turnaround (cornering) while the material is being processed. In addition, because it has also been difficult to make corrections to the machining process, it has been necessary to improve the quality thereof. Meanwhile, as it is not easy to attach cutting gas nozzles to conventional high-speed scanners, it has been necessary to use separate equipment for welding and cutting, which has led to increases in processing time and expense.

The newly developed technology helps to enhance machining quality by reducing cross-coupling errors through a more precise position correction by the vision system of the scanner. Additionally, the cutting gas nozzle can be attached separately to the scanner or another stage, improving cutting quality. Furthermore, the vision system corrects the center position for laser beam irradiation at the nozzle throat. This allows high-speed welding and partial cutting at the same time, which helps reducing costs and processing time.

Principal Researcher Su-jin Lee of KIMM was quoted as saying, “The German research team is also expecting that the latest technology, developed through international joint research, will be applicable to various sectors. The newly developed technology is meaningful in that it can respond to the demands from the fuel cell market for the improvement of machining quality as the thickness of bipolar plates for fuel cells becomes increasingly thinner.”

Meanwhile, this research was carried out with the support of the project for the “development of advanced laser machining technologies for the manufacture of fuel cells,” an international co-development project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In May 2022, KIMM signed an MoU with Germany’s Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, one of the institutions that participated in the research, for the expansion of international cooperation and sustainable networking and cooperation among researchers in major fields.

###

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Since its foundation in 1976, KIMM is contributing to economic growth of the nation by performing R&D on key technologies in machinery and materials, conducting reliability test evaluation, and commercializing the developed products and technologies.

This research was carried out with the support of the project for the “development of advanced laser machining technologies for the manufacture of fuel cells,” an international co-development project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

July 3, 2023
Large-scale (4-inch) plasma etching technology for mass production of next-generation two-dimensional semiconductors has been developed for the first time in the world

[ad_1]

Newswise — A large-scale (4-inch), highly uniform, and defect-free plasma etching technology, which will likely become the foundation of the industrial supply of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), a next-generation two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, has been developed.

The joint research team led by Hyeong-U Kim, Senior Researcher of the Department of Plasma Engineering at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang-jin Park, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and Professor Taesung Kim of Sungkyunkwan University (Chairman Ji-beom Yoo), announced that the team has succeeded in developing the “Large-scale (4-inch) atomic layer etching technology for MoS₂,a next-generation semiconductor, using plasma-based reactive ion etcher (RIE) equipment.”

This research, in which Senior Researcher Muyoung Kim and Post-doctoral Researcher Changmin Kim of KIMM participated as co-first authors, has been published as the cover article of the February 2023 edition of “Chemistry of Materials,”^* a renowned international academic journal.
^{*Title: First-Principles Calculation Guided High-Purity Layer Control of 4 in. MoS₂ by Plasma RIE}

As the line width of conventional silicon-based semiconductors decreases gradually, it is necessary to control the manufacturing process on an atomic level. However, it is difficult to elaborately process the single-atomic layer of silicon-based semiconductors because of the tunneling effect^* that occurs during the accumulation of atomic layers. Therefore, it has become a necessity to develop new materials for the advancement of future-generation semiconductors. Meanwhile, with MoS₂, it is possible to stably control the movement of electrons without any tunneling effect, even in a structure that has a thickness of 1 nanometer (nm). Hence, MoS₂ has been gaining attention as a promising new material capable of overcoming the limitations of silicon-based semiconductors.
^{*Tunneling effect: A phenomenon in which electrons penetrate a potential energy barrier due to the decline in the line width of silicon, which results in leakage current.}

However, although MoS₂ has better electric and physical properties compared with silicon even in terms of atomic layer thickness, the development of MoS₂-based semiconductors has remained at the basic research stage in laboratories because of the difficulty of forming MoS₂ uniformly in large scales for mass manufacturing. In particular, while it is necessary to form a layer that has the thickness of a single atom in order to achieve the precision of semiconductors, the possibility of commercialization of MoS₂ was not proven due to the lack of the technology for precisely etching MoS₂ into atomic layers. In this research, a process that enables the etching of large-scale (4-inch) MoS₂ to the desired atomic layer thickness using the two plasma processes of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and RIE has been developed for the first time in the world. As a result, the research has opened new horizons for the industrial utilization of MoS₂-based semiconductors.

