POSCO Actively Moves to Establish 'Graphene' Industry Ecosystem

Pohang City-RIST-POSTECH-Graphene Square 5-Party MOU for 'Pohang Graphene Valley Development Project'
Superior Properties Compared to Existing Materials... Applications in Semiconductors, Flexible Displays, and Various Industries
Pohang City Selects and Promotes 'Graphene' as a Core Future Leading Strategic Industry

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO is actively working to create an industrial ecosystem for "Graphene," known as the "dream new material."

On the 31st, POSCO signed a five-party business agreement at Pohang City Hall with Pohang City, RIST (Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology), POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), and Graphene Square for the "Pohang Graphene Valley Development Project."

Graphene is an advanced nanomaterial composed of carbon atoms connected in a honeycomb pattern forming a single-layer plane. It is tens of times stronger than steel and has an electron mobility over 100 times faster than silicon and copper. It is highly flexible, allowing it to be stretched or bent easily while maintaining electrical conductivity.

Due to its superior physical properties compared to existing materials, graphene can be applied in various fields such as semiconductors, flexible displays, and high-efficiency solar cells. Once mass-produced, it is expected to be utilized as a future new material across multiple industries.

To secure graphene technology leadership and commercialization capabilities, active investments are being made worldwide. In Korea, Graphene Square, an advanced nanomaterial company established in 2012, leads the industry by developing the world's first "ROLL TO ROLL continuous synthesis method" that synthesizes graphene over a wide area for mass production.

The cooperation among the five parties aims to establish an industry-academia-research-government collaboration system in Pohang to create a graphene industrial ecosystem encompassing graphene-related research, commercialization, and related industry creation.

Pohang City plans to nurture the graphene industry as a core strategic industry following steel by supporting the attraction of graphene demand companies to Pohang and the establishment of an international standard evaluation center.

RIST will support engineering for the construction of mass production facilities for graphene commercialization by utilizing its technology and personnel.

POSTECH will support analytical research on graphene application products used in semiconductors through the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, which houses Korea's only 3rd and 4th generation synchrotron radiation accelerators. The Nano Convergence Technology Institute will establish an international standard evaluation center for graphene to standardize international certification methods for graphene and its application products.

Graphene Square aims to build a graphene demo plant in Pohang and produce prototypes to establish a mass production system. To this end, it plans to lead job creation by hiring over 100 new employees starting this December.

POSCO will spare no effort in supporting Pohang's rise as a center for new material industries beyond steel by actively supporting the establishment of an industry-academia-research-government cooperation cluster based on the Pohang Venture Valley infrastructure and the growth of the graphene industry and national key component industries utilizing graphene.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.