Jeongin Jeon and Jungseob Chung, master's students in the Department of New Materials Engineering at Kookmin University's Graduate School of General Studies, were recently selected for the Korea Research Foundation's Master's Student Research Grant Program. 

From left, Jeongin Jeon and Chungsup Jung

Jeongin Jeon was selected for the 2024 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Graduate Student Research Grant Program for “Lattice Oxygen-Driven Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions” for his research on green hydrogen/oxygen production and bifunctional catalysts based on lattice oxygen-mediated mechanisms. The research plans to develop an electrocatalyst that can efficiently generate both oxygen and hydrogen from water electrolysis based on transition metals, with the ultimate goal of developing a more efficient and stable water electrolysis catalyst than the currently commonly used noble metal-based catalysts such as iridium (Ir) and platinum (Pt). This research is expected to bring the hydrogen energy industry closer to commercialization.

Jungseob Chung was selected for a graduate student research grant for his project titled 'Branched Hydrophilic Polymer Coating with Enhanced Redox Kinetics for Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries'. The research aims to improve the battery life and performance of aqueous zinc-ion batteries, the next generation of eco-friendly batteries. Furthermore, it proposes a coating method and mechanism to improve the stability of hydrophilic polymer coating layers in aqueous electrolyte environment, thus providing a new direction for zinc electrode surface coating methods.