Plasma etching process has gained huge attention as the most probable technology that could break the limits of conventional etching process. However, one of the major downsides of plasma etching is that impurities (fluorine, “F”) remain on the surface of the semiconductor after the process, and therefore, additional steps are necessary to remove such residues. For this reason, highly sophisticated design of plasma process was a long-standing desire to satisfy both atomic-level precision and ultrahigh purity in MoS₂ layers. In the latest study, the research team resolved such issues by adopting a computational screening system based on the density functional theory (DFT). Muyoung Kim, Ph.D., one of the co-first authors, proposed the state-of-the-art computational screening system that simulated surface reaction of candidate gases and combined the best gas mixture for ultrafine process quality. One crucial advancement of this approach is that the screening system greatly reduces the development time and cost of plasma process, compared to the conventional experiment-based manufacturing. In particular, he examined atomistic mechanism of surface reaction and identified the role of process gas on MoS₂ substrate, which rationalized the mixed-gas recipe (Ar + O₂ + CF₄).*
^{*It was identified that, in a manufacturing process where a gas mixture composed of Ar, O₂, and CF₄ is used, CF₄ functions as a chemical etchant, while O₂ prevents the adhesion of impurities and Ar physically removes the host atoms and adsorbates.}

Senior Researcher Hyeong-U Kim of KIMM who led the research said, “In recent days, future industries such as AI, GPT, IoT, self-driving, and cloud, etc. all fall under the category of non-memory sectors. Accordingly, even Samsung Electronics, the leader of the memory market, has also been focusing its investments on the foundry sector. The manufacturing process of semiconductor memories has focused on the mass production of limited items, while the foundry process seeks limited production of diverse items. Hence, processes capable of controlling delicate line widths have become increasingly important, especially in the foundry process.”

Kim added, “To overcome the limitations of integration, it is necessary to develop processes where even single-atomic layers are controllable, as demonstrated in our latest research. Hence, many studies have been conducted since around a decade ago. However, before our latest study, no researcher has been able to demonstrate the possibility of etching atomic layers uniformly and reproducibly in a large scale. Our research outcome is expected to help the next-generation 2D semiconductor industry in the non-memory sector to find a new breakthrough in the future.”

This research was supported by KIMM institutional program ‘Development of Core Technology for Semiconductor-Display Manufacturing Plasma Equipment’.

###

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Since its foundation in 1976, KIMM is contributing to economic growth of the nation by performing R&D on key technologies in machinery and materials, conducting reliability test evaluation, and commercializing the developed products and technologies.

This research was supported by KIMM institutional program ‘Development of Core Technology for Semiconductor-Display Manufacturing Plasma Equipment’.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

June 21, 2023
Optimized combination to enable low-cost mass production of solid electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries

[ad_1]

Newswise — Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI), a pioneering research institute for all-solid-state (sulfide-based) batteries that are free of fire and explosion hazards, has recently developed a novel technology that could pave the way for mass production of low-cost solid electrolytes.

The team led by Dr. Jun-ho Park at the KERI’s Next Generation Battery Research Center developed a “one-pot” synthesis method to produce high-purity solid electrolytes without the need to use expensive lithium sulfides and additives.

There are two methods for producing solid electrolytes: dry synthesis using high-energy ball milling, and wet synthesis using chemical reactions in solution. The team focused on wet synthesis, which has advantages in scale-up and mass production, and succeeded in producing high-purity solid electrolytes by optimizing the synthesis reaction in solvent.

The key advantage of this method is that it does not require expensive lithium sulfides (Li2S). Lithium sulfides are expensive. They account for up to 95% of the cost of starting materials for solid electrolyte production. In addition, lithium sulfides often remain as unreacted impurities during wet synthesis, leading to degraded cell performance. Some have proposed lithium sulfide-free synthesis methods, but these would require the addition of expensive additives and often produce residual impurities, resulting in unsatisfactory performance.

On the contrary, the one-pot synthesis method developed by KERI enables the production of high-quality solid electrolytes without lithium sulfides, additives or additional processes. Compared to the existing lithium sulfide-based process, the material cost is reduced to 1/25th and the accelerated production time would significantly contribute to the mass production of solid electrolytes.

“KERI’s years of experience in solid electrolyte production enabled us to find a fast and easy way to produce high-purity solid electrolytes through optimized chemical reaction combinations of starting materials in organic solvents,” said Dr. Park. “We are excited that this technology will help address the biggest challenges in commercializing all-solid-state batteries, namely price competitiveness and mass production issues.”

The KERI has filed a patent application for this original technology and published papers in local and international journals. Anticipating that this achievement will attract strong interest from companies developing all-solid-state batteries, the institute plans to seek opportunities for technology transfer.

