Professor JHE Wonho (Dept. of Physics and Astronomy)

Professor JHE Wonho (Department of Physics and Astronomy) has discovered the mechanism of titanium dioxide’s superhydrophilicity. When superhydrophilic material absorbs light, water dropped onto it does not form waterdrops, but instead spreads out widely. Professor Jhe observed titanium dioxide through a self-developed scanning probe microscope and found that when titanium dioxide absorbed visible rays and near-infrared rays, it created electrons on the surface. These electrons and water molecules in the air combine and form an adsorptive film which pulls water so strongly it results in superhydrophilicity. Professor Jhe expects that this discovery can be used in the development of windows which are practically waterproof.

• The research was published in the April 7 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Professor JHE Wonho’s lab: http://cnat.snu.ac.kr/
• SNU Dept. of Physics and Astronomy: http://phya.snu.ac.kr

Summary by LEE Hee Un, SNU English Editor, gurume0221@snu.ac.kr