SEOUL, KOREA — Big things come in small packages. As man expands the world and discovers new possibilities, size becomes an essential property of our technological revolution. With the emergence of new technologies, miniaturization is the name of the game.
February 16, 2012 marks the eventful agreement between Dr. Lee Keon-woong who leads his Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center at the Korea Electro-technology Research Institute (KERI) and Sang Bo Corporation (Sang Bo). This agreement allows for mass production and commercialization of graphene, one of the most prominent and desired nanomaterials of the current age. It will provide the soft electronic technology necessary to produce computers that can be folded, fitted into bags, and even wound around wrists.
National Consensus on Graphene’s Significance
Graphene is a two-dimensional nanomaterial with the thickness of a single atom. Its quantum mechanical structure possesses excellent electric, physical, and chemical features, making it the most ideal material for application due to its high electric conductivity and charge mobility. This finding led to an explosion of related studies over recent years. Hence, the technology has been the center of attention in both public and private sectors. The Korean government launched a KRW 210 billion program to develop graphene and to promote this technology. Under this national consensus and drive to enhance this technology, KERI, one of the leading national public research centers, joined forces with the most renowned company in graphene manufacturing.
Led by Dr. Lee Keon-woong and KERI, this development is the result of a project that commenced in 2010 aimed at developing technology for the mass production of graphene. As it proved to become a success, the team decided to transfer the technology to Sang Bo for mass production of high-quality graphene and flexible electrode applications. The company will also secure and preoccupy a better national position in leading the related technologies and industries.
Differentiated development technology yields academic and technological success with a view to commercialization.
The development of high-quality and highly-efficient graphene was selected as one of the world’s six most challenging tasks by the Korean Research Council for Industrial Science & Technology in November 2011. However, there were even more challenges and limits to overcome in terms of commercialization.
In order to commercialize the two-dimensional nano-material, Dr. Lee and his team not only secured technologies to mass-produce graphene using top-down black lead exfoliation, but manufactured highly concentrated, diffusive solutions and pastes. They subsequently secured a nano-fusion technology that could be applied to promote highly functional, flexible, and transparent electrodes by integrating with the technologies pertaining to graphene and carbon nanotube hybrids.
Based on the technology, the adjustment of density and viscosity became convenient and enabled a direct use of electronic printing ink for the materialization of soft electronics in the near future. Furthermore, the preoccupation of proprietary technologies for the application of various mass-produced graphene devices secures even more competitiveness in graphene applications.
The chemical exfoliation of black lead applied by Dr. Lee and his team entirely deviates from the existing method called chemical vapor deposition, which is currently used in the commercialization of graphene. Developed by KERI, this technology utilizes high concentration and diffusion of high-quality graphene from larger areas as well as in the mass-production of pastes. In February 2011, the research team’s performance was published twice in ACS NANO, a foremost international journal that features the latest proprietary nanotechnology. The mass production of pastes and multi-porous powders, as well as highly concentrated solutions where graphene extracted from black lead is thinly and evenly distributed and maintained, will connect electronic printing processes for next-generation flexible electric, electronic, and energy devices (i.e. computers that can be wound around wrists like watches or folded to fit into bags).
February 16, 2012 marks the eventful agreement between Dr. Lee Geon-Woong who leads his Nano Hybrid Technology Research Center at KERI and SBK.
Graphene Replaces ITO
The wide range of applications includes medicine, industry, and communication. KERI’s graphene mass-production technology can be applied to transparent electrodes combining carbon nanotubes and graphene to replace Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), diverse flexible electrodes such as flexible displays and solar batteries, energy device electrodes, electronic wave-preventive film, transparent heaters, smart windows, and sensors. At the same time, successful and strategic commercialization will stimulate the development of user-friendly smart electronic devices, providing the most convenient portable forms that can function anytime and anywhere under any circumstances. From a rigid and crude technology, it will promote the innovative, next-generation soft electronics that will change the electric, electronic, and energy device paradigm in the 21st century. It is expected to replace silicon, one of the main materials used in the past century.
Market projections lead to stronger motivation
According to Standard Resources, NanoMarkets 2010, the world’s market size for graphene nano-technology as an electrically functional nano-carbon material is projected to be KRW 24 trillion by 2018, while the domestic market size is expected to grow as large as KRW 4 trillion by 2015. The technology transfer for the mass production of high-grade graphene and application of flexible devices via fusion of carbon nanotubes and graphene involves the first payment of KRW 500 million with a running royalty of 2.7%.
The company plans to supplement the technology in transparent conductive carbon nanotube film transferred by KERI and apply it to capacitive overlay currently widely applied to smartphones. This is likely to replace ITO: an early commercialization will secure a leading edge in the technology for the country. KERI and Sang Bo expect that the technology transfer and commercialization will reduce manufacturing costs by KRW 200 billion in the next five years and produce an effect to completely replace imports, amounting to USD 4.2 million. Sang Bo plans to achieve sales of KRW 600 billion for the next five years by investing KRW 40 billion in technologies for the conveyance and propagation of capacitive overlay transparent electrode film, solar and fuel cells, and flexible display electrode materials.
|
• Graphene: Graphene is a flat mono-layer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice, and is a basic building block for graphite materials of all other dimensionalities. This material moves electrons 100 times faster than silicon and is 200 times stronger than steel. • Printing Electronic Process: This is defined as a new process to produce various electronic products such as electronic circuits, sensors and elements by utilizing a printing process. • Indium Tin Oxide: Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coating film has been used in transparent electrodes of various flat displays such as touch screen displays. ITO coating film is expensive and is in short supply. Graphene is emerging as a replacement for ITO film. • World No. 1 Challenge Tasks: Tasks to achieve the development of the best technologies in the world selected by the Korea Research Council for Industrial Science and Technology in order to secure future growth engines for the nation. |
