FUST Lab.

Maeil Business Newspaper Print Article: October 23, 2023

Recently, HwangBo Minsung, the CEO of FUST Lab. shared the company's ambitions in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper. FUST Lab, established in 2022, is a research institute company under the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning in South Korea. The company’s core technology is Focused Ultrasonic Technology utilizing cylindrical piezoelectric ceramic to control the ultrasonic energy and concentrating it to the center, a technology originated from Korea Research Institute of Standards Science. Using this technology FUST Lab. is preparing to commercialize this focused ultrasonic technology in numerous material development fields. The company was also selected as a technology startup corporation nurtured through the ‘Industry-academia Cooperation Technology Startup Business’ by the National Research Foundation of Korea at the time of its establishment.

Emulsification and dispersion technology is a manufacturing technology used to produce various products including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, carbon nanotubes (CNT), secondary batteries, etc. FUST Lab’s core technology allows surfactant-free emulsification/dispersion through ultrasonic energy that disperses uniformly in a very small scale (nanometers) and mixes substances. The company’s surfactant-free emulsified/dispersed not only maintains stability for a long time but also maximizes the material’s performance. CEO HwangBo stated, "Using surfactants leads to viscosity issues and does not allow high material content. Surfactants also affect the material’s performance as it covers each material particle's surface. Our focused ultrasonic technology, however, creates small and uniform particles, that maintain a stable emulsification and dispersion state without the need for any surfactants."

FUST Lab. conducted Proof of Concept (PoC) tests with a prominent cosmetic company to enhance the absorbency of facemasks. They also collaborated with a major pharmaceutical company in Korea to develop surfactant-free eye drops. FUST Lab. aims to release its first lab-scale equipment, a homogenizer with Focused Ultrasonic Technology, in October. The production-scale equipment launch is projected in be launched in the following year. CEO Hwang emphasized, "Microfluidics, a company started small has leaped to become the world's second-largest company using its high-pressure emulsification and dispersion equipment in the late 2000s. However, the technology still encounters major limitations in performance. FUST Lab. intends to shift from the conventional technology and bring forth a new paradigm in the emulsification/dispersion field using its Focused Ultrasonic Technology"

FUST Lab. also plans to enter the water treatment equipment market using the same technology. They have developed equipment that degrades toxic chemicals known as “forever chemicals”—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)—that are widely used in semiconductor manufacturing, water-repellent coatings for textiles, and non-stick coatings for cookware. FUST Lab. obtained results showing reductions of more than 12,000 times for PFOA and over 48 times for PFOS—from official tests conducted by the Korea Testing & Research Institute (KOTITI). Finally, CEO Hwang remarks, "It is possible to attach this water-treatment equipment at the end of processes where fluorinated compounds are used and send the pre-treated water to sewage treatment plants.”