Photos of Professor Dong-Gu Kang’s research group and their experimental setup

Real-time biodegradability evaluation technology for biodegradable plastics using a lab-on-a-chip system

Incheon National University (President: In-Jae Lee) announced that the research conducted by Professor Dong-Gu Kang’s team in the Department of Chemistry — titled “Label-Free, Real-Time, and Quantitative Assessment of PBAT Biodegradation Using a Microfluidic System” — has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials (Impact Factor 12.4, top 3.2% in JCR ranking), a prestigious academic journal in the environmental science field.

With global carbon neutrality strategies increasingly prioritizing responses to climate change caused by plastic waste, the importance of biodegradable and bio-based plastics continues to grow. However, current analytical technologies for developing and certifying eco-friendly biodegradable materials generally require several weeks to months to complete or depend on costly analytical equipment.

To address these limitations, the research team utilized semiconductor fabrication process technology to develop a lab-on-a-chip-based method that can evaluate the biodegradation rate of biodegradable plastic materials in real time — within a matter of days — without requiring any additional reagents.

This work was led by first author So-Jin Lim (M.S. candidate, Incheon National University; Advisor: Prof. Dong-Gu Kang) and co-corresponding author Dr. Sung-Hyun Ki, who integrated semiconductor processing, biochip, and sensor technologies into a biodegradability assessment platform. The newly developed technology is expected to serve as a core automated evaluation system for emerging biodegradable materials.

As global interest and R&D efforts intensify for eco-friendly and biodegradable materials to address climate change, this technology is anticipated to enable rapid evaluation and accelerated improvement of newly developed materials.

This research was supported by the “White Bio Industry Specialized Human Resources Training Project” through Incheon Metropolitan City and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, as well as the “2025 Mid-Career Research Program” funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

Professor Dong-Gu Kang, Director of the White Bio Industry Specialized Human Resources Training Project at INU, stated that the initiative actively supports the development of highly skilled researchers in the eco-friendly white bio sector, aligning with Incheon’s Carbon Neutrality 2045 initiative and the national transition toward a carbon-neutral society.

Additionally, Incheon National University operates workforce development and industrial advancement programs through the “Strengthening Industrial Innovation for Carbon Neutrality” project under Incheon Metropolitan City’s Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE) initiative — linked directly with the White Bio Industry Specialized Human Resources Training Project.

Through these efforts, INU is contributing to:

• Cultivating carbon-neutral materials specialists at the undergraduate and graduate levels (M.S./Ph.D.)

• Expanding research-oriented training facilities and experimental infrastructure

• Establishing white bio–related undergraduate curricula and field-practice programs

• Implementing ESG/SDG/carbon-neutrality–based capstone design projects

Director Kang emphasized, “By organically linking the White Bio Industry Specialized Human Resources Training Project with the RISE 2-② initiative, we will create a leading model of carbon-neutral industrial innovation in which the regional industry and the university’s research and education ecosystem grow together.”Photos of Professor Dong-Gu Kang’s research group and their experimental setup

Real-time biodegradability evaluation technology for biodegradable plastics using a lab-on-a-chip system