SEOUL, November 12 (AJP) - A Sookmyung Women's University chemist who develops electrode materials for next-generation batteries has been named South Korea's top young inorganic chemist, the university said.
Choi Jae-won, a professor in Sookmyung's Department of Chemistry, received the 17th Young Inorganic Chemist Award on Oct. 28 at the Korean Chemical Society's 138th general meeting and conference, held at the Suwon Convention Center. The society's inorganic chemistry division cited his record of 97 papers in SCI-indexed international journals, 64 of them as lead or corresponding author, and his research strength in energy storage.
The award goes each year to a researcher aged 45 or under who has built an independent research program and made a substantial contribution to the development of inorganic chemistry in South Korea.
Choi works on composite electrode materials, the components inside a battery where energy is actually stored and released, for devices that could succeed today's lithium-ion cells. Drawing on inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry and advanced materials analysis, his group studies how electrode materials behave during charging and discharging, and uses computer simulations to identify promising new materials before they are made in the lab.
His research has been funded through the National Research Foundation of Korea's early-career researcher program, its Basic Research Laboratory program and the fourth-stage BK21 education and research initiative, along with a project commissioned by POSCO Holdings. He also runs joint studies with universities in the United States and elsewhere.
"It is deeply meaningful that the years I have spent on redox-active functional inorganic materials, in the belief that materials will ultimately decide the future of energy storage, have led to this award," Choi said. "I will do my best to keep producing research of real value."
Choi also delivered an award lecture at the conference on the synthesis and application of redox-active functional inorganic materials for energy storage.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.