KAIST
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Separations,
from molecules
to systems

Membranes, Materials,
Machine Intelligence Laboratory

첨단 소재를 실제 분리 공정으로.
실험과 머신 인텔리전스로 그 연결을 앞당깁니다

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Membranes ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Sorbents ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Nanoporous Materials ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ DAC (Direct Air Capture) ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Artificial Intelligence ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Bayesian Optimization ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Self-Driving Laboratory ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Membranes ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Sorbents ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Nanoporous Materials ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ DAC (Direct Air Capture) ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Artificial Intelligence ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Bayesian Optimization ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Self-Driving Laboratory ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Research

  • Membranes

    Selective membranes for complex liquid and gas separations, from materials to scalable modules.

  • Materials & Systems

    Sorbents and integrated systems for carbon removal, hydrogen purification, and carbon utilization.

  • Machine Intelligence

    Bayesian optimization and self-driving laboratories to accelerate experimental discovery and process development.

Nature (2026)

Our mesoporous membranes bring molecular separations to complex crude oil mixtures, opening a route toward less energy-intensive refining.

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Featured research

A membrane route to crude oil fractionation

MMML research illustration of crude oil fractionation using a mesoporous membrane

People behind
the research

We bring together materials science, separation engineering, and machine intelligence at KAIST.

Meet the team →
Join MMML →

MMML research group at KAIST in spring 2026

From the lab

News
Prof. Koh Joins Chemical Engineering Journal as an Editor

Prof. Dong-Yeun Koh joined Chemical Engineering Journal as an Editor on October 1, 2026, serving in the Environmental Chemical Engineering section.

고동연 교수가 2026년 10월 1일부로 Chemical Engineering Journal의 Editor로 합류했습니다.

Editorial Board

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Jihwan 2.0: Now a Master's Student!

A familiar face is staying with MMML! Jihwan Kim joined us as a master's student on September 1, 2026, following his time as an undergraduate researcher. Welcome aboard, Jihwan!

학부연구생으로 함께했던 김지환 학생이 2026년 9월 1일부로 석사과정에 합류했습니다.

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New Article in Science Advances

Our work on plasma-treated carbon molecular sieve membranes has been published in Science Advances. The study shows how a simple plasma treatment improves hydrogen separation and long-term membrane stability. Congratulations to Banseok, Hyeokjun, and Jeongsu!

플라스마 처리 탄소분자체막에 관한 연구가 Science Advances에 게재되었습니다. 반석 축하!

Read the paper

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New Article on Electrochemical Ocean Carbon Removal
New Article on Electrochemical Ocean Carbon Removal

Our latest work on electrochemical dissolved ocean carbon removal (e-DOC) is now out in Advanced Energy Materials! Inhwan and Young Hun, together with Prof. T. Alan Hatton’s group at MIT, developed a compact hollow-fiber electrode assembly that converts dissolved inorganic carbon in seawater into stable mineral carbon. By moving mineral formation away from the electrode surface, the new architecture tackles one of the most persistent challenges in electrochemical ocean carbon removal: scaling.

Super congrats to Inhwan and Young Hun!

전기화학적 해양 탄소 제거(e-DOC)에 관한 연구가 Advanced Energy Materials에 게재되었습니다! 박인환 학생과 이영훈 박사는 MIT T. Alan Hatton 교수 연구팀과 함께 바닷물 속 용존무기탄소를 안정한 광물 형태로 전환하는 소형 중공사 전극 조립체를 개발했습니다. 광물이 전극 표면이 아닌 외부에서 형성되도록 설계해 전기화학적 해양 탄소 제거의 가장 고질적인 문제 중 하나인 스케일링을 효과적으로 줄였습니다.

인환이와 영훈이, 정말 축하합니다!

Paper

https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71205

KAIST Research News

https://researchnews.kaist.ac.kr/researchnews/html/news/?mng_no=65310&mode=V

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New Article in Nature
New Article in Nature

Our latest work on membrane-based crude oil fractionation is now out in Nature. Super congrats to Jihoon and Hyeokjun (Jihoon Choi, 서혁준)! These guys worked tirelessly (with gas masks on) to uncover the mysterious molecular separation enabled in mesoporous membranes.

Nature Paper: https://rdcu.be/fqejQ
Nature Research Briefing: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01896-9
KAIST press release: https://bit.ly/4vPmsi7
과학기술정보통신부(MSIT) Press release (Korean): http://bit.ly/4vO9JvT

보도자료 모음 (Press releases): here

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MMML Consortium Selected for InnoCORE: We're Hiring Six Postdocs
MMML Consortium Selected for InnoCORE: We're Hiring Six Postdocs

Our consortium has been selected for InnoCORE, the national postdoc-centered research program to drive world-class, AI-converged science and technology. The InnoCORE project is bridging fundamental separation science and real industrial deployment.

We are looking for postdocs interested in membrane separations combined with self-driving laboratory capabilities.

Positions come with a competitive salary (~60k USD including benefits). We welcome PhD graduates (or soon-to-be graduates) with backgrounds in membrane science, chemical engineering, materials science, separations, robotics/automation, or machine learning in the physical sciences.

See our consortium: https://www.innocore.or.kr/kaist/projectOverview/kaist_prj09

Apply here: https://forms.gle/XTnAqMhHDgX4FCRv5

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Recent publications

  1. Yugyeong Sung, Ingyu Park, Miseong Kim, Yunseok Lee, Yeonwook Kim, Seungin Lee, Dong-Yeun Koh, Ah-Hyung Alissa Park, Youngjune Park (2026). Impregnation of liquid-like nanoparticle organic hybrid materials in mesoporous fiber sorbent with hierarchical structures for scalable direct air capture. Chemical Engineering Journal, 548, Article 181601 DOI View publication
  2. Banseok Oh, Injun Park, Dong-Yeun Koh (2026). Joule-Heated Woven Fiber Contactors for Direct Air Capture. Energy & Fuels, 40(42), 23417-23426 DOI View publication
  3. Abdulrahman AlMashaan, Aqil Jamal, Dong-Yeun Koh, Jay H. Lee (2026). Cycle-by-cycle optimization of direct air capture (DAC) operation under varying ambient air conditions. Chemical Engineering Journal, Article 183475 DOI View publication
  4. Banseok Oh, Hyeokjun Seo, Jeongsu Wi, Dong-Yeun Koh (2026). Plasma engineered carbon molecular sieve membranes for precise and stable hydrogen permeation. Science Advances, 12(35), Article eaee7783 DOI View publication
  5. Jihoon Choi, Hyeokjun Seo, Minyong Lee, Woong-Chul Shin, Jaemin Choi, Keonwoo Choi, Min-Jun Jang, Sung Gap Im, Jae W. Lee, Ryan P. Lively, Dong-Yeun Koh (2026). Crude oil fractionation by means of mesoporous polyacrylonitrile membranes. Nature, 654(8120), 955-962 DOI View publication