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Weak Hydrogen Bonds Dethrone Copper's Stability, Opening a New Path for Ion Selection
Copper has been knocked off the top of a stability ranking it had dominated for decades. Without altering the atoms directly bonded to the metal, a KAIST research team reversed the longstanding trend in which copper generally forms the most stable complexes by tuning only the weak hydrogen bonds in its surrounding environment. The findings could open new avenues for selective metal separation and recognition, as well as catalyst design.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 6 that a research team led by Professor Yunjung Baek of the Department of Chemistry developed a "metal complex"—a structure in which several molecules surround and bond to a central metal— using a ligand based on the flavin framework found in vitamin B2. By tuning the hydrogen bonding around the metal, the team achieved a stability trend that runs opposite to the widely accepted Irving–Williams series.
The Irving–Williams series is an empirical rule that ranks how stably transition metals—such as iron, nickel, and copper, which bond with other substances in a variety of ways—bind to surrounding molecules. Among manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), stability is generally known to increase moving from manganese toward copper, with copper forming particularly stable bonds.
This difference has been understood to arise from each metal's electronic structure, meaning how its electrons are arranged. In other words, which metal forms the more stable complex has long been considered largely determined by the metal's own inherent properties.
Until now, changing this order typically required either designing a new ligand, the molecule that directly grips the metal, or altering the coordination structure, the way the metal bonds with surrounding molecules.
The research team instead focused on hydrogen bonding, a force that acts outside the direct metal bonding region. Hydrogen bonds are relatively weak forces between molecules that help hold the surrounding structure in a fixed shape.
Using flavin derivatives, versions of flavin with part of their chemical structure modified, the team incorporated different metals ranging from manganese to zinc, while ensuring that all the metals shared the same basic coordination geometry. By keeping the basic conditions around each metal identical, the researchers were able to examine what difference hydrogen bonding alone made to each metal's stability.
The results showed that hydrogen bonding specifically blocks the structural change copper needs to become stable. Copper has a distinctive tendency to slightly reshape its surrounding bonding structure into a form that favors its own stability, much like a person shifting slightly to find the most comfortable posture.
In the structure developed by the team, however, the surrounding hydrogen-bonded framework constrained the geometry around copper, preventing it from adopting its preferred distorted structure. As a result, copper lost much of the additional stabilization it would normally gain through structural distortion, producing what the researchers describe as an anti–Irving–Williams trend.
What matters most is not simply that copper was displaced from the top of the ranking, but that the study demonstrated the relative stability of metal complexes, long regarded as being largely determined by the intrinsic properties of each metal, can be adjusted by changing the surrounding environment. For example, if a desired metal can be made to bond more strongly while others bond more weakly within a mixture, the principle could provide a basis for developing systems that selectively extract or recover target metals.
This principle could also be applied to catalyst design, where the surrounding environment is tuned so that a desired metal performs more effectively. Just as proteins and enzymes in the human body select the metal they need from among iron, copper, zinc, and others, the approach is also expected to offer a new method for designing biomimetic systems that replicate the operating principles of living organisms to achieve a desired function.
Professor Yunjung Baek said, "The key point of this study is not simply that we lowered copper's stability, but that we showed the order of bonding stability, long regarded as an inherent property of each metal, can be changed through the surrounding environment." She added that the approach is expected to be used to design new chemical systems that selectively capture or react with a desired metal.
The research also drew attention at the International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC), held in Denmark. Haneul Im, a combined master's and PhD student in KAIST's Department of Chemistry and the study's first author, presented the work as a poster and was the only Korean student to receive a Best Poster Award. The study, with Haneul Im as first author, was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) on September 3. JACS published by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Paper title: When Copper Falls: Overriding the Irving–Williams Stability Trend through Outer-Sphere Hydrogen Bonding,
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c10430
Author information: Haneul Im (KAIST, first author), Neetu Singh (KAIST, joint second author), Seogyeon Kwon (IBS, joint second author), Changhyeon Seo (KAIST, third author), Nak-Kwan Chung (KRISS, fourth author), and Yunjung Baek (KAIST, corresponding author). Six authors in total.
This work was supported by the Young Scientist Grants program of the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).
