A surface robot that autonomously navigates rivers and lakes to eliminate harmful algal blooms by synthesizing hydrogen peroxide using only water and air has been developed.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) announced today (August 2) that a joint research team led by Principal Researcher Oh Hyung-seok from the Clean Energy Research Center, alongside Principal Researcher Kim Nam-dong from the Super-Performance Conducting Materials Research Center and Principal Researcher Cho Hye-sung from the Extreme Materials Research Center, has developed a solar-powered, autonomous algae-control surface robot that requires no external power supply or chemical transportation.

Previously, clearing algal blooms that cause water quality issues in rivers and lakes every summer required workers to board boats and manually spray hydrogen peroxide.

This method incurred high costs as personnel had to cover vast bodies of water, and the stabilizers added to preserve chemicals over long periods reduced the efficiency of algae removal.

The research team developed a single-atom catalyst by attaching cobalt atoms one by one onto a carbon material, enabling the immediate on-site synthesis of hydrogen peroxide using only oxygen and water from the air.

The research team explained that the hydrogen peroxide produced this way eliminated algae up to 1,760 times faster compared to commercial hydrogen peroxide.

The team then integrated this catalytic system with solar panels and a floating device to create a surface robot that autonomously patrols and controls algae day and night.

The research team stated that they successfully verified its algae-removal performance during test operations in an actual pond within the KIST campus.

The team noted that this technology has high potential for application in reservoirs and dams lacking power infrastructure, and they plan to scale up the device to expand its application range to rivers and major water supply sources.

Principal Researcher Oh stated, "This is the result of collaborative convergence research achieved by KIST teams possessing expertise in water purification catalysts, advanced composite materials, and robot control technologies," adding, "We hope this technology, which produces algae-removal agents on-site using only sunlight, will serve as a new alternative for future smart water management technologies."

The research results were published on June 5 in the international academic journal Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy.

(Photo provided by KIST, Yonhap News)