###

KERI is a government-funded research institute under the National Research Council of Science & Technology of the Ministry of Science and ICT. This research was conducted as part of KERI’s fundamental project entitled ‘Development of Core Technology for Manufacturing Process for Commercialization of Non-Combustible Batteries’.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

June 18, 2023
KIMM takes the lead in supporting commercialization of environment-friendly hydrogen vessels

[ad_1]

Newswise — While climate change has made it an imperative to develop carbon neutral technologies, the infrastructure that can contribute to the development and commercialization of technologies related to environment-friendly vessels for the domestic shipbuilding sector has been established.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang-jin Park, hereinafter referred to as KIMM), an institute under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Science and ICT, through joint research with Korean Register (Representative Hyung-cheol Lee) and Pusan National University (President Jeong-in Cha), has established the infrastructure including the equipment necessary for evaluating the compatibility of materials for storing liquid hydrogen used for vessels, and has also proposed the evaluation process for the first time in the country.

To establish the infrastructure, the research team led by Jong-won Park, Head of the Department of Reliability Assessment of the KIMM’s Mechanical Systems Safety Research Division, and Yong-jin Kim, Senior Researcher, through joint research with KIMM’s Department of 3D Printing and Pusan National University, has procured the equipment for testing, evaluating, and analyzing ultra-low temperatures (minus 253 degrees Celsius) and hydrogen embrittlement*. In addition, the research team has also published a report on the selection of materials for storing liquid hydrogen used for vessels, in which it analyzed the safety standards for various sectors of hydrogen storage and methods for assessing the compatibility of materials.
^{*Hydrogen embrittlement: Reduction in the ductility of a metal due to absorption of hydrogen}

Storage systems for liquid hydrogen used for vessels must be capable of withstanding ultra-low temperatures and hydrogen embrittlement. As the system environment differs depending on the purposes of utilization and operation of the hydrogen to be stored, the type of materials that conform to the conditions of the environment also varies. Therefore, it is important to establish standards that reflect the dangerousness of ultra-low temperatures and the unique features of vessels.

However, not only domestically but also globally, there have been no safety regulations that correspond to various conditions such as ultra-low temperatures and the unique characteristics of vessels. As a result, companies have been facing challenges in making inroads into the market for environment-friendly vessels. Based on latest research, the newly published report proposes materials and requirements that are applicable to the liquid hydrogen environment, while analyzing the differences with the materials and requirements applicable to domestic LNG storage systems, and also laying out standards under a variety of environments, which is expected to contribute to the development of technologies for eco-friendly vessels.

Meanwhile, even in advanced countries, only a very limited number of research institutes have the equipment for evaluating and testing the compatibility of materials for ultra-low temperatures and hydrogen environments. Consequently, significant expenses are incurred for the test and evaluation processes, causing setbacks in domestic material and equipment manufacturers’ attempts to make inroads into the hydrogen industry.

In order to help overcome these challenges, KIMM has prepared initiatives to support domestic shipbuilders in such sectors as “testing of the capacity of ultra-low temperature materials,” “assessment of compatibility to the hydrogen environment of materials and parts,” and “testing and durability assessment in a variety of extreme environments,” on the basis of the newly established infrastructure for testing, evaluating, and analyzing ultra-low temperatures and hydrogen embrittlement.

Up until now, to develop the equipment and materials for environment-friendly vessels equipped with new materials, corporations have been paying additional expenses amounting to tens or even hundreds of millions of won just for the test and evaluation of materials. Now, it is expected that not only test and evaluation, but also analysis and technical support will be provided domestically at relatively low costs.

Senior Researcher Yong-jin Kim was quoted as saying, “By establishing the standards for evaluating the compatibility of materials, we can expand the scope of applicable materials, which will likely help to expedite the commercialization of hydrogen vessels. Through the provision of test and evaluation services, we will make our outmost efforts so that Korean shipbuilders can secure a dominant position in the market for environment-friendly vessels.”

The establishment of the infrastructure for the test and evaluation of ultra-low temperature materials has been carried out with the support of the “project to develop safety standards for the storage and fuel supply system for hydrogen for vessels” implemented by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

###

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Since its foundation in 1976, KIMM is contributing to economic growth of the nation by performing R&D on key technologies in machinery and materials, conducting reliability test evaluation, and commercializing the developed products and technologies.

The establishment of the infrastructure for the test and evaluation of ultra-low temperature materials has been carried out with the support of the “project to develop safety standards for the storage and fuel supply system for hydrogen for vessels” implemented by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

June 7, 2023
Developing technologies to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production

[ad_1]

Newswise — Green hydrogen, which produces hydrogen without the use of fossil fuels or the emission of carbon dioxide, has become increasingly important in recent years as part of efforts to realize a decarbonized economy. However, due to the high production cost of water electrolysis devices that produce green hydrogen, the economic feasibility of green hydrogen has not been very high. However, the development of a technology that drastically reduces the amount of rare metals such as iridium and platinum used in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis devices is opening the way to lower production costs.

