KICET (Korean Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology)

26.9.2016

Figure 1: Bilingual welcoming poster for us

Figure 2: SOFC tubes

We visited the KICET headquarter in Jinju, southern South-Korea. KICET had moved to Jinju from Seoul just one year ago to have bigger space for their research. Jinju is also historically significant area for ceramic production. We arrived 9:30 in the morning to the lobby where we were introduced to Dr. Younghee Kim, our contact to the company. We were escorted through the fancy exhibition hall to an auditorium. Even though it were all in Korean, the awesome pictures were clarified by the leader of the thermoelectric laboratory. The exhibition hall presented the research subjects and ceramic applications. A video was shown, explaining the history and overview of KICET.

After the introduction we were split in two groups and given an extensive laboratory tour. The tour included four laboratories: SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell), Single crystal, Thermoelectric and LED. The leaders of these labs were eager to explain the basics and the subjects of recent researches. SOFC laboratory concentrated on high temperature fuel cell applications such as SOFC power plant by Rolls Royce. They also showed the SOFC tubes they had created (figure 2). In single crystal lab, they utilized two crystal growing methods for silicon carbides, one mentioned was CVD. These single crystal SiC wafers can be used as a substrate in electronic devices. In thermoelectric laboratory, we were able to try out the working principle of turning body heat to electricity or electricity to heat (figure 3). In the LED laboratory they deposited gallium nitride thin films by sputtering or CVD on sapphire substrates for LED applications.

Figure 3: Thermoelectricity demo

 After the lab tour we were offered a lunch. This time it was not typical Korean food (no kimchi?!) but something that is already more familiar to us: good old Subway sandwiches and fruits. We had plenty of time to enjoy the meal, relax and let all the new information sink. Because there was even more coming!

In the second laboratory tour we concentrated more on the characterization and testing of the ceramic materials and fibres. We were presented some of the multiple characterization tools they had for example Raman, SEM, XPS, XRD, ICP-OES, UV/NIR -spectroscopy, laser flash method and tensile stress measurement tool. We had a chance to ask questions from the operators of every equipment. In the centre for ceramic fibres we got familiar with state of art ceramic fibres such as glassfiber, basalt fiber, SiC fiber and piezoelectric fibers. There was an exhibition of applications for each fibers Especially the bike frame made from SiC fiber to lower the cost of light weight bicycle frames was extremely impressive (figure 4). We also got to see the production line for SiC fibers and were presented the great thermal endurance of it. The last stop was made in business incubator centre which helped the local start-ups in the area of ceramics industry by allowing them to use the knowledge of KICET experts and equipments.

Figure 4: SiC bike frame

After the excursion the gifts were given and received by both parties. Then we hopped on the bus and drove through the rain to Busan, the second largest city of South Korea. The ride took a bit over one hour. Or at least that was what we thought. In reality we got lost in the hills of Busan and we could not turn the bus around. Finally we found a parking space from the top of the hill, where we got a chance to stretch our legs and get back on the right track (figure 5). Busan was worth the wait, we found a nice barbecue restaurant near by the hotel and both some more socks (cute socks!). The hotel was quite basic but it had all we needed. Some lucky bastards even got a penthouse rooms with kitchens and selection of random, more or less useful, items. Overall it was another successful day in Korea!

Figure 5: Lost in the hill

XOXO Kirsi & Marko