# Jinhan Cho
**Jinhan Cho** 조진한 is a South Korean chemical and biological engineer who works on energy materials. He is known for building battery, supercapacitor, and water-splitting electrodes directly on fabric and paper by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, a technique his group calls monomolecular ligand layer-by-layer self-assembly.[2](https://kukistschool.korea.ac.kr/eng/about/professor_view.html?no=27&page=1) • [3](https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/20222) He leads the Ultrathin-Film-Based Energy Electrode Laboratory and is affiliated with the Korea University KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology.[2](https://kukistschool.korea.ac.kr/eng/about/professor_view.html?no=27&page=1)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Current position | Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, since 1 September 2010[1](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-5968) |
| Field | Chemical and biological engineering; nano materials and ultrathin functional films for energy electrodes[4](https://cbe.korea.ac.kr/wp/professor/) |
| Postdoctoral work | Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam (2001–2002); University of Melbourne (2003)[1](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-5968) |
| Signature work | Dendrite-free lithium textile anodes by coordination-bonding LbL assembly of Ag ions and trithiocyanuric acid, *Advanced Materials*[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12822526/) |
| Recent output (2024–2026) | Textile pseudocapacitors, dendrite-suppressed lithium metal anodes, solid polymer electrolytes, fabric water-electrolysis patents[6](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396) |
## Education and career
His doctoral-stage work on highly ordered multilayer thin films appeared in the *Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering* in 2003, with Kookheon Char of Seoul National University as corresponding author.[7](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02697205)
The [Korea University](https://www.edgepedia.org/korea-university) department page lists his research areas as nano materials and ultrathin functional films.[4](https://cbe.korea.ac.kr/wp/professor/)
## Layer-by-layer assembly for textile electrodes
[Layer-by-layer assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/layer-by-layer-assembly) is the core of Cho's method. His group's monomolecular ligand layer-by-layer self-assembly coats a substrate's surface uniformly with metal nanoparticles, building an electrode film on an otherwise soft, fibrous surface such as cotton, polyester textile, or paper.[3](https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/20222) His stated research areas are LbL assembly, textile electrodes, synthesis of energy nanomaterials, batteries using LbL assembly, supercapacitor electrodes, and biofuel cells.[2](https://kukistschool.korea.ac.kr/eng/about/professor_view.html?no=27&page=1)
A widely reported demonstration came in September 2017, when his group and a group at the Georgia Institute of Technology published a flexible, high-power supercapacitor built on hanji, traditional Korean paper, in *Nature Communications*.[3](https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/20222) The team used what it called monomolecular ligand layer-by-layer self-assembly to coat the paper's surface uniformly with metal nanoparticles, which Cho described as the first direct nanoparticle coating of an electrode onto a textile-type material.[3](https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/20222)
## Representative work
Cho's 2024 paper in *Energy Storage Materials*, ["Binder-free, multidentate bonding-induced carbon nano-oligomer assembly for boosting charge transfer and capacitance of energy nanoparticle-based textile pseudocapacitors"](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396), stands for the group's approach: it assembles MnOx nanoparticles with hydrophilic carbon nano-oligomers on three-dimensional textile current collectors without insulating binders, reaching an areal capacitance of about 1,725 mF cm⁻² at 5.0 mA cm⁻², raised to about 3,244 mF cm⁻² at 10 mA cm⁻² by multi-stacking.[6](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396)
## Water splitting and hydrogen production
The group's water-splitting record centers on fabric electrodes for the two half-reactions of electrolysis. An April 2024 paper in *Applied Catalysis B* reported textile electrodes with overpotentials of about 6 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² for hydrogen evolution and about 150 mV at 50 mA cm⁻² for oxygen evolution in alkaline media, and a full electrolysis cell operating at 2.01 V and about 2400 mA cm⁻² for at least 1000 hours.[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/35094987500/jinhan-cho)
## Recent developments
Output in 2024–2026 has broadened from supercapacitors toward lithium batteries and electrolysis. In 2024 the group reported binder-free textile pseudocapacitors made by assembling MnOx nanoparticles with hydrophilic carbon nano-oligomers on three-dimensional textile current collectors, reaching an areal capacitance of about 1,725 mF cm⁻² at 5.0 mA cm⁻², raised to about 3,244 mF cm⁻² at 10 mA cm⁻² by multi-stacking.[6](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396) A 2024 *Journal of Energy Storage* review noted growing interest in textile supercapacitors for their light weight, flexibility, stretchability, and washability.[9](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.113228) In July 2025 the group published a cover article in *Advanced Energy Materials* on ultrathin lithiophilic interlayers for dendrite-suppressed lithium metal anodes.[10](https://www.korea.edu/en/1127/subview.do?enc=Zm5jdDF8QEB8JTJGa3VzdG9yeSUyRmVuJTJGYXJ0Y2xWaWV3LmRvJTNGYXJ0Y2xTZXElM0QyNzk2MiUyNg%3D%3D) Funding acknowledged in this work comes from South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, the National Research Foundation of Korea, the KU-KIST Graduate School, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, according to *Advanced Materials*.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12822526/)
