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KAIST Professor Insu Yun, Students and Alumni Finish Second at DEF CON CTF 2026, the World’s Premier Hacking Competition
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 14 that the Korean hacking team “0x4b52,” which included Professor Insu Yun of the School of Electrical Engineering as well as numerous KAIST students and alumni, finished second at DEF CON CTF 2026, held in Las Vegas, the United States, from August 7 to 9.
Comprising approximately 30 Korean hackers, 0x4b52 competed against world-class multinational teams to claim the runner-up position. This marks the best result achieved by an all-Korean team at DEF CON CTF since the Korean team “DEFK0R” won the competition in 2015.
Of the 686 teams that participated in the qualifiers, only the top 12 advanced to the finals. After qualifying in fifth place, 0x4b52 climbed the rankings to finish second overall. The achievement is particularly significant because KAIST members from different generations, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as alumni, competed together as one team against the world’s leading hackers.
“I find it deeply meaningful that our students and alumni demonstrated their outstanding capabilities on a stage where the world’s most accomplished hackers compete,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “This achievement is even more significant because it was accomplished through a joint effort by multiple generations of KAIST members, from undergraduate and graduate students to alumni.”
President Bae added, “In the era of AI, a strong foundation and domain expertise are more important than ever. KAIST will actively support students in challenging themselves in areas of interest from the undergraduate level, building expertise through hands-on experience and research, and growing into global talents who can take the lead in leveraging AI and forge new paths.”
DEF CON CTF is a flagship event of DEF CON, one of the world’s largest hacker conferences. It is an international hacking competition in which elite hackers from around the globe test their capabilities in system security and hacking. This year’s finals were held as one of the main events of DEF CON 34 in Las Vegas. The multinational team “Blue Water” won the championship, while the Korean team 0x4b52 finished second.
Capture The Flag (CTF) is a type of hacking competition in which teams earn points by analyzing vulnerabilities in given systems and software and conducting offensive and defensive operations. Participants must analyze systems and software, identify vulnerabilities, and compete against opposing teams within a limited time. The competition therefore requires advanced technical expertise as well as close teamwork and strategic judgment.
This year’s qualifiers featured challenges across a wide range of information security fields, including binary exploitation, reverse engineering, cryptography, and web exploitation.
0x4b52 is a Korean team formed primarily by members of the hacking team from Korea, HypeBoy, and Professor Insu Yun’s laboratory at KAIST. Approximately one-third of the team’s roughly 30 members are currently affiliated with or previously worked in Professor Yun’s Hacking Lab.
Numerous other KAIST students and alumni also participated. Many began exploring system hacking and security research as undergraduates, including through the information security club “GoN.” They further developed their expertise through coursework, research, and other opportunities in the School of Electrical Engineering, the School of Computing, and the Graduate School of Information Security. Undergraduate and master’s and doctoral students competed on the same team alongside alumni now working in industry and research institutions, bringing together different generations of KAIST hackers.
Professor Yun’s research team, one of the central groups within 0x4b52, also reached the top of a major global cybersecurity competition in Las Vegas last year. Together with researchers from Samsung Research, POSTECH, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, Professor Yun’s team formed “Team Atlanta” and participated in the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), organized by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The team won the final round held at DEF CON 33 in August 2025.
AIxCC is a competition focused on technologies that use artificial intelligence to automatically detect and repair software vulnerabilities. Team Atlanta received a prize of USD 4 million for winning the finals. At this year’s DEF CON CTF, Professor Yun’s research team competed alongside KAIST students and alumni against some of the world’s leading teams in system security. This follows the team’s victory last year in a global competition for AI-powered autonomous cyber defense technology, marking back-to-back achievements on the international stage.
The achievement also highlights KAIST’s approach to developing information security talent—giving students hands-on hacking experience as undergraduates, supporting them as they pursue specialized security research in graduate school, and helping them build professional expertise after graduation.
At KAIST, undergraduate students gain hands-on experience analyzing real-world systems and identifying vulnerabilities through coursework and student clubs. At the graduate level, students pursue specialized system security research in areas such as software vulnerability analysis, program analysis, and automated vulnerability detection. Meanwhile, KAIST is expanding its education and research capacity in information security by training master’s- and doctoral-level specialists and participating in the government-supported Information Security Specialized University Program.
“This achievement reflects the collective effort of students who have learned from one another, gained hands-on experience, and grown together over many years,” said Professor Insu Yun. “I also became deeply involved in information security through GoN as an undergraduate at KAIST. That makes it particularly meaningful to see students and alumni from different generations come together, compete as a team against some of the world’s best hackers, and achieve this result.”
2026.08.14 View 140 -
KAIST Controls the Rotation Direction of Light Without Complex New Materials
A new pathway has opened for controlling the rotation direction of light simply by changing how molecules are arranged, without having to synthesize complex new materials. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that travels while rotating like a pinwheel either to the left or to the right. Because different rotation directions can carry different information, it is drawing attention as a key light source for next-generation displays, optical communications, and security technologies. KAIST researchers have developed a platform technology that arranges symmetric molecules into “microscopic pinwheels,” enabling circularly polarized light with a desired rotation direction.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 14 that a research team led by Professor Dong Ki Yoon from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with researchers from Chungnam National University, Ajou University, Yonsei University, and Japan’s RIKEN, has developed a technology that spatially confines symmetric non-chiral liquid crystal molecules and applies an electric field to form micrometer-scale chiral pinwheel structures, then permanently replicates them onto polymer nanofibers.
Chirality refers to the property of an object whose mirror image cannot be perfectly superimposed on the original, like a person’s left and right hands. Chirality is a key property not only of biological molecules such as proteins and DNA, but also of optical materials used in next-generation displays, optical sensors, and optical communications.
Until now, producing chiral optical materials has generally required the complex synthesis of molecules with asymmetric structures or the addition of large amounts of chiral substances. This has made fabrication complicated, limited the range of usable materials, and made it difficult to realize chiral structures with the same handedness over a large area.
To address this challenge, the research team proposed a new approach based on the idea that “structure creates function.”
The team applied to molecules the same principle by which the same sheet of paper can form either a clockwise or counterclockwise pinwheel depending on how it is folded. They focused on the fact that even symmetric molecules can form structures with different handedness depending on how they assemble.