A research team led by Dr. Hyun S. Park and Sung Jong Yoo of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced that they have developed a technology that can significantly reduce the amount of platinum and iridium, precious metals used in the electrode protection layer of polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis devices, and secure performance and durability on par with existing devices. In particular, unlike previous studies that focused on reducing the amount of iridium catalyst while maintaining the structure that uses a large amount of platinum and gold as the electrode protection layer, the researchers replaced the precious metal in the electrode protection layer with inexpensive iron nitride having large surface area and uniformly coated a small amount of iridium catalyst on top of it, greatly increasing the economic efficiency of the electrolysis device.

The polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis device is a device that produces high-purity hydrogen and oxygen by decomposing water using electricity supplied by renewable energy such as solar power, and it plays a role in supplying hydrogen to various industries such as steelmaking and chemicals. In addition, it is advantageous for energy conversion to store renewable energy as hydrogen energy, so increasing the economic efficiency of this device is very important for the realization of the green hydrogen economy.

In a typical electrolysis device, there are two electrodes that produce hydrogen and oxygen, and for the oxygen generating electrode, which operates in a highly corrosive environment, gold or platinum is coated on the surface of the electrode at 1 mg/cm2 as a protective layer to ensure durability and production efficiency, and 1-2 mg/cm2 of iridium catalyst is coated on top. The precious metals used in these electrolysis devices have very low reserves and production, which is a major factor hindering the widespread adoption of green hydrogen production devices.

To improve the economics of water electrolysis, the team replaced the rare metals gold and platinum used as a protective layer for the oxygen electrode in polymer electrolyte membrane hydrogen production devices with inexpensive iron nitride (Fe2N). To do so, the team developed a composite process that first uniformly coats the electrode with iron oxide, which has low electrical conductivity, and then converts the iron oxide to iron nitride to increase its conductivity. The team also developed a process that uniformly coats an iridium catalyst about 25 nanometers (nm) thick on top of the iron nitride protective layer, reducing the amount of iridium catalyst to less than 0.1 mg/cm2, resulting in an electrode with high hydrogen production efficiency and durability.

The developed electrode replaces the gold or platinum used as a protective layer for the oxygen generating electrode with non-precious metal nitrides while maintaining similar performance to existing commercial electrolysis units, and reduces the amount of iridium catalyst to 10% of the existing level. In addition, the electrolysis unit with the new components was operated for more than 100 hours to verify its initial stability.

“Reducing the amount of iridium catalyst and developing alternative materials for the platinum protective layer are essential for the economical and widespread use of polymer electrolyte membrane green hydrogen production devices, and the use of inexpensive iron nitride instead of platinum is of great significance,” said Dr. Hyun S. Park of KIST. “After further observing the performance and durability of the electrode, we will apply it to commercial devices in the near future.”

The research was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Lee, Chang-Yang) and KIST Major Projects, and the results were published online in the latest issue of the international scientific journal Applied Catalysis B:Environmental (IF: 24.319, top 0.926% in JCR).

###

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was conducted through the KIST Major Projects supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho), and the results were published online in the latest issue of the international scientific journal Applied Catalysis B:Environmental (IF: 24.319, top 0.926% in JCR).

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

June 1, 2023
A Green Path to Net Zero Carbon Building

[ad_1]

Newswise — The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-Suk) made a groundbreaking achievement in the field of ecological building technology with the development of new “Net Zero Carbon Building (NZCB) system”. This innovative system, designed to minimize both operating carbon and embodied carbon, holds the key to significantly reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry.

Embodied carbon, which encompasses the carbon emissions generated during the production, transportation, construction and disposal of building materials, is a critical factor in addressing carbon neutrality. In addition to the well-known “operating carbon” emitted during the building’s operational phase, the reduction of “embodied carbon” from the material production stage is essential. According to Global ABC’s 2019 report, operating and embedded carbon contribute to approximately 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Traditionally, the construction sector has primarily focused on optimizing operational energy, such as lighting and heating, to mitigate carbon emissions. However, minimizing embodied carbon is now recognized as a fundamental requirement for achieving carbon-neutral building. In response to this challenge, the Ecological Building Research Group at KICT (Dr. Hyeon Soo Kim, Dr. Soo-Young, Moon), has successfully developed a new NZCB system capable of simultaneously reducing both operational and embodied carbon. This groundbreaking system was recently tested in Jinju City, Korea.

