A research team led by Professors Kim Younghoon, Do Young Rag, Joung Joonyoung, and Chun Hoje (Department of Applied Chemistry) and Cho Ki Sub (Department of Advanced Materials Engineering) at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) has been selected for the 2026 National Strategic Technology Future Materials Technology Development Materials Hub under the Nano and Materials Development Project, organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea. The project title is “Establishment of a Data Hub for Metal-Halide Color-Conversion Materials for Next-Generation Displays and Development of AI-Based Intelligent Design Technology for Materials and Processes.” In addition to Kookmin University (Principal Investigator: Kim Younghoon), the lead R&D institution, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Chungbuk National University (contracted), Sungkyunkwan University, and the Korea Institute of Optical Science and Technology participated as joint R&D institutions.

The Nano and Materials Technology Development Project is led by the Ministry of Science and ICT to support the creation of future new markets and industries, the advancement of core industries, the acquisition of world-class core technologies, the expansion of research infrastructure, and the commercialization of outstanding research outcomes. Among these, the “National Strategic Technology Future Materials Technology Development Materials HUB” sector aims to secure essential new materials at an early stage by establishing a collaborative model covering the entire materials research lifecycle—from exploratory design to measurement and analysis, performance realization, and process design—using data and AI. Eligible applicants include faculty members in science and engineering fields at universities, as well as researchers at public, government-funded, and private research institutes.

Kookmin University Research Team (Department of Applied Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering) aims to reverse-engineer ultra-thin perovskite color-conversion materials for next-generation metaverse (AR/VR) displays based on an AI closed-loop and high-throughput screening (HTS) platform, and to develop optimized synthesis and process technologies for high-brightness, high-color-purity light-emitting materials. This research is expected to establish a data-driven integrated material-process exploration system, securing core technologies that dramatically shorten the development time for new materials. Consequently, it is anticipated to lead the nation’s technological competitiveness in the future next-generation display market and significantly expand the commercialization potential of various high-performance optoelectronic device materials.

The Kookmin University research team recently proposed a material reverse-engineering technology that rapidly screens and optimizes high-efficiency perovskite color-conversion materials for next-generation displays using an artificial intelligence (AI) closed-loop and high-throughput screening (HTS) platform. Based on this, the team is expanding its research into the fields of eco-friendly lead-free (Pb-free) light-emitting materials and high-performance optoelectronic devices. Previously, the team demonstrated the infinite scalability of its technology by publishing findings in world-renowned international journals such as *Nature*, *Advanced Materials*, and *Nature Communications* regarding next-generation display development and AI-driven chemical reaction prediction.

This selection for the Materials Hub project is yet another achievement that demonstrates Kookmin University’s research competitiveness in the fields of applied chemistry, advanced new materials, and artificial intelligence—areas where the university excels. This research is expected to contribute to securing core foundational technologies in the fields of AI-based material reverse engineering and high-throughput screening (HTS) for the future commercialization of next-generation displays and optoelectronic devices.