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Hyun‐Kon Song

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology · Engineering

About the Lab

Professor Hyun-Kon Song's research lab specializes in advanced materials for next-generation energy storage systems, with a primary focus on high-performance cathode materials and solid-state electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. The lab explores nanostructured and surface-modified materials—such as spinel-type LNMO, olivine LFP, and polyanion-based compounds—aimed at enhancing rate capability, thermal stability, and cycle life, particularly for electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage. Innovative strategies like in-situ gel polymer electrolyte coating and conducting polymer-based battery systems further extend the lab’s work toward safer, more durable, and high-power electrochemical devices. The research integrates materials synthesis, nanoengineering, and electrochemical characterization to address critical challenges in energy density, safety, and long-term performance.

lithium-ion batteriescathode materialsgel polymer electrolytenanostructured materialsenergy storage

Research Overview

Papers
206
Total Citations
10,557
Papers (5y)
42
Primary Field
Engineering

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
42total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
508total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|733 citations·2012
The Current Move of Lithium Ion Batteries Towards the Next Phase
Tae‐Hee Kim, Jeong‐Seok Park, Sung Kyun Chang, Seungdon Choi, Ji Heon Ryu, Hyun‐Kon Song
SJR Q1Advanced Energy MaterialsOA

Abstract Application targets of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are moving from small‐sized mobile devices of information technology to large‐scale electric vehicles (xEVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs). Environmental issues and abruptly increasing power demands are pushing high performance energy storage devices or systems onto markets. LIBs are one of the most potential candidates as the energy storage devices mainly due to their high energy densities with fairly good rate capabilities and a

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
2
Article|604 citations·2011
Who will drive electric vehicles, olivine or spinel?
Ok Kyung Park, Yonghyun Cho, Sanghan Lee, HoChun Yoo, Hyun‐Kon Song, Jaephil Cho
SJR Q1Energy & Environmental Science

Lithium iron phosphate olivine (LFP) and lithium manganese oxide spinel (LMO) are competitive and complementary to each other as cathode materials for lithium ion batteries, especially for use in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles. Interest in these materials, due to their low cost and high safety, has pushed research and development forward and toward high performance in terms of rate capability and capacity retention or cyclability at a high temperature of around 60 °C. From the vi

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
3
Article|326 citations·1999
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of porous electrodes: the effect of pore size distribution
Hyun‐Kon Song, Yong-Ho Jung, Kun‐Hong Lee, Lê H. Dao
SJR Q1Electrochimica Acta
Materials ChemistryMaterials Science
4
Article|293 citations·2000
The effect of pore size distribution on the frequency dispersion of porous electrodes
Hyun‐Kon Song, Hee-Young Hwang, Kun‐Hong Lee, Lê H. Dao
SJR Q1Electrochimica Acta
Materials ChemistryMaterials Science
5
Review|292 citations·2018
Gel/Solid Polymer Electrolytes Characterized by In Situ Gelation or Polymerization for Electrochemical Energy Systems
Yoon-Gyo Cho, Chihyun Hwang, Do Sol Cheong, Young‐Soo Kim, Hyun‐Kon Song
SJR Q1Advanced Materials

A gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is a liquid electrolyte (LE) entrapped by a small amount of polymer network less than several wt%, which is characterized by properties between those of liquid and solid electrolytes in terms of the ionic conductivity and physical phase. Electrolyte leakage and flammability, demerits of liquid electrolytes, can be mitigated by using GPEs in electrochemical cells. However, the contact problems between GPEs and porous electrodes are challenging because it is difficu

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
6
Article|278 citations·2010
Recent Progress in Nanostructured Cathode Materials for Lithium Secondary Batteries
Hyun‐Kon Song, Kyu Tae Lee, Min Gyu Kim, Linda F. Nazar, Jaephil Cho
SJR Q1Advanced Functional Materials

Abstract Diversified and extended applications of lithium‐ion batteries demand the development of more enhanced materials that can be achieved by sophisticated synthetic methods. Combination of novel materials with strategic design of their shape on the nanometer scale enables a breakthrough to overcome problems experienced by present technologies. In this feature article, an overview is given of Mn‐based and polyanion‐based cathode materials with nanoscale features for lithium‐ion batteries as

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
7
Article|219 citations·2006
Redox‐Active Polypyrrole: Toward Polymer‐Based Batteries
Hyun‐Kon Song, G. Tayhas R. Palmore
SJR Q1Advanced Materials

An energy-storage device consisting of polypyrrole (pPy) doped with indigo carmine (IC) and 2,2'-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) has been fabricated. These redox-active conducting polymers (see figure) form the basis of a battery that depends on the faradaic reactions of the redox-active dopants, and performs better than conventional batteries and ultracapacitors at high power density. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch

