Joint research on hydrogen energy for carbon neutrality achievement

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Germany in 1883, the two countries have been developing exchanges and cooperative relationships in various fields. International joint research by Korean-German scientists and technologists is also actively underway. In particular, cooperation with leading German research institutions in the relevant field is essential for South Korea to emerge as a central nation in carbon-neutral energy.

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST, President Ki Cheol Lim) announced that it has recently renewed the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) first signed with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in 2013. Starting with the NDA in 2013, which agreed to disclose and exchange core research technologies for 'Future High-Power Lithium Battery Development' internally, the two institutions signed a MOU business agreement in December 2021 to expand the research scope to include 'Research on Next-Generation Lightweight and Long-lasting Lithium-Sulfur Batteries' and 'Green Hydrogen Electrolysis Production'. By re-signing the NDA in August 2023, they have further solidified their joint research cooperation relationship.

The cooperative relationship between GIST and DLR is based on joint research that Professor Jaeyoung Lee of the International Future Research Center of Chemical Energy Storage and Conversion Processes has consistently conducted over the past 10 years with Professor K. Andreas Friedrich from the DLR Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics.

Professor Lee said, "Through the NDA, we have jointly filed six patents in Korea and Germany, and the fact that Korean-German researchers have been able to share core analytical technologies through continuous mutual visits can be said to be a major achievement of the GIST-DLR cooperation."

The DLR, which has demonstrated excellent results in the fields of energy, aviation, space, and defense, is considered one of Germany's three major specialized research institutions, along with the Max Planck Institute (basic research) and the Fraunhofer Institute (applied research). The DLR Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics located at Stuttgart, Germany, is playing a central role in the development of technologies related to the integration of fuel cells, water electrolysis and Li-batteries based energy systems by combining thermal process technology and electrochemical energy technology.

Since the opening ceremony of 'the Ertl Center for Electrochemistry and Catalysis' at GIST in 2009, the Korean-German international joint research team has been jointly hosting the 'Ertl Symposium' (sponsored by the International Society of Electrochemistry) every two years, alternating between Korea and Germany since 2010.

In particular, from August 2014 to October 2016, GIST successfully carried out the IMPACT EU FP project (Project Name: Improved Lifetime of Automotive Application Fuel Cell with ultra-low Pt-loading), an international collaborative research project with a total of 10 academic research institutes from five EU countries (Germany, Netherlands, UK, Italy, France).

Professor Lee, who is playing a central role in the G-HUB project (selected in 2021), a project to build a collaboration hub with outstanding overseas research institutions by the National Research Foundation of Korea, said, "We plan to build an international joint research hub that has significant industrial and academic impacts through a continuous and solid win-win strategy in an equal research cooperation relationship." He added, "The activation of international joint research is becoming more important as it aligns with the core principles of the current government's science and technology policy such as realizing global pivotal countries. We will expand and strengthen scientific and technological cooperation with Germany."