2026.09.07 View 258 -
KAIST Tames a Semiconductor Greenhouse Gas 6,000 Times More Potent Than CO₂ with the ‘Power of Disorder’
Among the gases used in semiconductor manufacturing, tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) is a greenhouse gas over 6,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. A KAIST research team has developed a technology that removes this gas with high efficiency while extending the usable lifetime of the catalyst that helps break it down by harnessing the ‘power of disorder,’ in which mixing multiple metal atoms together actually stabilizes the catalyst’s structure.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on September 3 that a research team led by Professor Minkee Choi from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, working in collaboration with researchers from Samsung Electronics, has developed a new catalyst capable of removing CF₄, a greenhouse gas used in processes such as the fabrication of fine semiconductor circuits with high efficiency over long periods of use.
CF₄ is used in processes such as dry etching, in which unwanted portions of a semiconductor wafer are selectively removed to create fine circuit patterns. The problem lies in the CF₄ left over after use. Because its carbon and fluorine atoms are bound together extremely tightly, the gas does not easily decompose, and once released into the atmosphere, it can persist for roughly 50,000 years. Its impact on global warming is also more than 6,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
To prevent CF₄ from being released as is, semiconductor manufacturing sites currently decompose it at high temperatures using steam and a catalyst. A catalyst speeds up chemical reactions, much like those used to reduce pollutants in car exhaust.
However, conventional catalysts have suffered from declining performance the longer they are used. This is because hydrogen fluoride (HF), generated as CF₄ decomposes, combines with moisture to create a highly corrosive environment, causing the catalyst’s fine particles to aggregate or its structure to change. When small catalyst particles clump together into larger masses, the surface area in contact with the CF₄ to be treated shrinks, and performance declines accordingly.
The research team solved this problem, paradoxically, by harnessing the ‘power of disorder.’
Mixing multiple atom types creates a complex, disordered structure that resists phase changes and remains stable. This process is called entropy stabilization. In simple terms, it is a principle in which evenly mixing multiple kinds of atoms makes it difficult for a catalyst to clump together or change into another structure.
Using this principle, the research team evenly incorporated multiple metals — aluminum (Al), zinc (Zn), gallium (Ga), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co) — into a single aluminate crystal structure. Aluminate is a material in which several metals are bonded around a basic framework of aluminum and oxygen. Through this approach, the team developed an ‘entropy-stabilized aluminate (ESA) catalyst’ that resists aggregation and structural deformation even under the harsh conditions of high temperature, moisture, and fluorine occurring together.
The performance gap was clear. The new catalyst’s intrinsic activity for decomposing CF₄ was approximately 2.3 times higher than that of a conventional alumina catalyst. Notably, in an accelerated test conducted at about 800°C for 150 hours, the CF₄ conversion of the conventional alumina catalyst dropped from 93% to 48%. The new catalyst, by contrast, maintained a high level, declining only from 98% to 92%. This demonstrated that the catalyst can remove CF₄ with high efficiency while sustaining its performance over extended periods.
The researchers also revealed the decomposition mechanism of CF₄. To do this, they used oxygen isotopes, which allow the movement of oxygen atoms to be tracked. In simple terms, this involves attaching a ‘tag’ to oxygen atoms so that where the oxygen comes from and where it moves to during the reaction can be traced.
The results confirmed that the catalyst first uses the oxygen within its own structure to decompose CF₄, and that the reaction continues as surrounding steam replenishes the oxygen that has been depleted. In effect, the catalyst functions as a kind of ‘oxygen refill system,’ in which steam restores the oxygen the catalyst draws upon. Through this, the research team provided the world’s first experimental confirmation of a CF₄ decomposition process that had previously only been proposed in theory.
The significance of this research goes beyond developing a single catalyst that decomposes CF₄ effectively; it presents a new catalyst design strategy capable of achieving both high decomposition performance and a long service life at the same time. The approach is expected to be applicable to the future development of catalysts for treating a range of semiconductor process gases by varying the types and combinations of metals used.
Professor Choi said, “By applying the principle that disorder in nature can actually make a structure more stable to catalyst design, we achieved both high CF₄ decomposition performance and long-term stability at the same time.” He added, “This work is meaningful in that it presents a new materials design strategy that can be extended to catalysts for treating a range of semiconductor process gases by varying the types and combinations of metals used.”
The study was led by Dr. Seunghyuck Chi, a postdoctoral researcher in KAIST’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who served as first author, with researchers from Samsung Electronics participating as co-authors. The findings were published in June in the international chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Paper title: Entropy-Stabilized Aluminate Catalysts that Break the Activity–Stability Tradeoff in CF₄ Hydrolysis,
DOI: 10.1002/anie.6752036
This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (RS‐2024‐00333937 and RS‐2024‐00405261).