Polymers and PlasticsMaterials Science
8
Article|193 citations·2012
A polymer electrolyte-skinned active material strategy toward high-voltage lithium ion batteries: a polyimide-coated LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 spinel cathode material case
Ju-Hyun Cho, Jang-Hoon Park, Myeong‐Hee Lee, Hyun‐Kon Song, Sang‐Young Lee
SJR Q1Energy & Environmental Science

A facile approach to the surface modification of spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) cathode active materials for high-voltage lithium ion batteries is demonstrated. This strategy is based on nanoarchitectured polyimide (PI) gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) coating. The PI coating layer successfully wrapped a large area of the LNMO surface via thermal imidization of 4-component (pyromellitic dianhydride/biphenyl dianhydride/phenylenediamine/oxydianiline) polyamic acid. In comparison to conventional metal

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
9
Article|171 citations·2011
Electronegativity-induced enhancement of thermal stability by succinonitrile as an additive for Li ion batteries
Young‐Soo Kim, Tae‐Hee Kim, Hochun Lee, Hyun‐Kon Song
SJR Q1Energy & Environmental Science

Succinonitrile (SN, CN–[CH2]2–CN) is evaluated as an additive for improving thermal stability in ethylene carbonate (EC)-based electrolytes for lithium ion batteries. Without any sacrifice of performance such as cyclability and capacity, the introduction of SN into an electrolyte with a graphite anode and LixCoO2 cathode leads to (1) reducing the amount of gas emitted at high temperature, (2) increasing the onset temperature of exothermic reactions and (3) decreasing the amount of exothermal hea

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
10
Article|161 citations·2014
Enlarging the d-spacing of graphite and polarizing its surface charge for driving lithium ions fast
Tae‐Hee Kim, Eun Kyung Jeon, Younghoon Ko, Bo Yun Jang, Byeong‐Su Kim, Hyun‐Kon Song
SJR Q1Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Lithium ion movement was accelerated by enlarging the interlayer distance of graphite as well as by polarizing its surface charge. As a result, the rate performances of lithium ion batteries were significantly enhanced.

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
11
Article|142 citations·2023
Copper with an atomic-scale spacing for efficient electrocatalytic co-reduction of carbon dioxide and nitrate to urea
Seokmin Shin, Siraj Sultan, Zong‐Xian Chen, Hojeong Lee, Hojeong Lee, Hansaem Choi, Tae‐Ung Wi, Chang-Hyun Park, Tae‐Won Kim, Chanhee Lee, Jihong Jeong, Hyeju Shin
SJR Q1Energy & Environmental Science

This work presents that Cu with atomic-scale spacings ( d s ) efficiently catalyses the electrochemical co-reduction of CO 2 and NO 3 − to urea. Specifically, Cu with d s near 6 Å (6 Å-Cu) produces urea with a high yield rate and partial current density.

CatalysisChemical Engineering
12
Article|122 citations·2005
Micropatterns of positive guidance cues anchored to polypyrrole doped with polyglutamic acid: A new platform for characterizing neurite extension in complex environments
Hyun‐Kon Song, B. Toste, K. Ahmann, Diane Hoffman–Kim, G. Tayhas R. Palmore
SJR Q1Biomaterials
Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceNeuroscience
13
Article|117 citations·2010
A hollow sphere secondary structure of LiFePO 4 nanoparticles
Myeong‐Hee Lee, Jin‐Young Kim, Hyun‐Kon Song
SJR Q1Chemical Communications

We report on the evolution of a hollow sphere secondary structure of spherical nanoparticles by a solubilization-reprecipitation mechanism based on the difference of solubility products (K(sp)) of two different precipitates. Carbon-coated nanoparticles of olivine structure LiFePO(4) served as the primary nano-blocks to build the secondary nano-architecture.

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
14
Article|116 citations·2015
Highly porous piezoelectric PVDF membrane as effective lithium ion transfer channels for enhanced self-charging power cell
Youngsoo Kim, Yannan Xie, Xiaonan Wen, Sihong Wang, Sang‐Jae Kim, Hyun‐Kon Song, Zhong Lin Wang
SJR Q1Nano EnergyOA
Biomedical EngineeringEngineering
15
Article|99 citations·2014
Conducting Polymer-Skinned Electroactive Materials of Lithium-Ion Batteries: Ready for Monocomponent Electrodes without Additional Binders and Conductive Agents
Ju‐Myung Kim, Han-Saem Park, Jang-Hoon Park, Tae‐Hee Kim, Hyun‐Kon Song, Sang‐Young Lee
SJR Q1ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

Rapid growth of mobile and even wearable electronics is in pursuit of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries. One simple and facile way to achieve this goal is the elimination of nonelectroactive components of electrodes such as binders and conductive agents. Here, we present a new concept of monocomponent electrodes comprising solely electroactive materials that are wrapped with an insignificant amount (less than 0.4 wt %) of conducting polymer (PEDOT:PSS or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering

Research Areas

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the EnvironmentPolymers and PlasticsMaterials ChemistryElectronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsCellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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