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Jihyeon Yeom

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology · Materials Science

About the Lab

Professor Jihyeon Yeom's research lab specializes in the design and functionalization of advanced nanomaterials with tailored chiral, optical, and mechanical properties for biomedical and technological applications. The lab focuses on photon-to-matter chirality transfer, chiral nanomaterials, and surface engineering to enable smart biomaterials that interact selectively with cells and proteins. Key research directions include the development of chiral supraparticles, stimuli-responsive gels, and biocompatible quantum dot systems for medical data encoding and diagnostics.

chiral nanomaterialssurface functionalizationquantum dotsbiomedical encodingoptical activity

Research Overview

Papers
36
Total Citations
2,455
Papers (5y)
20
Primary Field
Materials Science

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
20total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
205total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|476 citations·2012
One‐Step Multipurpose Surface Functionalization by Adhesive Catecholamine
Sung Min Kang, Nathaniel S. Hwang, Jihyeon Yeom, Sung Young Park, Phillip B. Messersmith, Insung S. Choi, Róbert Langer, Daniel G. Anderson, Haeshin Lee
SJR Q1Advanced Functional MaterialsOA

Surface modification is one of the most important techniques in modern science and engineering. The facile introduction of a wide variety of desired properties onto virtually any material surface is an ultimate goal in surface chemistry. To achieve this goal, the incorporation of structurally diverse molecules onto any material surface is an essential capability for ideal surface modification. Here, we present a general strategy of surface modification, in which many diverse surfaces can be func

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
2
Article|419 citations·2014
Chiral templating of self-assembling nanostructures by circularly polarized light
Jihyeon Yeom, Bongjun Yeom, Henry Chan, Kyle W. Smith, Sergio Domínguez-Medina, Joong Hwan Bahng, Gongpu Zhao, Wei‐Shun Chang, Sung-Jin Chang, Andrey Chuvilin, Dzmitry Melnikau, Andrey L. Rogach
SJR Q1Nature MaterialsOA
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsMaterials Science
3
Article|294 citations·2018
Chiromagnetic nanoparticles and gels
Jihyeon Yeom, Uallisson S. Santos, Mahshid Chekini, Minjeong Cha, André Farias de Moura, Nicholas A. Kotov
SJR Q1Science

nanoparticles with chiral distortions of the crystal lattices exhibited chiroptical activity in the visible range that was 10 times as strong as that of nonparamagnetic nanoparticles of comparable size. Transparency of the nanoparticle gels to circularly polarized light beams in the ultraviolet range was reversibly modulated by magnetic fields. These phenomena were also observed for other nanoscale metal oxides with lattice distortions from imprinted amino acids and other chiral ligands. The lar

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsMaterials Science
4
Article|217 citations·2017
Branched Aramid Nanofibers
Jian Zhu, Y. Ming, Ahmet Emre, Joong Hwan Bahng, Lizhi Xu, Jihyeon Yeom, Bongjun Yeom, Yoonseob Kim, Kyle J. Johnson, Peter F. Green, Nicholas A. Kotov
SJR Q1Angewandte Chemie International EditionOA

Interconnectivity of components in three-dimensional networks (3DNs) is essential for stress transfer in hydrogels, aerogels, and composites. Entanglement of nanoscale components in the network relies on weak short-range intermolecular interactions. The intrinsic stiffness and rod-like geometry of nanoscale components limit the cohesive energy of the physical crosslinks in 3DN materials. Nature realizes networked gels differently using components with extensive branching. Branched aramid nanofib

Materials ChemistryMaterials Science
5
Article|187 citations·2019
Chiral Supraparticles for Controllable Nanomedicine
Jihyeon Yeom, Pedro Pires Goulart Guimarães, Hyo Min Ahn, Bo‐Kyeong Jung, Quanyin Hu, Kevin J. McHugh, Michael J. Mitchell, Chae‐Ok Yun, Róbert Langer, Ana Jaklenec
SJR Q1Advanced MaterialsOA