2026.09.03 View 492 -
KAIST Skin-Conformable Micro-LED Mask Boosts Skin Rejuvenation, Brightening, and Synergistic Benefits with Polynucleotide (PN) Injections
Home beauty devices that let users care for their skin conveniently at home have grown popular recently, but conventional LED masks are limited not only by their rigid structures but also by their point-emitting LEDs, which must be positioned away from the skin to spread light over a broader area. This inherently prevents close skin contact and increases optical loss.
KAIST (President Chung-Sik Bae) announced on September 2 that a joint research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering confirmed skin-brightening and elasticity-improving effects using a face-conforming LED mask. The mask combines a flexible surface-emitting micro-LED layer, consisting of a dense micro-LED array and a light-diffusing layer for uniform illumination, with a three-dimensional elastic scaffold that conforms to facial contours.
In a 2024 study published in Advanced Materials, Professor Lee clinically demonstrated that a flexible surface-emitting micro-LED mask produced up to 340% greater improvement in deep skin elasticity than conventional LED masks.
In the present study, the 3D elastic scaffold adapted to different facial contours, increasing skin-contact area from 46.9% to 78.1% and reducing the light-source-to-skin distance to 1.8 mm, while achieving 93.83% light uniformity across eight facial measurement sites.
The researchers evaluated the mask in a split-face clinical study involving 33 participants. All of the participants received PN injections across the entire face, while the micro-LED mask was applied to only one side for eight weeks. The micro-LED-treated side showed greater improvement across all five skin-brightening indices, including skin brightness, tone uniformity, skin exfoliation, melasma count, and melasma area. Consistent with the clinical findings, human-derived skin tissue treated with micro-LEDs also showed reduced expression of the melanogenesis-related markers MITF and TYR, supporting a direct contribution of the LED treatment to the brightening effect. PN injections are primarily known for skin rejuvenation, with limited evidence of a direct skin-brightening effect when used alone.
The synergy between PN injection and the micro-LED mask was also evident in skin regeneration and post-procedure recovery. Deep skin elasticity improved by 12.8% on the LED+PN side, compared with 3.1% on the PN-only side, representing approximately 4.1 times the improvement observed with PN alone. Skin-barrier recovery was faster, while post-procedure redness was reduced to a greater extent, consistent with the known anti-inflammatory and tissue-repair effects of red-light photobiomodulation. These findings suggest that the LED mask may boost mitochondrial ATP production in the skin and activate regenerative responses that PN alone cannot fully induce.
Professor Lee said, “This study clinically demonstrates that home-use LED masks can extend beyond skin rejuvenation to skin brightening and highlights the importance of delivering light in close contact with the skin. When combined with in-clinic skin-rejuvenation injections, the mask can substantially improve skin elasticity and accelerate post-procedure recovery, creating a new clinic-to-home care platform.”
This study was conducted jointly by researchers from KAIST and AMOREPACIFIC. A related product based on the technology is scheduled to launch in Japan in Q4 2026 and enter the U.S. market in Q1 2027.
The resulting paper, titled “Clinical validation of skin brightening and rejuvenation enabled by a skin-conformable surface-emitting micro-LED mask with injection,” was published in Nano Energy
(Vol. 157, Article 112288; DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2026.112288).
2026.09.02 View 505 -
KAIST and Caltech Build Global Co-Mentoring Model for Next-Gen Researchers
KAIST is building a new global cooperation model with the Caltech — a world-renowned U.S. research institution — that goes beyond joint research to jointly nurture next-generation researchers as well.
KAIST, led by President Choongsik Bae, is holding the 1st KAIST-Caltech Joint Workshop on Molecular Science and Chemical Innovation with the Caltech in the United States from September 1 to 2.
The workshop is designed not merely to share the latest research achievements in advanced molecular science and future chemical technologies, but to build a sustainable framework of cooperation that links joint research and talent development, extending even to the shared use of research facilities.
At this workshop, particular attention is being given to establishing and operating the KAIST-Caltech Global Research Fellow (KCGRF) platform, a joint mentoring program for postdoctoral researchers.
KCGRF is a program in which faculty members from both institutions identify joint research topics and jointly select and mentor postdoctoral researchers. By enabling participating researchers to experience the research environments of both KAIST and Caltech, the program aims to nurture next-generation scientists with strong international research capabilities.
This joint initiative represents a concrete practice model of KAIST's Global Connect strategy. The vision goes beyond simple exchange with overseas universities. It aims to realize a collaborative internationalization, in which talent, knowledge, and research ideas flow between the two institutions, leading to joint research and the joint training of next-generation researchers.