The researchers first induced rod-shaped molecules to self-assemble into microscopic pinwheel-like structures. They then added an extremely small amount of chiral additive, less than 1% of the total material, to guide all of the pinwheels to face the same direction. The team then successfully replicated this structure onto polymer nanofibers.
When a conventional luminescent material was coated onto this structure, circularly polarized light rotating in opposite directions was emitted depending not on the luminescent material itself, but on the direction of the pinwheel structure. Circularly polarized light is a special form of light that rotates to the left or right as it travels, and because each rotation direction can carry different information, it can be used in next-generation displays, optical communications, and anti-counterfeiting technologies.
In other words, the study showed that the properties of light can be controlled simply by changing the structure on which a light-emitting material is placed, rather than by changing the light-emitting material itself. Put simply, just as the same LEGO blocks can form completely different shapes depending on how they are assembled, the same molecules can produce different optical properties depending only on how they are arranged.
Professor Dong Ki Yoon said, “The key point of this study is that we controlled the rotation direction of light not through the complex chemical structure of chiral molecules, but only through the way molecules are arranged,” adding, “This work presents a new optical material design principle that can be applied to next-generation displays, AR and VR optical devices, polarization sensors, and optical communications without the need to develop complex new materials.”
Jeong Yeon Han, the first author and a Ph.D. candidate, explained, “In conventional approaches, left-handed and right-handed structures tended to form together, canceling out chiral properties. In this study, however, we succeeded in aligning the structures in a single direction over a large area by designing an extremely small amount of additive to select only one rotation direction.”
This study was led by Ph.D. candidate Jeong Yeon Han as the first author, and the research results were published in the international journal Nature Communications on August 05.
Paper title: Microchiral pinwheel arrays based on achiral molecules,
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76089-z
Authors: Jeong Yeon Han (first author), Won Kyung Park, Byeongil Noh, Fumito Araoka, Sungwook Jung, Byeong Hak Jhun, Youngmin You, Yoonsu Park, Kyung Jin Lee*, Jung-Moo Heo*, and Dong Ki Yoon* (*corresponding authors)
This research was supported by the Technology Innovation Program of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the InnoCORE Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.14 View 173 -
KAIST and Samsung Heavy Industries Launch Advanced Maritime Research Center, Marking 32 Years of Industry–Academia Collaboration
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced that it held an opening ceremony for the SHI–KAIST Advanced Maritime Research Center (AMRC) with Samsung Heavy Industries (Vice Chairman and CEO Sung-an Choi) on August 13 at the John Hannah Hall in KAIST Academic Cultural Complex on its main campus in Daejeon.
The new center marks a major milestone in the 32-year industry–academia partnership between the two institutions, which dates back to 1995. Building on more than three decades of joint research and mutual trust, KAIST and Samsung Heavy Industries are expanding their partnership through a joint research hub dedicated to developing key technologies for the future of the shipbuilding and offshore industries.
Through the center, the two institutions will jointly develop technologies that address industry needs in areas including AI, robotics, and green technologies. They will also work to bring research outcomes into industrial applications and develop highly skilled professionals.
“Physical AI that drives innovation in real-world industrial settings will be a determining factor in manufacturing competitiveness,” said KAIST President Choongsik Bae. “The shipbuilding and offshore industry is a prime field for creating new value through the convergence of mechanical engineering, AI, and robotics. I hope the center will grow into a research hub that addresses challenges facing industry and sets new benchmarks for future technologies.”
“It is especially meaningful to see our 32 years of collaboration with KAIST culminate in the establishment of the Advanced Maritime Research Center,” said Sung-an Choi, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries. “We will further accelerate our efforts to secure technological competitiveness and foster talent for the future shipbuilding and offshore industry in areas including autonomous navigation, eco-friendly vessels, and smart manufacturing.”
To secure key technologies for the future shipbuilding and offshore industry, the center will conduct joint research in four areas. AI technologies for autonomous operation and intelligent navigation; propulsion systems using zero- and low-carbon fuels; manufacturing innovation for smart shipyards and digital twins; and robotics specialized for shipbuilding and offshore applications.
In autonomous navigation, researchers will develop AI algorithms for advanced autonomous navigation systems, including technologies for situational awareness, optimal route planning, and collision avoidance. The center will also conduct research on zero- and low-carbon fuels in response to international efforts toward carbon neutrality and the green transition of the shipping and shipbuilding industries. This work will focus on key vessel components and fuel-supply technologies for clean fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.
In the area of smart shipyards, the center will use AI and digital twin technologies to optimize complex shipbuilding processes, including block erection and production management. This research aims to improve productivity and quality while reducing costs and energy consumption. In specialized maritime robotics, researchers will develop technologies to automate demanding on-site tasks such as welding, painting, and inspection. These technologies will help address the decline in the working-age population while improving worker safety and production efficiency.
Beyond technology development, the center will serve as a hub for training specialists who will lead the future maritime industry. The two institutions will use industry–academia cooperation funding and other resources to support student research and scholarship programs. They will also expand personnel exchange programs connecting industrial sites and research laboratories, thereby continuously fostering research talent with the practical, industry-relevant capabilities needed in the field.
The center was established on the foundation of more than three decades of cooperation between the two institutions. Their partnership began in 1995, when Samsung Heavy Industries’ Ship & Offshore Research Institute and KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering established the SHI–KAIST Industry–Academia Cooperation Council. Since then, they have conducted joint research spanning the shipbuilding and offshore engineering fields—including structures, fluid dynamics, cryogenics, green technologies, smart ships, and autonomous navigation—and accumulated a broad base of foundational technologies.
The institutions have continued to strengthen the connection between research and industry through initiatives such as the Advisory Board program, industry-tailored courses, and joint SEED research projects. The number of collaborative projects and technical consulting cases conducted through the Advisory Board program has exceeded 1,000. The two institutions have also maintained active personnel exchanges through short-term researcher training and cooperative education programs.
Approximately 50 people attended the opening ceremony to celebrate the launch of the center, including KAIST President Choongsik Bae, faculty members and professors emeriti from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries Vice Chairman and CEO Sung-an Choi, and other executives and officials.