Chirality is ubiquitous in nature and hard-wired into every biological system. Despite the prevalence of chirality in biological systems, controlling biomaterial chirality to influence interactions with cells has only recently been explored. Chiral-engineered supraparticles (SPs) that interact differentially with cells and proteins depending on their handedness are presented. SPs coordinated with d-chirality demonstrate greater than threefold enhanced cell membrane penetration in breast, cervica

BiomaterialsMaterials Science
6
Article|181 citations·2019
Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles into Chiral Superstructures Driven by Circularly Polarized Light
Ji‐Young Kim, Jihyeon Yeom, Gongpu Zhao, Heather A. Calcaterra, Jiyoun Munn, Peijun Zhang, Nicholas A. Kotov
SJR Q1Journal of the American Chemical SocietyOA

Photon-to-matter chirality transfer offers both simplicity and universality to chiral synthesis, but its efficiency is typically low for organic compounds. Besides the fundamental importance of this process relevant for understanding the origin of homochirality on Earth, new pathways for imposing chiral bias during chemical process are essential for a variety of technologies from medicine to informatics. The strong optical activity of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) affords photosynthetic routes t

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsMaterials Science
7
Article|133 citations·2019
Biocompatible near-infrared quantum dots delivered to the skin by microneedle patches record vaccination
Kevin J. McHugh, Lihong Jing, Sean Y. Severt, Mache Cruz, Morteza Sarmadi, H. Surangi N. Jayawardena, Collin F. Perkinson, Fridrik Larusson, Sviatlana Rose, Stephanie Tomasic, Tyler P. Graf, Stephany Y. Tzeng
SJR Q1Science Translational MedicineOA

Accurate medical recordkeeping is a major challenge in many low-resource settings where well-maintained centralized databases do not exist, contributing to 1.5 million vaccine-preventable deaths annually. Here, we present an approach to encode medical history on a patient using the spatial distribution of biocompatible, near-infrared quantum dots (NIR QDs) in the dermis. QDs are invisible to the naked eye yet detectable when exposed to NIR light. QDs with a copper indium selenide core and alumin

Pharmaceutical SciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
8
Article|124 citations·2013
Universal Synthesis of Single-Phase Pyrite FeS2 Nanoparticles, Nanowires, and Nanosheets
Yongxiao Bai, Jihyeon Yeom, Y. Ming, Sang-Ho Cha, Kai Sun, Nicholas A. Kotov
SJR Q1The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Nanoscale pyrite FeS 2 is considered to be one of few potentially transformative materials for photovoltaics capable of bridging the cost/performance gap of solar batteries. It also holds promise for energy storage applications as the material for high-performance cathodes. Despite prospects, the synthesis of FeS 2 nanostructures and diversity of their geometries has been hardly studied. Moreover, the state-of-the-art aqueous dispersions of nanoscale pyrite, which have special significance for s

Biomedical EngineeringEngineering
9
Article|116 citations·2014
Pyrogallol 2‐Aminoethane: A Plant Flavonoid‐Inspired Molecule for Material‐Independent Surface Chemistry
Seonki Hong, Jihyeon Yeom, In Taek Song, Sung Min Kang, Hyukjin Lee, Haeshin Lee
SJR Q1Advanced Materials Interfaces

A plant-inspired, amine-containing small phenol molecule, 5-pyrogallol 2-aminoethane (PAE), can perform surface functionalization in a material-independent manner. The co-existence of primary amine and pyrogallol moieties are essential for the material-independent coating ability of PAE. The multi-functionality of the PAE-mediated surface chemistry will be useful in many areas including biomedical applications, drug delivery, and the development of energy storage devices. As a service to our aut

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
10
Article|62 citations·2023
Chiral Spectroscopy of Nanostructures
Jun‐Young Kwon, Ki Hyun Park, Won Jin Choi, Nicholas A. Kotov, Jihyeon Yeom
SJR Q1Accounts of Chemical ResearchOA