The research team, led by Dr. Hyeon Soo Kim, incorporated thirteen major technologies into the NZCB system. Among these technologies, the most noteworthy is the adoption of the eco-friendly cement (High Sulfated Calcium Silicate Cement, HSCSC), which has the remarkable capability of reducing CO2 emissions by more than 90% while minimizing environmental impact. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), a commonly used concrete material, emits 1.2 kg of carbon per kg during production. In contrast, HSCSC emits only 0.07 kg of carbon per kg, resulting in a reduction of 1,130 kg of carbon emissions per ton compared to OPC.

Another noteworthy advancement is the development of CXP (Cellulose X-linked Polymer), an eco-friendly thermoplastic composed solely of wood and natural resin. The research team pioneered the creation and application of CXP-based deck materials for exterior use, the first of its kind worldwide.

To evaluate the efficacy of the NZCB system, the research team conducted monitoring of operational and embodied carbon reduction at the Gaho community center in Jinju City, Korea. A comparative analysis was carried out, comparing the environmental performance and embodied carbon emissions of the community center as a NZCB with that of a conventional Reinforced Concrete Building (RCB).

Using the European Union’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) guide, environmental performance was assessed across sixteen impact categories. The results indicated that the Gaho community center demonstrated superior environmental friendliness compared to steel concrete buildings. In particular, the impact on climate change, closely linked to carbon emissions, was nearly halved. Specifically, the embodied carbon impact was found to be 56.3% lower compared to the comparative RCB, resulting in a reduction of 25.7 tons of embodied carbon.

Moreover, the recorded electrical energy consumption over a period of five months, starting from September 2022, suggests a potential yearly reduction of 2.2 tons of carbon emissions. This reduction is achieved by utilizing only half of the energy produced. Consequently, the Gaho community center in Jinju City emitted a total of 33.1 tons of carbon during its construction. However, the surplus electricity production is anticipated to offset 2.2 tons of embodied carbon emissions annually. This progress indicates that the Gaho community center aims to become a net zero carbon building within a span of 15 years.

Dr. Hyeon Soo, Kim expressed, “The demonstration project’s incorporation of thirteen innovative technologies will not only decrease carbon emissions and minimize environmental impacts in the construction industry but also make a significant contribution to the future growth of the ecological building market.”

###

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life.

The research was conducted based on the funding provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (project no. RS-2018-KA146511, Development of performance criteria of ecological architecture based on Environmental Product Declaration and modularizationconstruction technology (2018-2022)). An article explaining the results of this research was published in the latest issue of CO2 emissions of concrete and timber slabs, a renowned international journal in the concrete field (IF:7.2).

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

May 31, 2023
Development of self-healing lens material to prevent traffic accidents in self-driving cars

[ad_1]

Newswise — Safety issues of self-driving cars have emerged due to frequent self-driving traffic accidents. A self-healing lens material that can prevent car accidents that occur due to signal distortion by restoring scratches on the sensor surface of the self-driving car has been developed.

The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT, President Lee, Young Kuk) research team led by Dr. Kim Jin Chul, Park Young Il, and Jeong Ji-Eun* and Prof. Kim Hak-Rin and Prof. Cheong In Woo in Kyungpook National University (KNU) developed a material that heals scratches on the sensor of an autonomous vehicle.
^{* Technology from「Can scratches on car surfaces disappear when exposed to sunlight? : A new self-healing coating material」, published in 2022, has been further developed to enable not only structural recovery but also functional recovery such as recovery of an optical signal.}

When this self-healing optical material is used in the sensor of an autonomous vehicle, it is expected that the life expectancy of the product can be increased and future technology that can prevent malfunctions due to surface damage can be secured.

A lens is a tool that collects or disperses light and is used in many everyday optical devices such as cameras, cell phones, and glasses. However, if the lens surface is damaged by a scratch, the image or optical signal received by the optical device can be severely distorted.

Recently, traffic accidents caused by recognition errors and malfunctions of vision systems* such as LiDAR sensors and image sensors of self-driving cars have repeatedly occurred. As a result, confidence in the safety of self-driving cars is rather low**.
^{* LIDAR sensors and image sensors that acts as the ‘eyes’ of an autonomous vehicle
** The results of a survey by the American Automobile Association showed that the number of respondents who were afraid of using self-driving cars increased by 13% from 55% in 2022 to 68% in 2023.}

The KRICT-KNU joint research team developed a transparent lens material that can remove scratches on the sensor surface within 60 seconds when focused sunlight is irradiated using a simple tool such as a magnifying glass.

