Graphene, called the "dream new material," has moved beyond the lab and entered mass production. Graphene Square, a graphene specialist, has completed a graphene film mass-production plant in the Blue Valley National Industrial Complex in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. It is considered the first case in Korea of attempting large-area, continuous production of graphene based on factory equipment.
At the completion ceremony on the 1st, Hong Byung-hee, 54, CEO of Graphene Square and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University, who met with ChosunBiz, said, "Completion is not the end but a new start," and added, "With the plant in place, we can cut graphene unit production costs to one-sixth of the pilot level."
Graphene is a material in which carbon atoms form a single honeycomb-like layer. It is thin yet strong and conducts electricity and heat well, drawing industry attention for years. Thanks to these properties, applications have been discussed for heating products such as heating and cooking, thermal dissipation (thermal management) for electronics and data centers, and displays, sensors, and secondary batteries.
Hong is regarded as a leading researcher who has steered graphene research in Korea. After completing his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate at Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH, he conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University in the United States with Professor Philip Kim, a renowned scholar in graphene, laying the groundwork for graphene research. After returning to Korea and serving as a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University in 2011, continuing industrialization research such as large-area synthesis and transfer technologies.
Graphene Square, founded by Hong in 2012, signed an investment memorandum of understanding (MOU) with North Gyeongsang Province and Pohang City in 2021 and transferred its headquarters from Suwon to Pohang. A total of 42 billion won has been invested in the Pohang plant, which has a total floor area of 6,308 square meters. Graphene Square attracted a 19 billion won series B investment in 2023, and in April this year secured a 16 billion won pre-IPO investment.
◇ Mass production via large-area CVD continuous process
The Pohang plant's strength is large-area, continuous production. Graphene Square has built a mass-production system based on the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene process that Hong developed for the first time in the world. CVD deposits carbon evenly on a substrate in a high-temperature environment to obtain a high-purity material.
The company cited as reasons for cutting unit costs to about one-sixth of the pilot stage the dispersion of fixed costs per unit area as production scales up, higher equipment utilization by moving from batch-centered pilot processes to continuous line operation, and automation of logistics, handling, and inspection steps within the process.
However, lower manufacturing costs and lower sales prices as felt by customers are separate issues. In the early stage of mass production, customer quality certifications and inspection and sorting expenses are added, and if initial demand is not large enough, cost reductions may not be immediately reflected in sales prices. The company expects a virtuous cycle in which lower price barriers bring more customers, higher volumes improve utilization and Production yield, and costs decline.
Hong explained that once the Pohang plant is running, it can produce 300,000 square meters of graphene annually. Three hundred thousand square meters is equivalent to about 42 soccer fields, or about 4.8 million sheets of A4 paper.
The remaining tasks are Production yield and time. According to Hong, the next three to four months will be for bringing in core equipment, followed by three to four months for stabilizing yield. Factoring in customer quality verification, the timeline for large-scale deliveries is expected between late next year and early 2027.
◇ Samsung, LG, SK hynix, and POSCO are also watching
Hong picked products that heat or cool as the areas where graphene will first take hold in daily life. If graphene film is used as a heating element, products can be designed so the entire surface emits uniform heat, while its ability to rapidly transfer and spread heat can be used for thermal dissipation materials in electronics and data centers.
The company has already made its presence felt at overseas exhibitions with home appliances using graphene. A representative example is the graphene radiator. The entire surface of the thin graphene film works like a heating element and can reach up to about 75 degrees, and it improved energy efficiency by more than 30% compared with conventional heaters. Because of this, it won the Best of Innovation Award at CES 2023, the world's largest IT exhibition, and was named one of Time's Best Inventions of 2023.
As these results accumulate, industry interest is growing. In fact, not only government and local officials but also partners from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK hynix, and POSCO Holdings attended the completion ceremony. This suggests that large manufacturers that could be buyers are watching the stage where graphene is actually incorporated into parts and products.
Graphene applications are expanding beyond industrial materials into bio. Hong said, "When graphene is made very small, below several nanometers (nm, one-billionth of a meter), it is called 'graphene quantum dots,' and graphene quantum dots have shown potential effectiveness in basic research on diseases such as childhood dementia, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Parkinson's disease," adding, "We also plan to mass-produce graphene quantum dots in Pohang."
Hong predicted that the graphene industry will, in the long run, become a vast industrial sector like steel and silicon. He said, "In 20 years, every household will have at least 10 graphene-based electronic devices," and explained, "That foundation is being built in Pohang."
The reason for choosing Pohang as a "graphene valley" is also to build a long-term industrial ecosystem. He added, "We can connect top-tier research infrastructure at Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH with a skilled manufacturing workforce in one place," and, "Combining them can create a Korean model of Pittsburgh, where universities, research, and manufacturing are integrated around Carnegie Mellon University."
◇ "Graphene and materials industries need policies that look 10 years ahead"
Hong expressed concern about the government's artificial intelligence (AI)-centered industrial policy, saying, "For new material industries like graphene to grow, national policies must have a long horizon." He said, "The current mood seems to suggest that all industries will be replaced by AI, but there are clearly areas that AI can never surpass," and, "AI can replace some parts, but not the whole."
Graphene Square actively uses AI for quality vision inspection, defect detection, and recipe recommendations for cooking. But Hong said, "AI is an important tool, so building infrastructure is important, but AI cannot be the purpose of industry."
He continued, "If AI alone becomes the national agenda, new material industries that take a long time will struggle even to get started, and talent in fields like materials and bio may lose morale, thinking, 'Is my field unnecessary?'" He added, "Steel, semiconductors, and graphene all need policies that look more than 10 years ahead."
Hong said, "In Pohang, if one factory falters, hundreds of jobs disappear and the local commercial district takes a direct hit," and added, "What's needed in such regions isn't just AI but a national portfolio that grows multiple industries together."