LG Innotek, a parts manufacturing subsidiary of LG Corp., announced Wednesday that the company has its eye on the global water treatment market, especially in China, with its ultraviolet ray light-emitting diode technology.

The company said it had developed a 150-milliwatt UV LED chip for commercialization this year and would further raise the power to 200 milliwatts next year.

LG Innotek is more familiar as a provider of smartphone camera modules, known to be a major supplier of the dual camera on Apple’s iPhones.

Currently 2- to 10-milliwatt ultraviolet rays are in wide use for sterilization in water and air purifiers and other home appliances. 

Such powerful UV rays over 100 milliwatts are expected to be used for sterilization in large industrial facilities, such as water treatment, sanitary arrangements at hospitals and large manufacturing equipment.

“We are getting various contacts from China already,” said CEO Park Jong-seok. “In daily life, we will see growing use of UV LED, for example, in maintaining the handrails of escalators at public places.”

The UV LED market is estimated to grow from $151.9 million in 2016 to $1.12 billion by 2021, according to market researcher Yole Development.

“Innotek’s 100-milliwatt UV LED removed 99.9 percent of Salmonella bacteria in 3.4 seconds, proving it will be effective in killing various virus and fungi,” said Kang Dong-hyun, a professor at Seoul National University.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)