2026.08.13 View 145 -
Former KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee, Known as the “Science Commander,” Received Honorary Doctorate in Military Science from KNDU
Kwang Hyung Lee, KAIST's 17th president, received an honorary doctorate in military science from Korea National Defense University (KNDU). Lee earned the nickname “Science Commander” for pioneering efforts to bring science and technology into national defense and for his extensive collaboration with the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced that former President Lee received the honorary degree at KNDU's 71st Founding Anniversary Ceremony. The ceremony was held at 10:30 a.m. on August 13 at the Sejong Grand Auditorium on KNDU's campus in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province.
This was only the second time KNDU had conferred an honorary doctorate in military science since its founding. The first recipient was General Paik Sun-yup, who received the honor in 2015, the year of the university's 60th anniversary.
The honorary degree recognizes Lee's contributions during his presidency to integrating science and technology with national defense and security. He established an educational framework for security and defense science and technology, strengthened the foundation for civil-military cooperation, and contributed to enhancing Korea's national security capabilities.
"Former President Lee made significant contributions to incorporating science and technology into defense innovation and talent development, and to building an educational and research foundation for the future of national defense," Lee Hongsub, Acting President of KNDU, said. "In recognition of these achievements, we decided to confer the honorary doctorate in military science."
Since taking office in 2021, Lee has worked to build an education, research, and cooperation system connecting science and technology with national security, centered on KAIST's Institute for Security Convergence (ISC). Through this effort, he has helped build a science and technology ecosystem geared toward future national security needs.
Lee led educational programs on future strategic technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, space, and quantum technology for major security institutions, including the Ministry of National Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Korean National Police Agency, and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Between 2022 and June 2026, these programs trained approximately 4,000 security professionals, including about 3,000 military and Ministry of National Defense personnel and 1,000 police personnel. In addition, roughly 3,500 service members received software and AI education, and about 3,700 children of military families took part in science camps, bringing the total number of participants in science- and technology-based education to 11,200.
Lee also worked to establish an open collaboration framework for national security. He brought the ROK Army's Future & Innovation Research Center—which focuses on identifying next-generation defense R&D projects—and its AI Collaboration Center to KAIST. This laid the groundwork for the university and the military to jointly conduct research on future strategic technologies and explore their practical applications. He also established the Munji Forum, officially known as the Security and Defense Science and Technology Future Strategy Forum, bringing together the military, industry, academia, and research institutes to discuss the future security environment and advanced technologies. Under his leadership, it grew into a leading platform connecting science, technology, and national defense.
Lee further worked to build a research foundation for addressing emerging security challenges such as cognitive warfare and cybersecurity. He served as vice chair of the Ministry of National Defense's Special Advisory Committee on Defense Innovation, as well as a member of the ministry's Policy Advisory Committee and Defense Reform Advisory Committee, helping bridge science and technology policy and national security policy. He also pursued educational and academic cooperation with KNDU, including lectures for KNDU's security programs and joint defense-related academic conferences, helping train the next generation of security experts.
"It is a great honor to receive such a meaningful degree at a time when science and technology have become a core asset determining national security and defense capabilities," Lee said. "I see this honorary degree as recognition of what the KAIST community has accomplished together in advancing defense innovation through science and technology." He added, "I will continue working to ensure that Korea's scientific and technological capabilities make a tangible contribution to national security and the safety of its people."
President Choongsik Bae attended the degree conferral ceremony to congratulate former President Lee.
"Former President Lee laid the groundwork for closer collaboration between science and technology and national defense, opening a path for KAIST to contribute to national security," Bae said. "This honorary doctorate in military science is a meaningful recognition from the defense community of his dedication and achievements, and I sincerely congratulate him together with the entire KAIST community." He added, "KAIST will continue to strengthen cooperation with security and defense institutions and expand responsible research and development so that advanced science and technology can contribute to national security and public safety."
The honorary doctorate ceremony was held together with KNDU's 71st Founding Anniversary Ceremony.
2026.08.13 View 159 -
KAIST Develops High-Efficiency, Eco-Friendly Hydrogen Separation Membrane That Filters Hydrogen Through a Molecular “Network”
For hydrogen to be widely used as a clean energy source in everyday life, technologies that can extract only hydrogen with high purity from mixed gases are essential. KAIST researchers have presented a new strategy for developing high-performance separation membranes that can selectively filter hydrogen for clean hydrogen energy production.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 13th of August that a research team led by Professor Tae-Hyun Bae of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has successfully introduced hydrogen-selective transport pathways at the angstrom scale inside polymer membranes and clarified their separation performance through the concept of “network completeness.”
*Angstrom (Å): An extremely small unit of length used to measure wavelengths of light or the size of atoms and molecules. One angstrom is one hundred-millionth of a centimeter, or one ten-billionth of a meter, roughly one-millionth the thickness of a human hair.
Hydrogen is drawing attention as an eco-friendly energy source because it does not emit pollutants when used. However, separating hydrogen with high purity from mixed gases generated during production remains a key challenge for commercialization.
Crystalline porous materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are advantageous because their pores can be designed uniformly. However, they are difficult to fabricate over large areas without defects and have limitations in separating small molecules such as hydrogen. Polymer membranes, by contrast, are easier to process and scale up to large areas, but because their pore formation is difficult to control precisely, it has been challenging to raise their separation performance beyond a certain level.
To combine the advantages of both types of materials, the research team designed a modular network structure in which polymer chains are linked by crosslinkers. In this process, the team focused on the limitation that conventional indicators such as the degree of crosslinking (CD) and effective crosslinking degree (ECD), which have been used to describe the extent of crosslinking, cannot determine whether pores useful for separation have actually been formed.
The researchers therefore proposed a new metric called the Bridge Connectivity Degree (BCD), which refers to the proportion of crosslinkers that are connected at both ends to form complete pathways. This made it possible to quantitatively apply the concept of “complete framework connectivity,” which has been emphasized in inorganic porous materials, to polymer networks as well.
The newly developed membrane, ms-oDMB-DB50, achieved a high bridge connectivity degree of 73%, and both its hydrogen permeability and hydrogen/nitrogen selectivity improved significantly compared with the original material, DB50. Analysis showed that the membrane contains numerous ultramicropores smaller than 3 Å, which carbon dioxide cannot access. The research team also proposed a “density-probe method,” using helium molecules, which are smaller than hydrogen, as probes to experimentally verify the existence of these ultramicropores.
