KAIST Spray Powder Stops Severe Bleeding in 1 Second
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- KAIST researchers developed AGCL powder, a spray-on hemostatic agent that transforms into a hydrogel barrier in about one second when it contacts blood, using ionic reactions with calcium from naturally derived ingredients including alginate, gellan gum, and chitosan.
- AGCL powder absorbs 725% of its own weight in blood and achieved adhesive strength greater than 40kPa in testing, outperforming commercially available hemostatic agents and conforming to deep, irregular, and complex wounds where conventional patches struggle.
- Laboratory and animal testing showed a hemolysis rate below 3%, cell viability above 99%, and a 99.9% antibacterial effect; surgical liver injury experiments in animals reduced blood loss and bleeding time, with liver function returning to normal within two weeks and no evidence of systemic toxicity.
- Army Major Kyusoon Park, a KAIST PhD candidate and co-lead author, drove the battlefield-informed design; the powder maintained its performance for two years under room temperature and high-humidity storage, making it field-ready for harsh military and disaster environments.
- The study was published online on October 28, 2025 in Advanced Functional Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202523910), led by Professors Steve Park and Sangyong Jon, and earned the 2025 KAIST Q-Day President's Award and the 2024 Minister of National Defense Award.
- Researchers frame AGCL as a defense-to-civilian spin-off, with potential applications beyond combat including disaster response, ambulance and hospital emergency care, treatment in medically underserved regions, and controlling bleeding during internal surgery.
Why it matters: Excessive blood loss is the leading cause of death from combat injuries, and KAIST designed AGCL with direct battlefield input from Army Major Kyusoon Park — sealing wounds in 1 second, absorbing 725% of its own weight in blood, and remaining stable for 2 years in harsh storage. The same platform could extend to disaster response, ambulances, and surgical bleeding control where rapid hemostasis changes survival odds.