Because self-healing is favorable when molecular movement within the polymer is free, flexible materials are generally advantageous in securing excellent self-healing performance. However, lenses or protecting coating materials are made of hard materials, and thus it is very difficult to impart a self-healing function. To solve this problem, the research team combined a thiourethane structure, which is already being used as a lens material, and a transparent photothermal dye* to design a ‘dynamic chemical bond’ in which the polymers repeat disassembly and recombination under irradiation of sunlight.
^{* A dye that converts light energy into heat energy}

In particular, the developed transparent organic photothermal dye can selectively absorb light of a specific near-infrared wavelength (850-1050 nm) without interfering with the visible light region (350-850 nm) used for image sensors and the near-infrared region (~1550 nm) used for LiDAR sensors.

When sunlight is absorbed by photothermal dyes, the surface temperature of the developed lens material rises as the light energy is converted into thermal energy. Subsequently, the increased surface temperature makes it possible to self-heal a surface scratch by repeating the dissociation and recombination of chemical bonds in the polythiourethane structure.

The developed lens material shows perfect self-healing even when scratches cross each other, and provides excellent resilience, maintaining 100% of the self-healing efficiency even if the process of scratching and healing at the same location is repeated more than five times.

Dr. Lee Young Kuk, president of KRICT, said, “This technology is a platform technology that synthesizes self-healing lens materials using both an inexpensive high-refractive polymer material and a photothermal dye. It is expected to be widely used in various applications such as autonomous vehicle sensors as well as glasses and cameras.”

###

KRICT was established as a government-funded research institute in 1976. It has played a leading role in the development of the national chemical industry as it developed technologies for chemical and related fields of convergence, transferred chemical technologies to industries, produced professionals in the chemical field, and provided tremendous support for a variety of chemical infrastructures. Now we promise to reach new heights in chemistry and chemical engineering and continue our role in facilitating increased use of the knowledge from research. For more information, please visit KRICT’s website at https://www.krict.re.kr/eng/

This study was supported by the New Career Researcher Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT). The research was published in the Feb 2023 issue of ‘ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces‘(IF: 10.383), an international scientific and technological journal.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

May 21, 2023
No More Blind Spots in Building Energy Consumption Data

[ad_1]

Newswise — The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT, President Kim, Byung-Suk) developed an algorithm designed to help estimate heating and cooling consumption easily in buildings that cannot afford a building energy management system (BEMS).

BEMS, which is a system designed to save energy, monitors in real time the energy consumption of buildings and provides building managers with optimized ways of energy management.

The Korean government unveiled its “2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for Land and Transportation” in December 2021 and set a challenging target of reducing emissions from 2018 levels by 80% by 2050. In line with the roadmap, the green remodeling of all buildings will become mandatory from 2025. However, most of the relevant regulations are focused on large, newly constructed, and energy-consuming buildings. Small-and medium-sized buildings below 1,000㎡, which account for at least 90% of existing buildings, are excluded.

To reach carbon neutrality in buildings, technical support should be given to the relatively small buildings where maintenance is complex and expensive and therefore does not favour the adoption of BEMS. A more practical, realistic solution is required.

Against this backdrop, a research team of the Department of Building Energy Research (Dr. Seung-Eon Lee, Dr. Deuk-Woo Kim) at KICT developed an algorithm that can easily separates and estimates the heating and cooling energy consumption from total consumption at lower cost than the existing method. It utilizes outdoor temperature data from the Korea Meteorological Administration and energy consumption data from the National Building Energy Database of the Korea Real Estate Board (REB).

The algorithm uses the patterns of energy system operation, which vary across seasons; heating and cooling systems are used most in summer and winter and least in spring and autumn. Performance of the algorithm was compared and tested against extensive measurement data from 11 commercial buildings. The results showed that its error rate was within the low range between 5% and 17%.

Application of the algorithm to the national energy database run by the REB will be discussed in the second half of this year. Then, a database of buildings’ heating and cooling energy consumption data will be established and make it available to all the buildings that pay energy bills. Benchmarking research on heating and cooling energy performance indicators will be conducted after the database is established.

Dr. Seung-Eon Lee, who led the research, said, “The algorithm will help us quantitatively manage the progress toward carbon neutrality of buildings without a blind spot in energy consumption data.”

This research accomplishment was a part of the project of the Ministry of Science and ICT, “Data-Centric Checkup Technique of Building Energy Performance (with Dr. Seung-Eon Lee as the project leader over the period from 2018 to 2022).”

###

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, a government-funded research institute with 40 years of extensive research experience, is at the forefront of solving national issues that are directly related to the quality of the people’s life.

Research for this paper was conducted under the KICT Research Program (project no. 20220260-001, Data-Centric Checkup Technique of Building Energy Performance) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT. An article explaining the results of this research was published in the Special Issue of Heating and Cooling of Buildings a international journal in the Buildings (IF:3.324).