The newly developed membrane also operated stably for 100 hours without any loss of performance. Its tensile strength, the force the membrane can withstand without breaking, was about twice that of previously reported high-performance polymer membranes, confirming that it also has the robust durability needed for industrial processes.
Dr. Hongju Lee said, “There have been previous attempts to combine the advantages of these two types of materials, but this study is different in that it defines ‘how completely the network is connected’ as a quantitative value and directly links that value to separation performance,” adding, “We hope this study will serve as a starting point for extending reticular synthesis, a design principle used for inorganic molecular sieves, to polymer membranes.”
Professor Tae-Hyun Bae said, “By stitching polymer chains together with crosslinkers that fit together like Lego blocks, we formed a network inside the membrane that selectively allows only small hydrogen gas molecules to pass through.”
This paper was led by Dr. Hongju Lee, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, as first author, with Professor Tae-Hyun Bae as corresponding author. The research was published on July 23 in the international journal Nature Communications.
Paper title: Network completeness enables angstrom-scale transport pathways in polymer membranes,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73860-
Author information: Hongju Lee, formerly of KAIST and currently at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, first author; Suhyeon Choi, KAIST, second author; and Tae-Hyun Bae, KAIST, corresponding author
This research was supported by the 2025 Global C.L.E.A.N. Project and the Mid-Career Researcher Program under the Basic Research Program, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.13 View 170 -
KAIST Develops AI to Detect ‘Foreign-Linked Opinion Manipulation’ in 110 Million News Comments
During election seasons or major national issues, online news comment sections often become heated spaces of conflict across gender, generation, and political lines. For years, there have been persistent concerns that behind some of these conflicts may lie “foreign winds,” or interventions by foreign actors seeking to manipulate public opinion and deepen social divisions. A KAIST research team has now developed a technology that uses big data on two decades worth of news comments and artificial intelligence (AI) to precisely detect traces of such hidden influence operations.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 12th of August that a joint research team led by Professor Wonjae Lee of the Graduate School of Culture Technology, Professor Meeyoung Cha of the School of Computing (Scientific director at Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy) and Professor Alice Oh of the School of Computing, in collaboration with Professor Thorsten Holz of the Max Planck Institute, has developed an explainable AI technology that automatically detects patterns suspected of foreign-linked influence operations in online news comments and provides specific evidence for its judgments.
The organized and repeated posting of comments or content by certain actors to shape public opinion in a desired direction is known as an “online influence operation.” Existing AI-based detection technologies have had a key limitation: even when they classify certain accounts as belonging to a “blacklist,” they often fail to provide clear evidence explaining why those accounts should be considered influence-operation accounts.
To overcome this limitation, the research team used 70 foreign-linked accounts previously identified by the Institute for National Security Strategy as starting points. They then tracked groups of accounts connected to them or repeatedly commenting on the same news articles, ultimately collecting and analyzing a large-scale dataset of 110 million comments posted on Naver News over a 20-year period from 2006 to 2025.
In particular, the AI developed by the research team examines accounts through a careful three-step process. First, it checks whether there are clues suggesting that the author may be linked to a foreign source. Second, it examines whether the comment contains emotionally polarizing expressions, such as moral condemnation or blind praise. Third, it identifies which country or target the emotional framing is directed toward.
The model does not stop at simply labeling an account as suspicious. It also highlights the specific phrases in the comments that served as the basis for its judgment. The team further combined this with multidimensional behavioral-pattern analysis, including account activity frequency, account lifespan, and activity links with other suspected accounts. As a result, among approximately 4 million Naver News users, the model ultimately identified 23,998 accounts exhibiting patterns consistent with suspected public-opinion manipulation.
The analysis also revealed the more subtle strategy of these suspected accounts. Their main target was not the victory of a particular political camp, but rather the maximization of division and confrontation within Korean society.
Among the top 10 targets that drew the highest public engagement, measured through likes and other reactions, seven were prominent domestic political figures. Notably, the attacks were not concentrated on a single party or ideology. Former and current presidents, presidential candidates, and political parties from both progressive and conservative camps were targeted across the spectrum. According to the research team, this suggests a sophisticated strategy aimed not so much at supporting a particular group, but at inflaming domestic political conflict and increasing social distrust and polarization.
This study is significant because it provides data-based evidence for influence-operation activity that had previously been discussed largely in terms of suspicion, while also offering a potential defense mechanism for protecting healthy online public discourse. In the future, portal platforms and related organizations could use this technology during elections or national crises to monitor the influx of suspicious accounts in real time and prioritize the review of coordinated attacks against domestic political figures. However, the research team emphasized that the AI should not be used to block accounts indiscriminately, but rather as an explainable content-moderation tool that supports the judgment of expert reviewers.
Professor Wonjae Lee said, “By analyzing 20 years of data, we found that suspected accounts tended to use messages criticizing Korea and domestic political figures rather than directly praising foreign countries, and that these messages gained higher visibility,” adding, “This research can provide empirical criteria for when and which messages platforms and monitoring organizations should prioritize for review, especially during socially sensitive periods such as elections.”
Professor Alice Oh said, “This is a meaningful achievement in which AI precisely identified not only the surface meaning of words in massive comment datasets, but also subtle emotional patterns and organized behavioral signals intended to provoke conflict,” adding, “It can become a powerful defense system against online influence operations, which are becoming increasingly sophisticated.”
Professor Meeyoung Cha said, “This study goes beyond simple blacklist-account analysis and represents the outcome of actionable data science that addresses real-world problems and drives practical change,” adding, “In an online environment where social conflict is deepening, we hope this technology will serve as a practical tool for protecting the transparency and trustworthiness of the digital public sphere.”
This research was led by KAIST Ph.D. candidate Jaehong Kim and master’s student Hyeonseung Kim as co-first authors. The paper is scheduled to be presented at the USENIX Security Symposium 2026, one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of computer security.
