Professor Nam Chang-woo's team (College of Engineering Dept.of Carbon Composites Convergence Materials Engineering) achieved the publication of two studies on polymer-based sustainable environmental materials in international environmental journals.

In particular, these studies were led as first-author research by students who had participated in the team's own undergraduate research program (Undergraduate Research Program, URP) and later enrolled as graduate students in the same group. This outcome can be seen as the fruition of the professor's educational philosophy to identify and cultivate outstanding research talent in advance.

The students who published papers in international journals this time are Gwak Young-woo, a master's student, and Kang Jin-hyeok, an integrated master's–doctoral program student, of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Dept.of Carbon Composites Convergence Materials Engineering.

Master's student Gwak Young-woo published a research paper titled 'Upcycling of PVC waste to high-value sorbent with KOH-activation for efficient removal of organic dyes' in Chemosphere (IF=8.8, Top=8.93%).

This paper proposes an environmentally friendly upcycling approach for waste PVC, a plastic waste that has become a social problem. The study confirmed that, after removing harmful components from PVC, the material exhibits excellent adsorption performance capable of removing trace pollutants contained in water.

In addition, Kang Jin-hyeok, an integrated master's–doctoral program student, published as first author the paper titled 'Solar-heated Mono-domain-structured Ferrimagnetic Cellulosic Sponge Fabricated by Using Bidirectional Freeze Casting for Energy-efficient Liquid Adsorption' in Chemical Engineering Journal (IF=15.1, Top=3.20%).

This research demonstrated that a cellulosic sponge designed to induce a heating phenomenon under solar irradiation can facilitate the removal of high-viscosity oils.

In response to recent atmospheric environmental regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), ships have been required to switch from traditional high-sulfur fuels to low-sulfur fuels with a reduced sulfur content limit. However, when low-sulfur fuel is spilled at sea, its viscosity is higher than that of conventional oils, making removal difficult with existing sorbents or demulsifiers. Given the high international interest in solutions to this problem, these research results have particular significance.

Professor Nam Chang-woo, who supervised both papers, said, "Our research team conducts studies on environmental materials that can contribute to solving environmental problems and sustainable development. We actively support our students so they can grow into future research leaders and are expanding our research areas beyond studies that simply benefit society."

Notably, Professor Nam was recently selected for the National Research Foundation of Korea's Outstanding Young Researcher Program, and research on sustainable materials within his team is becoming increasingly active, raising expectations.

Meanwhile, these studies were carried out with support from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) Accident Management Technology Project and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT)'s carbon composites industry professional manpower training project.