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

May 10, 2023
Solid electrolyte for all-solid-state batteries without high-temperature heat treatment

[ad_1]

Newswise — The all-solid-state battery is a secondary battery with a solid electrolyte between the anode and cathode. It is considered a representative of next-generation battery technology due to its high energy density and significantly lower risk of fire and explosion than conventional lithium-ion batteries. In recent years, materials research in the field of all-solid-state batteries has been focused on strategies to maximize material crystallinity to achieve ionic conductivity similar to that of liquid electrolytes (ionic conductivity of 10 mS/cm or more). However, this approach requires a high-temperature crystallization step (above 500 °C) of up to several days after material mixing or reaction. It resulted in high process costs and battery interface contact issues due to reduced mechanical deformability.

Dr. Hyoungchul Kim’s research team at the Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok Jin Yoon), announced that they have successfully synthesized a solid electrolyte with superionic conductivity and high elastic deformability in a one-pot process at room temperature and normal pressure. This research has garnered attention because it can maximize the productivity of all-solid-state battery materials and solve the inherent interface problem by improving elastic deformation.

Dr. Kim’s research team focused on the crystallographic features of the argyrodite sulfides to synthesize a highly deformable and ionically conductive solid-state electrolyte material under normal temperature and pressure conditions. Theoretically, ionic conductivity can be maximized by maximizing the halogen substitution rate at the 4a and 4c sites in the argyrodite crystal, but the material has never been practically synthesized due to its thermodynamic instability. In addition, typical crystalline argyrodite superconductors require high-temperature heat treatment above 500 °C. Therefore, the halogen substitution rate cannot be maximized, and the elastic modulus decreases with increasing crystallinity, leading to rapid degradation of cell performance. In contrast, without high-temperature heat treatment, a low elastic modulus similar to that of glass can be obtained; however, the ionic conductivity remains around 3 mS/cm, limiting its applicability as a solid-state electrolyte.

The research team came up with a new strategy to obtain a thermodynamically unstable structure (i.e., fully halogenated argyrodite) that takes advantage of both crystalline and glassy properties. They developed a composition control method to lower the crystallization temperature of argyrodite as well as a new two-step mechanochemical milling process suitable for the lower crystallization temperature. This facilitated the synthesis of a fully halogen-substituted (~90.67% substitution) argyrodite with a superionic conductivity of ~13.23 mS/cm without a long high-temperature annealing. The synthesized material also possesses an elastic modulus of about 12.51 GPa, which is one of the lowest reported values for superionic-conductive solid electrolytes, and this is also advantageous for improving the interfacial performance of all-solid-state batteries. Moreover, the new one-pot process at room temperature and normal pressure can be completed in less than 15 h, which is the highest productivity for any solid electrolyte with superionic conductivity. This is a unique achievement, with material productivity that is approximately 2-6 times higher than those of conventional processes for synthesizing superconductive solid electrolytes.

“We have succeeded in developing a new solid electrolyte material with high deformability and ionic conductivity through a new process at normal temperature and pressure,” said Dr. Kim of KIST, who led the research. He also expressed his expectation, saying, “The new material will serve as a trigger for the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries suitable for electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS) because it has maximized material productivity by eliminating the high-temperature heat treatment and simultaneously possesses high deformability and superionic conductivity suitable for solving the problem of the electrode interface of all-solid-state batteries.”

###

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was supported by the KIST Institutional Program and the Mid-Career Researcher Support Project funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Jong-Ho Lee), and by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Chang-Yang Lee) for the development of lithium-based next-generation secondary battery performance enhancement and manufacturing technology. The results were published in Advanced Functional Materials (IF: 19.924, top 4.658% in JCR) recently.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

March 27, 2023
Advanced technologies for longer-lasting electric vehicles

[ad_1]

Newswise — Owing to the worldwide trend of utilizing electric vehicles, there has been a rise in demand for next-generation secondary batteries with higher capacity and faster charging than the lithium-ion batteries currently in use. Lithium metal batteries have been recognized as promising rechargeable batteries because lithium metal anode exhibits theoretical capacity 10 times higher than commercial graphite anode. During charging-discharging processes, however, lithium dendrites grow on the anode, leading to poor battery performance and short-circuit.

Dr. Sungho Lee, Head of the Carbon Composite Materials Research Center of the KIST Jeonbuk Institute of Advanced Composition Materials (President Dr. Seok-Jin Yoon, Director General Jin-Sang Kim) and Professor KwangSup Eom, the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST, Acting President Rae-Gil Park), have developed a technology to improve the durability using carbon fiber paper as the anode material for lithium metal batteries.