Paper title: Cross-National Information Attacks: A Two-Decade Analysis of Troll Behavior in Korea,
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2606.22785
This research was supported by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation, the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, and the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.12 View 461 -
KAIST Shapes a " Templates a ‘Gas Lattice’ in Porous Materials”: The Moment Gas Forms a Crystal-like Lattice
Capturing carbon or storing hydrogen to combat global warming requires compressing gases into sponge-like porous materials. Until now, gas molecules were thought to adsorb in a disordered manner throughout the pores. But what if invisible gas molecules could be lined up in regular order — like ice crystals or LEGO bricks?
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 11 that a research team led by Professor Jihan Kim of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has developed a computational framework that combines large-scale screening of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)* with machine-learning-guided inverse design. Focusing on the “gas lattice”—a crystal-like ordered state formed by gas molecules under confinement—the framework enables researchers to explore a vast range of MOF structures and design candidate porous materials capable of stabilizing desired gas arrangements.
*Metal–organic framework (MOF): a material built from metal ions or clusters connected by organic linkers to create countless microscopic pores; MOFs are promising eco-friendly materials used to store or separate gases.
Using xenon (Xe), a monatomic noble gas, as a model system, the research team identified a specific cobalt-based porous material — Co-CAU-36 — that stabilizes xenon in a regular lattice. Computer simulations (GCMC) confirmed that xenon inside this material does not spread out randomly, but instead lines up in a body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, a well-defined, crystal-like arrangement. This is a breakthrough because gas crystallization was achieved within the pores without the extreme bulk pressures normally required by using the pore structure as a ‘template’.
Striking results also emerged when the team examined the separation of xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr), a gas mixture of industrial importance. Inside the framework, xenon preferentially occupies an ordered shell region, displacing krypton toward the pore core — a separation behavior that had not been reported before.
To show that the phenomenon could be deliberately designed rather than occurring incidentally, the researchers combined machine learning with a genetic algorithm and used inverse design to identify candidate porous structures targeting BCC- and FCC-like lattices.
The findings may have applications in advanced energy and environmental technologies that depend on precise control of molecular arrangement, including carbon capture and separation, selective catalytic reactions, and gas storage.
"This research is the first demonstration of a gas forming a crystal-like ordered state inside a porous material," said Professor Jihan Kim. He added that the work's significance lies in moving beyond conventional approaches focused primarily on increasing adsorption capacity, toward treating the arrangement of gas molecules itself as a design target.
"If this approach can be extended to more complex molecules, such as carbon dioxide or water, it could become an important starting point for designing tailored materials for gas separation and storage," Professor Kim added.
Younghun Kim and Dohoon Kim, PhD candidates in KAIST's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, are co-first authors, with Seungwoo Kim, a master's candidate, and Yunsung Lim, a PhD, serving as co-authors. The findings were published online on June 23 in the international academic journal Nature Communications.
Paper title: Framework-templated gas lattices in metal-organic frameworks
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-74776-5This work was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Project Numbers RS-2024-00451160 and RS-2024-00435493).
2026.08.11 View 202 -
KAIST Held Inauguration Ceremony for 18th President Choongsik Bae, Unveiling Vision of "Fundamentals First, Innovation Forward"
KAIST announced that it held an inauguration ceremony for its 18th president, Choongsik Bae, at the KAIST Auditorium on Monday, August 10. At the ceremony, the university unveiled "Fundamentals First, Innovation Forward" as its new vision.
The ceremony officially presented President Bae's philosophy on university governance and his vision for KAIST's future to the KAIST community and the public. Departing from the conventional format of a formal inaugural address, President Bae personally explained his vision and the strategies for implementing it. Professor Yiyun Kang of the Department of Industrial Design directed the stage production, bringing KAIST's future vision to life through an intuitive and immersive presentation.
The event built on the innovation advanced under KAIST's 17th president, Kwang Hyung Lee, while introducing new leadership and development strategies that will guide the university toward its 60th anniversary. Distinguished guests from Korea and abroad attended, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Kyung Hoon Bae, former KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee, and ambassadors to Korea from key countries.
In his inaugural address, President Bae presented "Continuity & Innovation" as the central philosophy of his administration. He aimed to preserve the values KAIST has cultivated over the past 55 years -- Creativity, Challenge, and Caring -- while pursuing innovation across education, research, entrepreneurship, and administration in response to AI-driven transformation and intensifying global competition for technological leadership.
The new vision, "Fundamentals First, Innovation Forward," rests on two foundational principles: people strongly grounded in fundamental disciplines, humanistic insight, and AI capabilities; and an organization characterized by autonomy, accountability, and efficiency. On these foundations, KAIST aims to achieve world-class excellence in education, research, entrepreneurship, and internationalization.
To realize this vision, KAIST will pursue the following five development strategies, collectively called the Beyond Series:
Beyond AI – AI for Everyone: Create a leading environment for education and research that moves beyond today's AI toward Humanistic AI, Democratic AI, and Agentic AI.
Beyond Laboratory – Innovative Research and Entrepreneurship: Move beyond the laboratory to advance deep-tech innovation in partnership with industry and society and build a global startup ecosystem.
Beyond Barriers – An Efficient and Open University: Remove barriers so that members can devote themselves to research and education, underpinned by transparent governance and a culture and systems built on trust.
Beyond Carbon – Sustainability and a Greener Future: Strengthen research to address the climate crisis and create an environmentally responsible, carbon-neutral campus grounded in ESG and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Beyond KAIST – Toward the World and the Future through Global Connect: Connect global talent, universities, research institutions, companies, and local communities; foster a more international campus; expand international joint research; and strengthen global and regional partnerships.
KAIST plans to make AI not merely a technology for specific disciplines or specialists, but a common language and general-purpose tool across all fields. By strengthening foundational education and interdisciplinary AI education, KAIST aims to push beyond merely using AI effectively toward leading AI innovation.
KAIST will also expand research in physical AI, AI that operates in the real world, including robotics, autonomous driving, and advanced manufacturing, as well as in strategic technologies such as quantum science, climate technology, and energy technology. Building on world-class basic research, KAIST will expand industry collaboration, technology commercialization, and global entrepreneurship, creating a cycle in which research outcomes drive innovation in industry and society.
