The 2nd Intellectual Property Day Celebration Ceremony (September 4, 2019)

Hong Yong Cheol, Principal Researcher of the Plasma Technology Research Center of the NFRI was awarded a Commendation from the Minister of Science and ICT on the 2nd Intellectual Property Day.

Dr. Hong, Principal Researcher of the Plasma Technology Research Center of NFRI, has contributed to plasma-derived industries, such as plasma powder treatment, plasma gasification of low-grade coal, odor removal, green algae removal and water treatment, waste incineration, and synthesis of various nanopowders. He has applied for and registered over 130 domestic and foreign patents using plasma, leading commercialization of technologies and creating intellectual property rights; he has also published more than 120 SCI-certified papers.

Recently, by applying plasma technology to develop a thermal spray coating material used in semiconductor processes, in collaboration with a domestic company, he has made a meaningful achievement in localizing semiconductor material technologies. Since Korea has relied entirely on Japanese import of the material, the successful localization attracted even greater attention.

Spray coating, which involves spraying small particles on the surface of a product, has shown excellent performance and thus is used in various industries. The finer the particles of the spray powder and the better the fluidity, the denser and more uniform the coating will become. However, the smaller the particle size is, the lower the fluidity becomes, resulting in problems of clumping or entanglement during spraying. In order to resolve this issue, in 2017, Hong transferred plasma technology that can improve the fluidity of the powder for spray coating to Sewon Hardfacing Co., Ltd., and has promoted cooperation with the company to develop related products.

Given that plasma technology, enabling the production of high-quality fine spray powder, can be utilized in various material industries in addition to semiconductor processes, Hong plans to continue research on localization of material technologies by taking advantage of the technology.