Conspectus Chirality is ubiquitous in the universe and in living creatures over detectable length scales from the subatomic to the galactic, as exemplified in the two extremes by subatomic particles (neutrinos) and spiral galaxies. Between them are living creatures that display multiple levels of chirality emerging from hierarchically assembled asymmetric building blocks. Not too far from the bottom of this pyramid are the foundational building blocks with chiral atomic centers on sp 3 carbon at

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
11
Review|38 citations·2022
Recent advances in chiral nanomaterials with unique electric and magnetic properties
Jun‐Young Kwon, Won Jin Choi, Uichang Jeong, Wookjin Jung, Inkook Hwang, Ki Hyun Park, Seowoo Genevieve Ko, Sung‐Min Park, Nicholas A. Kotov, Jihyeon Yeom
SJR Q1Nano ConvergenceOA

Research on chiral nanomaterials (NMs) has grown radically with a rapid increase in the number of publications over the past decade. It has attracted a large number of scientists in various fields predominantly because of the emergence of unprecedented electric, optical, and magnetic properties when chirality arises in NMs. For applications, it is particularly informative and fascinating to investigate how chiral NMs interact with electromagnetic waves and magnetic fields, depending on their int

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsMaterials Science
12
Article|33 citations·2021
Broad Chiroptical Activity from Ultraviolet to Short-Wave Infrared by Chirality Transfer from Molecular to Micrometer Scale
Ki Hyun Park, Jun‐Young Kwon, Uichang Jeong, Ji‐Young Kim, Nicholas A. Kotov, Jihyeon Yeom
SJR Q1ACS Nano

Chiral nanomaterials provide a rich platform for versatile applications. Tuning the wavelength of polarization rotation maxima in the broad range including short-wave infrared (SWIR) is a promising candidate for infrared neural stimulation, imaging, and nanothermometry. However, the majority of previously developed chiral nanomaterials reveal the optical activity in a relatively shorter wavelength range (ultraviolet-visible, UV-vis), not in SWIR. Here, we demonstrate a versatile method to synthe

Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceNeuroscience
13
Article|17 citations·2023
Bespoke selenium nanowires with comprehensive piezo-phototronic effects as viable p-type semiconductor-based piezo-photocatalysts
Minju Kim, Jun‐Young Kwon, Hyun Jeong Lee, Kwan Sik Park, Jiweon Kim, Jeongwon Kim, Kyungnae Baek, Hong Yuan, Jerome K. Hyun, Yong Soo Cho, Jihyeon Yeom, Dong Ha Kim
SJR Q1Nano Energy
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
14
Review|14 citations·2022
Chiral Biomaterials for Nanomedicines: From Molecules to Supraparticles
Wookjin Jung, Jun‐Young Kwon, Wonjoon Cho, Jihyeon Yeom
SJR Q1PharmaceuticsOA

Chirality, the property whereby an object or a system cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, prevails amongst nature over various scales. Especially in biology, numerous chiral building blocks and chiral-specific interactions are involved in many essential biological activities. Despite the prevalence of chirality in nature, it has been no longer than 70 years since the mechanisms of chiral-specific interactions drew scientific attention and began to be studied. Owing to the advent of chira

BiomaterialsMaterials Science
15
Article|14 citations·2021
Atomic Chirality and a Materials Revolution
Jihyeon Yeom
SJR Q1Accounts of Materials Research

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEViewpointNEXTAtomic Chirality and a Materials RevolutionJihyeon Yeom*Jihyeon YeomDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST Institute of Health Science and Technology, Korea Advanced Science and Technology (KAIST), Deajeon 34141, Republic of Korea*Email: [email protected]More by Jihyeon YeomView Biographyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3032-8301Cite this: Acc. Mater. Res. 2021, 2, 7, 471–476Publication Date (Web):May 27, 202

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Research Areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsElectrical and Electronic EngineeringMaterials ChemistryBiomaterialsMolecular BiologyBiomedical Engineering

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