KAIST will expand the establishment of corporate satellite laboratories and collaborative research centers. It will also support joint research and development with companies by building AI Autonomous Labs that integrate AI into the R&D process, creating a new research environment in which AI designs and conducts experiments and analyzes the results. The university will introduce specialized entrepreneurship education for newly admitted students and establish a model that combines classroom instruction with hands-on training, involving alumni entrepreneurs and industry professionals.
The inauguration also featured case studies of KAIST alumni using AI to drive innovation in industry and research. Dr. Hyeon-Sook Yoon from Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) presented the use of digital twins in the shipbuilding and maritime industries, while Dr. Ji-Yong Shin from Samsung Electronics' Semiconductor R&D Center discussed the use of AI in semiconductor manufacturing. Professor Joonsik Hwang of KAIST then discussed the development and applications of physical AI in automobiles, mobility, robotics, and other fields.
KAIST plans to build an AI Native Campus that organically connects AI Interactive Education in education, AI Autonomous Labs in research, AI Agent Administration in administration, and AI Energy Convergence in infrastructure.
KAIST will also build an AI-based digital administration system to streamline or eliminate unnecessary regulations and procedures so that faculty and students can focus more fully on education and research. The campus will also become a living lab where climate and energy technologies are developed and validated, while global cooperation will be strengthened by recruiting outstanding international students and faculty, expanding international joint research, and broadening dual-degree programs.
In his address, President Bae said, “We will carry forward the proud tradition we have inherited: our vision of becoming a Global Value-Creative Leading University and our C-Cube core values of Creativity, Challenge, and Caring. Building on this foundation, we will pursue the innovation needed to move toward our new goal, Fundamentals First, Innovation Forward.” He added, “Grounded in strong fundamentals across both our people and our institution, we will advance five strategic priorities—AI, global entrepreneurship, a stronger focus on education and research, sustainable growth, and internationalization—and further establish KAIST as a world-leading university.”
He also emphasized, “I will listen with an open mind and act with determination. As both a facilitator and a servant leader, I will empower every member of the KAIST community to pursue their aspirations with confidence and fulfillment. Together, we will take KAIST beyond innovation—establishing it as a university that sets new standards and a national innovation platform shaping the future of science and technology in Korea.”
President Bae is an internationally recognized mechanical engineer and energy scientist specializing in carbon-neutral transportation power systems and sustainable mobility technologies. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London. Since joining KAIST in 1998, he has served in leadership roles including Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Engineering, and Director of the Mobile Clinic Module Project during the COVID-19 pandemic, gaining broad experience in education, research, and university administration.
He has also contributed to energy and carbon-neutrality research and to national science and technology policy as chair of the International Energy Agency's Technology Collaboration Programme on Sustainable Combustion, chair of the Climate Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Science and Technology Diplomacy Advisory Committee, and chair of the Society of Carbon-Neutral Fuel Technology. He was the first Korean researcher in the powertrain field to be elected an SAE Fellow and has received honors including a Presidential Commendation and a Merit Award from the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
KAIST presented the inauguration as a ceremony marking the start of a new presidency and as a forum for sharing the university's future vision and implementation strategies. The occasion marked KAIST's move beyond "a KAIST that embraces challenges" toward "a KAIST that sets the next standard for innovation," as it pursues its goal of becoming a world-leading university for innovation.
2026.08.10 View 393 -
Twelve Years Later, KAIST’s Undergraduate Research Program Demonstrates Its Lasting Impact on Developing World-Class Talent
KAIST’s undergraduate research programs have helped launch the careers of professors at world-leading universities and experts in global industry in just over a decade. Three students featured as undergraduate researchers in 2014 have since built distinguished careers: two are now professors at leading universities in the United States, while the third works as an open innovation expert at a global pharmaceutical company. Their career paths demonstrate the lasting impact of KAIST’s Undergraduate Research Participation Program (URP) on talent development.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on Aug 9 that its Undergraduate Research Participation Program (URP), which enables undergraduate students to formulate their own research questions and experience the entire research process in faculty laboratories, has become a cornerstone of the Institute’s efforts to develop world-class researchers and science and technology professionals.
URP is one of KAIST’s flagship research education programs. It allows undergraduate students to conduct actual research projects in faculty laboratories and directly experience the entire research process, from developing research ideas to conducting experiments, analyzing data, and writing papers. Operated with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the program has conducted a total of 679 research projects over the past five years. Through these projects, students have generated a wide range of research outcomes, including publications in international academic journals, patent applications, and awards at international conferences.
“KAIST has steadily expanded research-centered education so that undergraduate students can formulate their own questions and create new knowledge in a world-class research environment,” said President Choongsik Bae. “We will continue to provide strong support through URP and other research programs enabling students to take on challenges without fear of failure and grow into science and technology leaders who drive innovation at universities and in industry around the world.”
A notable example can be found in the laboratory of Professor YongKeun Park in the Department of Physics. In 2014, KAIST highlighted the achievements of undergraduate researchers in Professor Park’s laboratory in an article titled “Professor YongKeun Park Produces Undergraduate Students with International Achievements.” The three students featured at the time have since grown into world-class researchers and professionals, each pursuing a different career in academia or industry.
Sangyeon Cho began working in a laboratory during his first year at KAIST and completed more than 30 credits of research courses by the time he graduated. One of the two first-author papers he published as an undergraduate, his review article on optical imaging techniques for malaria was featured on the cover of Trends in Biotechnology in 2012. He later earned his Ph.D. through the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program and served as an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School before joining Rice University as an assistant professor in July 2026. He currently studies technologies that use the world’s smallest nanolasers to track individual cancer cells and therapeutic cells over extended periods.
YoungJu Jo began conducting research combining microscopy and artificial intelligence as an undergraduate, building an interdisciplinary foundation early in his career. His research at the time on virtual staining and diagnosis was published in journals including Nature Cell Biology and Science Advances. He later conducted neuroscience research at Stanford University and published a first-author paper that was featured on the cover of Cell in 2022. In July 2026, Jo joined UC Berkeley as an assistant professor, where he is developing next-generation brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies capable of delivering complex information to the brain.
