The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, President Lee Jeong-hwan), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, is embarking on a demonstration project to improve air quality using a film-type plasma device that has already been verified. The project aims to commercialize the developed technology and actively contribute to society through public quarantine activities.


The Korea Institute of Materials Science announced on the 26th that it will conduct a quarantine cooperation platform demonstration project in cooperation with the Korea Digital Convergence Promotion Agency.

This project is a quarantine cooperation platform project that will keep vulnerable households safe from respiratory infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza. It includes the free distribution of quarantine cooperation equipment from Vals Innovation Co., Ltd. to 30 households of elderly people living alone in Dongjak-gu, Seoul and 30 households of vulnerable households in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

Vals Innovation's quarantine air conditioning device is equipped with a film-type plasma element for quarantine air conditioning devices developed by Dr. Seunghoon Lee's research team at the Nano-Bio Convergence Laboratory of the Korea Institute of Materials Science.

This device has been demonstrated to inactivate more than 99% of COVID-19 virus aerosols captured on the filter within 30 minutes. This technology enables simultaneous capture and inactivation of infectious bioaerosols, such as COVID-19 and influenza viruses.

The research team transferred the technology to Vals Innovation Co., Ltd., a low-temperature plasma technology specialist, and commercialized it in June.

The quarantine air conditioning device developed by Vals Innovation Co., Ltd. uses a film-type plasma element to generate oxygen-active species, effectively removing the COVID-19 virus captured in the filter.

Catalytic technology to remove exhaust ozone was applied, and it was confirmed through an internationally accredited testing agency that the exhaust ozone concentration was maintained at 0.002 ppm or less.

Through R&D supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Korea Materials Research Institute has verified that the quarantine air conditioning module commercialized by Vals Innovation Co., Ltd. inactivates the COVID-19 virus by over 99.8%.

The research results of the Materials Research Team were accepted for publication in ACS Applied Polymer Materials, a journal of the American Chemical Society, on October 20.

“The aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still lingering, but there is no guarantee that such a situation will not occur again in the future,” said Lee Jeong-hwan, director of the Korea Institute for Environmental Research. “We will continue to pursue this research to establish a future crisis response system and ensure the safety of the people’s lives.”