Caltech is a world-renowned research institution with a long-standing tradition of excellence in the natural sciences, including chemistry and physics, and has produced numerous Nobel laureates. KAIST plans to combine Caltech's basic science research capabilities with KAIST's strengths in AI-driven and autonomous research to jointly pioneer new research topics in the field of future chemistry.
Collaboration between KAIST and Caltech began in 2024 through the BrainLink program, which supports exchanges among outstanding researchers. Centered on the Nitrogen-Hydrogen Synergy Hub Research Center, led by Professor Hyungjun Kim of the KAIST Department of Chemistry, the two institutions have continued joint research and researcher exchanges. This year, the partnership expanded further after being selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Top-Tier Research Institution Cooperation Platform and Joint Research Support Program. Through this program, KAIST launched the Center for Intelligent Circular Chemical Ecosystem Innovation, led by Professor Sang Woo Han of the KAIST Department of Chemistry.
Building on this cooperation, the KAIST Department of Chemistry and Caltech’s Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March 2026, further strengthening their collaborative framework. The two institutions plan to hold joint workshops every year, match faculty members for joint mentoring, identify postdoctoral researchers, promote reciprocal research visits, and establish a sustainable operating structure for the joint mentoring program.
At the workshop, researchers are exploring new opportunities for collaboration in key fields shaping the future of chemistry, including AI for chemistry, autonomous laboratories, computational and theoretical chemistry, molecular science, catalysis, synthesis, electrochemistry, and sustainable and circular chemistry. KAIST is also pursuing plans to jointly utilize its autonomous laboratories in synthesis and electrochemistry with Caltech researchers. By jointly utilizing this advanced research environment, in which AI supports experimental design, execution, and data analysis, researchers from both institutions plan to expand the speed and scope of their joint research.
In addition, the two institutions plan to promote short-term reciprocal visits by graduate students, building a sustainable human and academic exchange system that connects graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members. The vision goes beyond one-off, project-centered cooperation, aiming to build a long-term foundation in which next-generation researchers from both institutions naturally interact and create new joint research.
The Center for Intelligent Circular Chemical Ecosystem Innovation aims to build a new chemical technology platform that contributes to carbon neutrality and the circular economy by developing intelligent chemical upcycling technologies that convert chemical industry byproducts into high-value chemicals and materials.
Professor Sang Woo Han of KAIST's Department of Chemistry said, "Through this workshop, we aim to expand the KAIST-Caltech collaboration from joint research to a stage where we jointly nurture next-generation researchers." He added, "By connecting the strengths of both institutions, we will work to create new research topics and achievements in the field of future chemistry."
President Choongsik Bae of KAIST said, "KAIST's international cooperation is about building relationships in which outstanding universities, people, and knowledge from around the world flow back and forth and grow together." He emphasized, "By expanding collaboration with world-class research institutions such as Caltech, we will carry KAIST's 'Global Connect' forward into concrete achievements."
Professor Sarah Reisman from Caltech’s Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, “Caltech and KAIST chemistry faculty have a long history of student exchanges and research collaboration, and this workshop is a wonderful opportunity to bring our faculty together and launch new projects supported by the Center for Intelligent Circular Chemical Ecosystem Innovation.” She added, “We are delighted to continue our strong partnership with KAIST.”
2026.09.02 View 383 -
KAIST Develops Smartphone-Based Technology to Detect Hidden Cameras
A smartphone can now be transformed into a “hidden-camera detector.” KAIST researchers have developed an AI technology that can detect hidden cameras using only a smartphone and a low-cost LED device. This new security technology enables users to protect their privacy more easily and is expected to help prevent illegal filming in everyday spaces such as hotels and short-term rentals.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on August 30 that a research team led by Professor Jun Han of the School of Computing, in collaboration with the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University, has developed “SweepLED,” a technology that detects hidden cameras by attaching an LED case to a smartphone.
As hidden cameras are increasingly being installed in everyday spaces such as hotels, short-term rentals, and restrooms, the need is growing for detection technology that everyday users can easily use. However, existing portable detectors require users to visually identify bright reflective spots, which can lead to false positives by mistaking reflections from metal, glass, or glossy plastic surfaces for camera lenses.
SweepLED works by keeping the smartphone camera fixed while changing only the direction of the LED illumination, then analyzing the patterns of reflected light that appear on object surfaces. Reflections from ordinary glossy objects tend to move or disappear depending on the direction of the light. In contrast, camera lenses show distinctive deformation patterns in their reflections due to their internal lens, aperture, and sensor structures.