Seoeun Lee carried the research mindset she developed as an undergraduate into a career in industry. After earning her Ph.D. from Columbia University and working at Boston Consulting Group, she joined global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. She currently leads External Innovation activities in the company’s neuroscience division, identifying and pursuing collaborations with promising biotechnology companies through mergers and acquisitions, licensing, partnerships, and other arrangements. Her career demonstrates that undergraduate research experience can lead not only to traditional research careers but also to roles in strategy and collaboration within science- and technology-based industries.
Although the three alumni ultimately pursued careers in different settings—universities and industry—their journeys began in much the same way. During their first or second year as undergraduates, they independently sought out opportunities in laboratories and experienced research that began with questions they were personally curious about rather than merely executing assigned experiments. As an undergraduate, Sangyeon Cho conceived an idea for a super-resolution microscope after seeing a streetlight turn on while walking back to his dormitory late at night. Together with Professor Park, he developed this initial curiosity into a scientific question and ultimately into a research paper.
This undergraduate research culture continues at KAIST today. In 2023, research on GOBI, a methodology for estimating causal relationships in time-series data, involving undergraduate Seho Park as first author, was published in Nature Communications.
In 2024, undergraduate Taesik Youn, serving as first author, conducted the world’s first total synthesis of the natural product securinine G, which has potential applications in cancer treatment and drug development. In 2025, two studies involving undergraduate Minjae Kim were published. His co-first-authored research on a wearable carbon dioxide sensor for real-time breath monitoring appeared in Device, a Cell Press journal, while his lead-author study on OLED displays was published in Nature Communications. Undergraduate Jaehong Cho received both the Best Paper Award and the Distinguished Artifact Award at an IEEE international conference based on his URP research. Through URP, undergraduate-led, world-class research achievements continue to emerge across diverse fields, including drug development, wearable devices, displays, and artificial intelligence. These students are not only publishing in internationally recognized journals and receiving awards at international conferences but also developing advanced research capabilities early in their academic careers.
“These students did not become outstanding researchers through mentorship alone,” said Professor YongKeun Park. “I am grateful that KAIST has created an environment in which faculty members can conduct research alongside such exceptional students. A professor’s role, I believe, is to help students further develop the tremendous potential they already possess.”
“Research is about discovering something new, which means that undergraduate and graduate students begin from the same starting point,” he added. “What ultimately shapes a researcher is the depth of their engagement, their persistence in the face of setbacks, and their ability to formulate questions independently and seek out answers.”Questions first explored in undergraduate laboratories 12 years ago are now driving new research and innovation at universities and companies around the world. KAIST will continue to expand research opportunities through URP so that students can pursue their own questions and create new knowledge.
2026.08.10 View 413 -
KAIST Develops ‘Chameleon AI Semiconductor’ with Programmable Response Speeds
AI semiconductors are becoming more programmable. KAIST researchers have developed a device whose response characteristics can be programmed to process data changing at different speeds. The technology reduced prediction errors for time-varying data by up to 40-fold and is expected to enhance real-time AI performance in autonomous vehicles, robots, and wearable devices.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 7 that a research team led by Chair Professor Shinhyun Choi from the School of Electrical Engineering and the Graduate School of Semiconductor Technology has developed a programmable dynamic memtransistor (PDM), a semiconductor device whose time-response characteristics can be adjusted to multiple states and retained, as well as an integrated array based on the device.
A memtransistor is a next-generation semiconductor device that combines the information-storage function of memory with the computing function of a transistor. In the developed PDM, the ability to process data while retaining previous information allows its response characteristics to be adjusted and retained for incoming data.
Today’s computers and smartphones require complex software processing to analyze data that changes over time, resulting in large computational loads and high power consumption. To address this, researchers have been studying technologies that allow semiconductor hardware itself to process data directly. However, conventional devices have had fixed response speeds that cannot be changed once the device is fabricated.
The research team overcame this limitation by introducing a dual-layer structure inside the transistor, combining a charge storage layer that accumulates and processes data with an electron trapping layer that controls the response speed in a nonvolatile manner.
In the PDM developed by the research team, incoming data is processed in the charge storage layer, while the electron trapping layer controls, across multiple levels, the recovery speed at which the semiconductor returns to its original state. In experiments, the team succeeded in tuning the current recovery time over an approximately 5-fold range and the characteristic frequency over a range of more than 10-fold.
In particular, in experiments involving the prediction of data in which fast and slow changes are intricately mixed, the PDM reduced prediction errors by as much as 40 times compared with conventional fixed-response semiconductor devices. The PDM enables accurate information processing even when handwriting or object-movement speeds vary, by using response characteristics configured to match different input timescales. Once the response characteristics are set, the device remembers them without requiring a continuous external power supply, and it does not require complex preprocessing of input data. Because it is fully compatible with materials used in widely adopted commercial semiconductor processes, it is also highly advantageous for mass production and commercialization.
The research team fabricated a PDM array and used it to predict complex data, confirming that it achieved accuracy comparable to conventional software-based systems while consuming far less energy.
“This study demonstrates an AI semiconductor whose response characteristics can be programmed to efficiently process data changing at different speeds,” said Chair Professor Choi. “We expect it to become a core technology that improves the performance of AI devices such as autonomous vehicles, robots, and wearables while reducing their power consumption.”
This research was led by KAIST Graduate School of Semiconductor Technology Ph.D. candidate Dae-won Kim as the first author, with Yoonho Cho, Seokho Seo, Yujin Kim, See-On Park, Taehwan Jang, and Chaebin Park participating as co-authors. Young Taek Oh and Fellow Jae-Duk Lee of Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor R&D Center also participated as co-authors, and Chair Professor Shinhyun Choi served as the corresponding author. The research was published in July in the internationally renowned journal Nature Communications on July 4.
Paper title: Programmable memtransistor array with temporal dynamics modulation for efficient time-series data processing,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-75211-5
This research was supported by the National R&D Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the ETRI R&D Support Program of the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation, the HRD Program for Industrial Innovation of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Samsung Electronics, and others.
