Minwoo Im, a PhD candidate in the Department of Nano Convergence Engineering, supervised by Professor Kwang-woon Jeong, has developed a 'light-induced liquid crystal display device' using surface treatment technology and photoresponsive materials, and published the findings in a leading international journal.

Surface techniques employing nanoparticles are widely used to control light-induced liquid crystals, but they suffer from defects such as scattering and deposition caused by self-aggregation. To overcome these drawbacks, Professor Kwang-woon Jeong's team designed and synthesized a novel photoresponsive molecule whose structure can be modulated by light, and chemically attached it directly to glass surfaces.

The glass surface functionalized with the photoresponsive molecules enabled successful, defect-free control of light-induced liquid crystals and demonstrated potential to be developed into a liquid crystal display device for practical use.

This research was selected as the cover article of Nanoscale (The Royal Society of Chemistry) in June 2022.

The developed display device is driven by light energy and is therefore expected to contribute positively to reducing energy consumption issues.

The lead researcher, Minwoo Im, said, "We hope the newly developed light-induced liquid crystal display device will be applied to the eco-friendly display industry," adding, "With global energy issues becoming more prominent, research and development of materials that utilize eco-friendly energy require continued strong attention."

Graduate student Minwoo Im is participating in 'Odysseus,' a STEM talent development program implemented by Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) with the support of the Jeollabuk-do Office of Education, and has received two best paper presentation awards at domestic and international conferences.