GIST Student Yook Yeonji Wins 'Jongheun Lee Paper Award' at Korean Sensors Society Conference

Development of Gas Sensor That Detects Nitrogen Dioxide Using Only Visible Light, Without Additional Heating
"Continuing Research to Contribute to the Commercialization of Low-Power, High-Sensitivity Gas Sensors"

Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced on September 29 that Yook Yeonji, an integrated master's and doctoral student in the Department of New Materials Engineering, received the 'Jongheun Lee Paper Award' at the 2026 Fall Conference of the Korean Sensors Society, held from September 16 to 18.

(From left) Professor Lee Sanghan, Department of New Materials Engineering at GIST (advisor), Yuk Yeonji, integrated master's and doctoral course student. Provided by GIST

The 'Jongheun Lee Paper Award' was established to commemorate the research achievements and dedication of the late Jongheun Lee, Honorary President of the Korean Sensors Society, and to encourage the next generation in the gas sensor field. The award is given to authors of papers in the gas sensor field that have been published or accepted for publication in domestic or international journals. Awardees receive a certificate and a cash prize of 1 million won.

Yook Yeonji was selected as the recipient in recognition of her research, which developed a gas sensor capable of detecting even trace amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an air pollutant, using only visible light without any additional heating, while maintaining long-term operational stability.

Conventional gas sensors typically have diminished detection performance at room temperature, so performance has been enhanced by heating or using ultraviolet light. However, these approaches consume significant power and can alter the surface and binding structure of sensor materials, making it difficult to ensure long-term stable use.

To address these limitations, the research team developed a gas sensor that operates only with visible green light at room temperature. This sensor was capable of detecting nitrogen dioxide in extremely low concentrations—as little as 0.105 ppb, which is approximately 127 times lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline of 13.3 ppb—and maintained stable performance for over five weeks.

In this research, Yook Yeonji participated as co-first author of the paper, along with Dr. Kim Dokyeom, a postdoctoral fellow at GIST Advanced Photonics Research Institute. The paper was published online in the international materials science journal "Advanced Functional Materials" on March 12 of this year, and was selected as the back cover for Volume 36, Issue 37.

Yook Yeonji stated, "It is a great honor to receive this award commemorating the late Professor Jongheun Lee, who pioneered the gas sensor field. I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Lee Sang-an, and my fellow researchers, and I will continue to conduct research that contributes to the commercialization of low-power, high-sensitivity gas sensors for everyday use."

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