The KIST-GIST joint research team replaced the lithium metal-coated copper thin film with a thin carbon fiber paper containing lithium metal. The developed carbon fiber paper possessed hierarchical structure on the carbon monofilament composed of amorphous carbon and inorganic nanoparticles, resulting in enhancing the lithium affinity and preventing the growth of lithium dendrite. Although copper thin film anode short-circuits after approximately 100 cycles, the developed carbon fiber paper anode exhibits excellent cycling stability for 300 cycles. Furthermore, lithium metal battery using developed carbon fiber paper shows a high energy density of 428 Wh/kg, which is approximately 1.8 times higher than that using copper thin film (240 Wh/kg). From a process point of view, another advantage is to simplify the electrode manufacturing process because the molten lithium is quickly infused into the carbon fiber paper.

Regarding the significance of this research, Dr. Sung-Ho Lee, Head of the Center at KIST, who led the research, said, “Considering the five times lower density and lower cost of carbon fiber compared to copper, our proposed anode material is an important achievement that can accelerate the commercialization of durable and lightweight lithium metal batteries.”

###

KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was carried out as a KIST Institutional Program and a nanomaterial technology development project under the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee Jong-ho). The results were published in the January issue of the international journal Advanced Energy Materials (IF=29.698, JCR top 2.464%).

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

March 26, 2023

Securing new metal 3D printing technology that drives the renaissance of the manufacturing industry!

[ad_1]

Newswise — A research team led by Dr. Sang-woo Song, Dr. Chan-kyu Kim, Dr. Kang-myung Seo at the Department of Joining Technology of the Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, has developed a foundational technology for controlling the volume of molten metal in the process of 3D printing metal using welding techniques. They achieved this through collaborative research with a research team led by Professor Young-tae Cho and Professor Seok Kim of the Department of Mechanical engineering at Changwon National University, and a research team led by Dr. Dae-won Cho of Busan Machinery Research Center at the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials. As a result, they have successfully developed a metal 3D printing pen technology that can continuously print metal in a three-dimensional space with freedom.

The metal 3D printing pen technology developed by the research team has the advantage of being able to freely and continuously print metal with freedom in the direction of the welding torch’s movement in 3D space. Compared to conventional metal 3D printing using lasers, the equipment construction cost is low, and additive manufacturing can be performed quickly using commercially available welding materials, making it more economical.

Metal additive manufacturing using welding techniques has limitations in realizing complex structures because it is a limited process of building one layer at a time. This is because subsequent layers are laminated after complete solidification preventing the molten metal from flowing down. Due to this, there is a disadvantage in that a cooling time is required and the conditions that can be laminated are limited to specific examples. To solve this problem, the research team performed computer analysis to calculate and precisely control the surface tension of the molten metal and the solidified volume according to convection/conduction. Additionally, they developed a technology that can perform metal additive manufacturing in all conditions, including horizontal, vertical, inclined, and overhead positions. By continuously laminating the metal in the liquid phase before it fully solidifies, the manufacturing time is shortened, there is no boundary between layers, and it forms a dense microstructure with excellent mechanical properties.

※ In the case of ductility, 24.5% improvement compared to the existing WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing) process, based on Inconel 625 (WAAM: welding and additive manufacturing (AM) of wire-type materials using an arc heat source)

As of 2021, the size of the 3D printer market at home and abroad is KRW 82.1 billion and USD 2.1 billion, respectively, with annual average growth rates of 10.5% and 20%. This research achievement is expected to give vitality to the manufacturing industry by preoccupying technological superiority in the field of metal additive manufacturing and manufacturing high-value-added machines and parts using it.

“We added 3D free-form additive manufacturing to the continuous additive manufacturing process, which was considered impossible in the existing metal additive manufacturing process,” said Sang-woo Song, principal researcher at KIMS, who is in charge of the research. He continued, “Like the existing 3D printing technology using polymers, it is possible to easily manufacture complex structures using existing metal welding materials, suggesting a new paradigm for the manufacturing industry.”

This research result was carried out as a project of ‘Development of Multi-metallic Layer Materials for Multi-purpose Micro Modular Reactor’ by the Korea Institute of Materials Science with the support of the Ministry of Science and ICT. In addition, the research results were selected as a cover paper in the February issue of Advanced Science (IF=17.521), a world-renowned academic journal. Currently, the research team is continuing follow-up research for additive manufacturing of high-value-added machinery and parts in the nuclear power plant and defense industries.

————————————————————————-

###

About Korea Institute of Materials Science(KIMS)

KIMS is a non-profit government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea. As the only institute specializing in comprehensive materials technologies in Korea, KIMS has contributed to Korean industry by carrying out a wide range of activities related to materials science including R&D, inspection, testing&evaluation, and technology support.

[ad_2]

National Research Council of Science and Technology

Source link

March 26, 2023