The research team uses deep learning-based analysis to distinguish these differences in temporal reflection patterns. While conventional detection methods rely on the user’s eyes to simply look for “bright spots,” SweepLED is different in that it analyzes both the movement and shape changes of reflections across multiple lighting angles.
This enables more reliable detection of hidden camera lenses inside various everyday objects commonly found in lodging spaces, such as chargers, clocks, remote controls, and everyday objects.
The research team evaluated SweepLED on 30 objects that may be found in real-world environments and found that it achieved approximately 94% detection accuracy. It also took less than five seconds to inspect a single object.
In addition, the core components of the LED case attached to the smartphone cost less than USD 7, or about KRW 10,000, demonstrating the potential for this technology to be developed into an affordable detection tool that general users can easily access.
Professor Jun Han said, “Hidden cameras pose a serious threat to personal safety and privacy in everyday spaces,” adding, “This research is meaningful in that it combines low-cost smartphone-based hardware with AI analysis to present the possibility of a practical detection technology that even non-experts can use.”
This paper, with KAIST doctoral student Jonghyuk Yun as first author, was presented on June 20 at ACM MobiSys 2026, one of the leading international conferences in the field of mobile computing.
Paper title: Hide-and-Sweep: Detecting Concealed Cameras via LED Illumination Sweeps
https://doi.org/10.1145/3812835.3814866
Author information: Jonghyuk Yun (first author), Jaeyoung Moon, Yunseo Park, Sean Rui Xiang Tan, Byunghyun Kim, Rajesh Krishna Balan, and Professor Jun Han (corresponding author)
This research was supported by the STEAM Global Convergence Research Support Program and the Mid-Career Researcher Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2026.08.31 View 5764 -
KAIST Develops Core Technology to Reverse Biological Changes Once Thought Irreversible, Opening New Possibilities for Aging and Cancer Research
Once a cell has locked into an abnormal state — the way cancer cells do — can it ever be restored back to normal? A KAIST research team has identified the ‘molecular lock’ that keeps cells trapped in an altered state, opening a new path toward releasing that lock and reversing a cell’s fate.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced on the 21st of August that a research team led by Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering has, for the first time, identified the causal circuits responsible for irreversibility in intracellular molecular networks and developed a fundamental control technology called ROOT that can regulate these circuits and restore biological states to their original condition.
Cells in the human body change their state in response to external stimuli. In many cases, however, these state changes are irreversible, in the sense that cells do not return to their original state even after the stimulus disappears.
Irreversibility is essential for maintaining normal biological processes, such as a cell differentiating into one with a specific function. At the same time, it can also drive disease progression — for example, in epithelial–mesenchymal transition, which gives cancer cells the ability to migrate into and invade surrounding tissue.
Complicating matters, the circuits that maintain these state changes inside a cell are highly intricate: more than a thousand positive feedback loops are woven throughout the network, in which one molecule activates a series of other molecules that in turn reactivate the original molecule. This is similar to the feedback screech produced when a microphone is placed next to a speaker, where a sound repeatedly amplifies itself. Even a change that starts with an external stimulus can persist after the stimulus is gone, simply because the cell’s own molecules keep reinforcing one another. Until now, it has been extremely difficult to determine which of these countless circuits is actually responsible for locking a cell into an irreversible state.
To solve this problem, the team developed ROOT technology, short for Revelation Of the Original circuit of irreversible Transition, which works by representing intracellular regulatory processes as computational logic models and analyzing them through systems biology techniques. Using ROOT, the research team successfully simulated the process in which cells maintain a signal even after an external stimuli is removed, allowing them to identify a set of core circuits that cause irreversibility, which they defined as the “irreversibility kernel.”
Going beyond identifying the cause, the team also proposed two groundbreaking control strategies.
The first, “resetting control,” restores a cell to its state before the change while leaving the cell’s underlying irreversible property intact — comparable to leaving the lock itself in place, but opening the locked door and returning to the starting point.
The second, “reversing control,” removes the source of irreversibility itself, allowing a cell to move freely between different states — comparable to disabling the mechanism that automatically locks a door each time it closes, so that afterward the door can be opened and closed again.
The team applied the new technique to various biological models, including B-cell differentiation, epithelial–mesenchymal transition in lung cancer, and enterocyte and beta-cell differentiation models based on single-cell transcriptome data, in which the ROOT method accurately identified causal circuits that matched known cell-fate determinants. The team also proposed more effective resetting control strategies, demonstrating that the method can be broadly applied even to models built from real experimental data.