2026.08.07 View 704 -
KAIST Reconstructs Transparent Structures Through Dynamic Scattering Layers in a Single Shot
A KAIST research team has developed a technology that reconstructs the shape, optical thickness, and position of a transparent object hidden between two dynamic scattering layers from a single shot. The technology could enable precision inspection of transparent semiconductor and display components, as well as biomedical imaging.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 6 that a research team led by Professor Mooseok Jang from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering has developed a single-shot phase imaging technique that reconstructs a phase object — a transparent object such as glass, plastic film, or a living cell, which produces almost no visible contrast under an ordinary camera but induces a subtle shift in light called a phase change — from a single measurement, even when the object is fully enclosed between two dynamic scattering layers.
Phase objects are difficult to see with conventional cameras because they show little brightness contrast with their surroundings. However, analyzing the minute phase shift can reveal an object's morphology and optical thickness, and can be used to determine its physical thickness or refractive-index variation when the other quantity is known. For this reason, phase imaging is widely used to observe living cells without staining and to inspect transparent components in semiconductors and displays.
The challenge is that when scattering layers positioned in front of and behind an object are in motion — much like the blurred view through a foggy window — the light path continually changes, making it difficult to obtain accurate information about the object. Conventional techniques have therefore required multiple exposures of the same target, prior calibration of the scattering environment, or training an AI model on large volumes of data.
To address this, the team tightly focused the illumination onto a small spot on the first scattering layer —much like concentrating light to a point with a magnifying glass— so that the light passing through it would carry the object's information as reliably as possible.
The researchers then combined an optical model, which computes how light changes as it passes through the object and scattering layers, with an AI framework. Rather than training on a large set of reference images as conventional AI approaches do, the framework works backward from physical laws to infer the path the light must have taken to produce the measured pattern.
The process is comparable to recovering a clear image from a single blurred photograph taken in fog. Using this approach, the team succeeded in simultaneously determining the shape and thickness of a transparent object, the scattering-induced blur characteristics, and the object's position — all from a single image measuring light intensity.
The technology is expected to have applications in a wide range of fields, including precision inspection for semiconductors and displays and biomedical imaging.
"This is the first demonstration of restoring the shape and position of a transparent object from a single measurement, even in environments where light is severely scattered, such as behind fog or a diffusive film," said Professor Jang. He added that the team plans to develop the technique further so that it operates reliably in more complex environments, with applications in semiconductor inspection and biomedical imaging.
The study was co-first-authored by Yoosun Kim, a master's student, and Gookho Song, a PhD candidate, both in the KAIST Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, with Professor Jang serving as corresponding author. The paper was published in the international optics journal Optica.
Paper title: Single-shot imaging of phase objects fully enclosed by dynamic scattering layers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.593328
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea under the Ministry of Science and ICT (RS-2021-NR060086, RS-2023-00251628, RS-2026-25479811), and by a Samsung Electronics industry–academia strategic project (IO260313-15915-01).
2026.08.06 View 377 -
KAIST brings ‘giant batteries’ closer to commercialization in the AI data center era
The explosive growth of AI data centers has brought the commercialization of "giant batteries" one step closer. A KAIST research team has developed a process that cuts the production time for a core material used in large-capacity batteries by 67%, resolving the largest production bottleneck standing in the way of commercialization.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 5 that a research team led by Professor Hee-Tak Kim from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has developed a process for producing the core electrolyte of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs)—a leading candidate for large-capacity energy storage systems (ESS)—faster and more stably.
As AI data centers operate around the clock in growing numbers, large-capacity ESS that can store electricity generated from solar and wind power and supply it reliably when needed have become increasingly important.
Because VRFBs use nonflammable, water-based electrolytes, they have a lower fire risk than many conventional battery systems. And their energy-storage capacity can be scaled by increasing the amount of electrolyte stored in external tanks. This has drawn attention to VRFBs as ultra-large batteries suited to AI data centers and renewable energy storage. However, producing the vanadium electrolyte with an average oxidation state of 3.5+—the standard starting composition for VRFB operation— has been slow and costly, making it a critical obstacle to commercialization.
The conventional process first produces the electrolyte through chemical reduction—a reaction in which a chemical reducing agent causes vanadium ions to gain electrons—and then refines it through electrochemical reduction, which applies electric current to adjust the vanadium ions' electron state to the desired level. This final electrochemical step, however, relies on a costly VRFB stack and significant electrical energy, increasing both operational complexity and capital costs.Beyond the limitations of the electrochemical reduction process, the research team found, for the first time, that the alternative chemical reduction process also suffers from a distinct kinetic bottleneck. The reaction rate slows sharply at a specific point, much like highway traffic suddenly backing up at a bottleneck. This bottleneck occurs when the average vanadium oxidation state reaches approximately +4.1, an intermediate stage in the production of V3.5+ electrolyte.
In previous research, the team had replaced the conventional electrochemical adjustment step with a Pt/C-catalyzed reduction process, preventing the waste of leftover electrolyte. In the present study, it further extended the catalytic process into the bottleneck region of oxalic-acid-based chemical reduction. By switching from chemical to catalytic reduction at an average oxidation state of approximately +4.1, the team was able to bypass the slowest stage of the production process.
As a result, production time for V3.5+ electrolyte was cut by 67% compared to the conventional process. The switch also eliminated residual oxalic acid, an impurity that can degrade battery performance. The same catalyst was reused more than 2,500 times without a notable drop in performance, demonstrating the process's viability for industrial-scale production.
"This study combined reaction engineering principles with thermodynamic predictions to identify the rate-determining step in the chemical reduction and redesigned the electrolyte production process to overcome this major bottleneck to the commercialization of large-scale batteries," said Hee-Tak Kim, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He added, "By scientifically identifying the conditions under which the catalyst operates stably without degrading in the electrolyte environment, we resolved a production bottleneck relevant to industry, and we expect this to significantly accelerate the commercialization of large-capacity energy storage technology."
Kyunghwa Seok, a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, led the research as first author. The findings were published online in Advanced Energy Materials—a leading international journal in the energy field—on May 7. In particular, in recognition of its academic significance, the study was selected as the cover article for Issue 34, which is scheduled to be published online in early September.
Paper title: Streamlined V3.5+ Electrolyte Production by Leveraging Chemical and Catalytic Reductions
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71029
Authors: Kyunghwa Seok (KAIST, first author), Minseong Kang (KAIST, second author), and Hee-Tak Kim (KAIST, corresponding author).
This research was supported by Lotte Chemical.
2026.08.05 View 642