KAIST, 얇은 고분자 코팅막으로 응축 열전달 최대 5.5배
KAIST Raises Condensation Heat Transfer up to 5.5 Times with a Thin Polymer Coating
Part of the August 26, 2026 daily edition
한국과학기술원(KAIST)이 얇은 고분자 코팅막으로 응축 열전달 성능을 높이는 기술을 개발했다고 8월 23일 밝혔습니다. 응축은 수증기가 물로 변하는 과정입니다. 연구팀은 고분자막을 얇게 만들어 나노 크기 알갱이가 물방울이 맺히는 씨앗 역할을 하도록 했고, 그 결과 두꺼운 막보다 물방울이 약 3배 많이 생성됐습니다. 실제 응축기에 쓰이는 구리관에 이 막을 적용하자 열전달 성능이 일반 구리 표면보다 최대 약 5.5배, 기존 발수 코팅 표면보다 50% 이상 높아졌습니다. 연구 결과는 7월 16일 국제 학술지 네이처 커뮤니케이션스에 온라인으로 실렸습니다. 연구팀은 이 기술이 발전소와 담수화 설비의 에너지 효율, 전자기기 냉각 성능을 높이는 데 활용될 것으로 기대하고 있습니다.
Translation
KAIST announced on August 23 that a joint research team of Professor 남영석 of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor 임성갑 of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering had developed a technology that raises heat transfer performance in condensation, the process in which water vapour turns into water, using a thin polymer coating film. The team made the polymer film thin so that nano-sized grains would act as seeds where droplets form, and as a result about three times as many droplets formed as on a thick film. When the film was applied to the copper tubing used in actual condensers, heat transfer performance was up to about 5.5 times higher than on a plain copper surface and more than 50 percent higher than on a conventional water-repellent coating. The research was published online in the international journal Nature Communications on July 16. The team expects the technology to be used to raise the energy efficiency of power plants and desalination facilities and the cooling performance of electronic devices.
Vocabulary
- 응축명사 (noun)condensation
- 열전달명사 (noun)heat transfer
- 고분자명사 (noun)polymer
- 수증기명사 (noun)water vapour, steam
- 맺히다동사 (verb)to form, to bead (of drops)
- 적용하다동사 (verb)to apply (to something)
- 발수명사 (noun)water repellency
- 게재되다동사 (verb)to be published (in a journal or paper)
Grammar points
-도록 하다to make it so that, to have something happen
-도록 attaches to a verb stem and states the result someone is aiming at; 하다 then says they brought it about. It is the standard way to describe a design decision in technical writing: you did X so that Y would happen. Distinguish it from -게 하다, which is closer to making a person do something. Here the team did not make droplets directly — they made the film thin so that the grains would do the work.
Example: 연구팀은 나노 크기 알갱이가 물방울이 맺히는 씨앗 역할을 하도록 했습니다.
The team made the nano-sized grains act as seeds where droplets form.
-자as soon as, upon doing
-자 attaches directly to a verb stem and says that the second thing followed the first, usually right away. It belongs to written Korean and is common in reports of experiments and events, where it links an action to what it produced. Unlike -(으)면 it is not a condition: -면 means 'if you apply it', while -자 means 'when they applied it, this is what happened'. Do not confuse it with the ending -자 that means 'let's'.
Example: 구리관에 이 막을 적용하자 열전달 성능이 크게 높아졌습니다.
When they applied this film to the copper tubing, heat transfer performance rose sharply.
-(으)ㄹ 것으로 기대하다to expect that it will
-(으)ㄹ 것으로 marks something as a projection rather than a fact, and 기대하다 says who is holding that projection. Science reporting relies on this pattern to separate what was measured from what might follow, and reading it carelessly is how a laboratory result turns into a product in someone's summary. The passive 기대되다 hides who expects it; the active 기대하고 있습니다 here keeps it with the research team.
Example: 연구팀은 이 기술이 냉각 성능을 높이는 데 활용될 것으로 기대하고 있습니다.
The team expects this technology to be used to improve cooling performance.
More in this edition
Life
Advanced
지난해 주류 출고량 298만㎘…300만㎘ 아래는 27년 만
Alcohol Shipments Fell Below 3 Million Kilolitres Last Year for the First Time in 27 Years
Economy
Beginner
동원F&B, 9월 1일부터 참치캔 평균 9% 인상
Dongwon F&B Raises Canned Tuna Prices by an Average of 9% from September 1
Policy
Expert
폐업 후 같은 업종 재창업, 창업 인정까지 3년에서 1년으로
Restarting in the Same Line of Business Will Count as a Startup After One Year, Down from Three
Society
Beginner
설악산 출입금지구역서 다친 등산객, 8시간 만에 구조
Hiker Injured in a Closed-Off Area of 설악산 Rescued After Eight Hours