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Today, we’ll meet with another company that won a prize at “Nano Korea 2019,” the nation’s biggest nanotechnology exhibition. Let’s hear from Park Hyun-gi(박현기) from Dayou(대유) Plus, a manufacturer of energy-saving carbon nanotube heaters. 

Among various nano materials, Dayou Plus started with research and development on a high-thermal, high-efficiency heater, which earned us an award at Nano Korea 2019. The key to carbon nanotube heater technology lies in the ink. Unlike many other domestic panel heater manufacturers who mostly import ink from overseas, we have our own ink technology of spraying carbon nanotubes evenly. 

At this year’s Nano Korea, Dayou(대유) Plus received the Organizing Committee Chairman’s Award for its carbon nanotube panel heater. Panel heaters are used in numerous products, including electric pads. For most panel heaters currently in use, the temperature does not rise above 80 degrees Celsius. But the carbon nanotube heater developed by Dayou(대유) Plus remedied the shortcomings of existing products by converting a nano material into ink. 

The nano material refers to a carbon nanotube, which is 100 times stronger than steel and is as conductive as copper or diamond. For efficient heating, the company mixed this material with graphite, a crucial material for electronics applications. Carbon nanotube panel heaters can be employed in all industries that use heat, such as home appliances, automobiles and construction, as their temperature goes to as high as 300 degrees Celsius. 

By securing its own method of producing heating ink, the company was able to open a new door in panel heaters. 

Dayou Plus is one of the affiliates of Dayou Winia Group, which started as a manufacturer of car parts under the name of Dayou A-Tech. Its products included car seats and steering wheels. An electronics affiliate was later added to the group. 

We, Dayou Plus, have been searching for new business items and future growth engines. “Energy efficiency” is the biggest and most important topic in car components and electronics that comprise our major sales. We aim to develop energy-efficient or zero-energy products to further improve product quality and secure a new growth engine. 

Dayou(대유) Group was formerly Dayou(대유) A-Tech, which was established in 1960. Starting as a car component producer, the group has expanded its business into electronics by acquiring Daewoo(대우) Electronics, which was later renamed Winia Daewoo(대우). 

Dayou(대유) Plus has also contributed to the group’s expansion. Founded in 1967, the information communications company plans to incorporate advanced technologies into household electronics in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is devising a business plan involving new renewable energy from a long-term perspective. In fact, the company began to develop new nano materials ten years ago. 

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Currently, we have six patents registered overseas and are working to obtain more. In the initial stage, company workers had great difficulty organizing a proto production line with insufficient capital. Researchers had to install equipment themselves. They experienced much trial and error and even stayed up all night nearly for a week to find out the problems and correct them. Based on their hard work and dedication, the company has been able to secure core technology. 

Company employees could overcome difficulties through a series of trial and error. After ten years of laborious work, the company obtained eight patents in Korea and six in other parts of the world, including the U.S., Japan and Europe, to successfully secure its own technology. 

In the spring of 2019, the company developed a “gang form” by using its nano carbon panel heater technology in collaboration with the GS Engineering & Construction Research Center. Gang form refers to a large-sized formwork used in building construction. The new technology applied to the formwork for heat insulation reduces the period of curing cement concrete and therefore shortens the construction period overall, also contributing to preventing industrial accidents at construction sites. But these achievements are just the beginning for the company.

We’re developing a zero energy house heating system module to create a smart farm system. The ultimate purpose of the smart energy solution is to save energy by distributing solar photovoltaic energy in the energy storage system using a high-efficiency heater. Users can easily operate the smart system simply through control equipment, including mobile phones. The concept of zero energy or self-sufficient heating could be expanded and actually applied to local farms and factories as well. That’s our goal. 

Dayou(대유) Plus is applying its nano carbon panel heater technology to the heating system of greenhouses. The company is attempting to secure sufficient energy needed for heating and insulation without using electric power by combining solar energy generation with its heater technology. And it is working on this solution as a new business item. 

It is common to see single-crystal solar cells these days, but they are not very good to view from the outside because they are large in size and opaque. Our R&D efforts are concentrated on two other kinds of solar cells—flexible and transparent perovskite and organic. We’re trying to make them look good when inserted into products. Energy from the solar cells is put into the heater, making it work. 

What we’re working on now is heating glass to be installed at apartment balconies. A heater is fixed on one side of the glass and solar cells, on the other side, so the panel itself can generate heat on its own without using electricity. 

If Dayou(대유) Plus successfully develops and deploys the zero energy heating system on a commercial scale, we can usher in an era of no electric and heating costs. The company is exploring the future by commercializing carbon nano materials. This dream technology will surely be utilized in various sectors during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.