Rather than simply removing cells that have become fixed in an abnormal state, as in cancer or aging, the technology is expected to help identify and control the core circuits that keep cells trapped in that state, enabling new treatment strategies that restore cells to a normal condition.
Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho said, “The core achievement of this study is identifying the causal circuits behind cells that, once changed, do not return to their original state, and developing a technology to control these circuits and restore cells to their previous condition.” He added, “We expect this technology to be used in developing new treatment strategies that restore abnormally fixed cell states — such as those seen in cancer and aging — back to normal.”
This study was co-led by Dr. Jongwan Kim and Dr. Seong-Hoon Jang of KAIST’s Department of Bio and Brain Engineering as co-first authors, with participation from Dr. Jonghoon Lee and Ph.D. student Corbin Hopper. The research was published on August 13 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), one of the world’s leading scientific journals.
Paper title: The structural origin of irreversible transitions in biological networks,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2600800123
This research was supported by the Mid-Career Researcher Program and the Basic Research Laboratory Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.21 View 1449 -
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 1032 -
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 865 -
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 2030 -
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 1855 -
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 1599 -
KAIST Develops Marine Carbon Removal Technology That Turns Carbon Dioxide in Seawater into “Stone” for Permanent Storage
A new pathway has opened to enhance the ocean’s natural ability to clean the planet. KAIST researchers have developed a technology that converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into “stone,” or minerals, preventing it from returning to the atmosphere and enabling permanent storage. The achievement is expected to help the ocean absorb more carbon dioxide and accelerate the commercialization of next-generation marine carbon removal technologies.
KAIST (President Choongsik Bae) announced that a research team led by Professor Dong-Yeun Koh from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with Professor T. Alan Hatton’s group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed an electrochemical dissolved ocean carbon removal (e-DOC) technology that converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into calcium carbonate (CaCO₃), a stable mineral form, enabling virtually permanent carbon storage.
The ocean is the planet’s largest carbon reservoir, absorbing about 30% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Just as water naturally refills a large container when some is removed, removing carbon dioxide from seawater enables the ocean to absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The research team developed a technology that converts dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), the carbon species dissolved in seawater, into a mineral form that does not return to the atmosphere. Once stored in this form, the carbon is effectively prevented from returning to the air, allowing the ocean to continue absorbing new carbon dioxide. Such technologies are gaining attention as key carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions for responding to climate change.
However, conventional technologies have faced a major challenge: mineral scaling. Much like limescale building up inside a kettle, minerals such as calcium carbonate adhere to electrode surfaces and clog the system. As operation continues, performance declines, requiring frequent cleaning or replacement of components and increasing both energy consumption and maintenance costs.
To overcome this issue, the research team developed a hollow fiber electrode assembly (HFEA), a device composed of bundled hollow, thread-like electrodes. In this structure, minerals form outside the electrode surface rather than directly on it, while hydrogen bubbles naturally generated during the reaction act like a brush, continuously cleaning the electrode surface and preventing mineral buildup.
In experiments using Jeju lava seawater, the team successfully operated the device continuously and stably for more than 120 hours. The system removed 80–90% of dissolved inorganic carbon from seawater and reduced electricity consumption by up to 54% compared with existing technologies. In addition, the process simultaneously produced high-purity hydrogen (H₂) and magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)₂), a material used in eco-friendly products and industrial applications, further improving its economic potential.
The newly developed device can be produced in a compact, modular form, making it suitable for installation on ships, offshore plants, and other marine industrial facilities. The research team expects the technology to be scaled up into large-scale marine carbon removal systems that can contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and responding to climate change.
Professor Dong-Yeun Koh said, “This technology converts carbon dioxide dissolved in seawater into a mineral form that does not return to the atmosphere, enabling permanent storage and helping the ocean continuously absorb new carbon dioxide,” adding, “We expect this work to accelerate the commercialization of marine carbon removal technologies and contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.”
This study was co-led by KAIST Ph.D. candidate Inhwan Park of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Dr. Young Hun Lee of MIT, who received his Ph.D. from KAIST in 2023 and is currently affiliated with the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT, as co-first authors. The paper was published online on June 19, 2026, in the international journal Advanced Energy Materials.
Paper title: A Compact Hollow Fiber Electrode Assembly Architecture for Continuous Electrochemical Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71205
This research was supported by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, as well as the Global C.L.E.A.N. Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
2026.08.04 View 1505