## How textile electrodes compare with conventional electrodes
The reported numbers are the practical test of the method. A textile current collector for lithium-ion batteries, made by LbL assembly and copper electroplating on cotton, delivered an areal capacity of over 2.6 mA h cm⁻² at 0.875 mA cm⁻², and adding a Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ layer raised the anode to roughly 460 mA h g⁻¹ and about 7 mA h cm⁻².[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/35094987500/jinhan-cho) On the capacitor side, amphiphilic ligand-exchange LbL electrodes with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes, and [PEDOT:PSS](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedot-pss) reportedly reached a volumetric capacitance of about 330 F cm⁻³, retaining about 80% after some 4000 cycles.[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/35094987500/jinhan-cho) Electroplated textiles built from [copper sulfide nanoparticles](https://www.edgepedia.org/copper-sulfide-nanoparticles), nickel, and a NiCo layered double hydroxide reached 12.2 F cm⁻² at 10 mA cm⁻², and a three-stack version delivered 28.8 F cm⁻² at 30 mA cm⁻², which the authors state outperforms textile-based pseudocapacitor electrodes reported to date.[11](https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202203800) The group's own analysis of the comparison is that conventional electrode fabrication neglects the interfacial interactions and electrolyte wettability that nanoparticle-based electrodes in three-dimensional structures require, and that this neglect causes the performance degradation their assembly methods are designed to avoid.[6](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396)
## Challenges and collaborations
A review on textile energy electrodes with Cho as corresponding author identifies interfacial engineering as the key challenge for achieving high energy and power density in next-generation flexible energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.[12](https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202300330) The work is carried out through recurring collaborations with groups at DGIST, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the KU-KIST graduate school; the July 2025 *Advanced Energy Materials* paper lists co-corresponding authors from DGIST and KU-KIST alongside Cho.[10](https://www.korea.edu/en/1127/subview.do?enc=Zm5jdDF8QEB8JTJGa3VzdG9yeSUyRmVuJTJGYXJ0Y2xWaWV3LmRvJTNGYXJ0Y2xTZXElM0QyNzk2MiUyNg%3D%3D) The dendrite-free lithium textile anode work shows the direction: repeated coordination-bonding LbL assembly of silver ions and trithiocyanuric acid builds metal-organic-framework multilayers under 40 nm thick on nickel-electroplated polyester textiles; the silver reduces in situ to lithiophilic nanoparticles and the assembly promotes a Li₃N-rich solid electrolyte interphase, giving symmetric-cell stability over 2000 hours at 1 mA cm⁻² and about 96.5% capacity retention after 1300 cycles at 1 C in a full cell with a LiFePO₄ cathode.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12822526/) Bibliographic records date this paper to 2025, while Scopus lists it under *Advanced Materials* Volume 38, Issue 5, 2026; the two listings have not been reconciled.[8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/35094987500/jinhan-cho) • [5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12822526/)
## References
1. [Jinhan Cho (0000-0002-7097-5968) – ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7097-5968)
2. [Cho, Jin Han – KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University](https://kukistschool.korea.ac.kr/eng/about/professor_view.html?no=27&page=1)
3. [Researchers develop 'paper electrode' using traditional Korean hanji – DongA Science](https://www.dongascience.com/en/news/20222)
4. [Faculty, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University](https://cbe.korea.ac.kr/wp/professor/)
5. [High-Performance Dendrite-Free Lithium Textile Anodes Using Interfacial Interaction-Mediated Ultrathin MOF Multilayers (Advanced Materials)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12822526/)
6. [Binder-free, multidentate bonding-induced carbon nano-oligomer assembly for textile pseudocapacitors (Energy Storage Materials, 2024)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensm.2024.103396)
7. [Fabrication of highly ordered multilayer thin films and its applications (Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2003)](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02697205)
8. [Jinhan Cho – Scopus author profile, ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/35094987500/jinhan-cho)
9. [Wearable textile supercapacitors: material advancements and applications (Journal of Energy Storage, 2024)](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.113228)
10. [KU News: Professor Cho Jin-han's research group on lithium metal batteries](https://www.korea.edu/en/1127/subview.do?enc=Zm5jdDF8QEB8JTJGa3VzdG9yeSUyRmVuJTJGYXJ0Y2xWaWV3LmRvJTNGYXJ0Y2xTZXElM0QyNzk2MiUyNg%3D%3D)
11. [Fibril-type textile electrodes enabling extremely high areal capacity (Advanced Science)](https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202203800)
12. [Emerging challenges in textile energy electrodes: interfacial engineering (Small Structures)](https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202300330)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineers and computer scientists › Engineers and materials scientists › Researchers in chemical engineering, batteries, solar, and energy materials › Supercapacitors and electrochemical energy storage*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license