Depok, October 25th 2023. Universitas Indonesia (UI) inaugurated Prof. Yuni Krisyuningsih Krisnandi, S.Si., M.Si. Ph.D., as a professor in the field of Inorganic Network Material Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) at the Convention Center, UI Depok Campus, this morning. During the procession, she delivered an inauguration speech entitled “Natural Materials as Precursors of Superior Inorganic Network Materials for Environmental, Energy, and Health Applications”.
In her presentation, Prof. Yuni said that Indonesia is a country that passes through the Mediterranean and Pacific routes, thus it has many mountains that contain abundant natural non-metallic minerals, amounting to more than 770 M tonnes, and are still priced relatively cheaply (around Rp. 35,000/ton). The non-metallic mineral natural material that has been widely used is alumina silicate material (a derivative of silicate), a material composed of the smallest units in the form of tetrahedral silicates which are combined periodically to form a complex structure in the form of a network (framework).
Aluminosilicate materials that have been widely used by the wider community are kaolin, bentonite/clay, and natural zeolites. “We are quite familiar with cat litter and media for pet reptiles, the main components of which are bentonite and natural zeolite. Apart from that, medicine for stomach aches, whitening clay, and ceramics are examples of the use of clay. Aluminosilicate materials have been used in various applications, such as water purification, adsorption, and heterogeneous catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions,” said Prof. Yuni.
She further said that natural aluminosilicate has several weaknesses, including not being able to withstand high temperatures, non-uniform crystal phases, and pore blocking by quartz and other impurities, thus it needs to be pre-treated before being used. Because of this, researchers developed a method for synthesizing aluminosilicate materials using pro-analysis materials which are quite expensive and need to be imported for a relatively long time (2-3 months indent) and are less environmentally friendly. With its high abundance in nature and its relatively cheap price, the use of natural minerals as precursors for the synthesis of aluminosilicate materials can answer this problem.
Before being used as a precursor for the synthesis of superior inorganic network materials, natural aluminosilicate is given pretreatment, such as activation, purification, fragmentation and extraction. This stage is the most important part in the preparation of precursors from natural materials, because the geographical location of the natural material’s origin will influence the composition, structure, hardness and impurities in the natural material, thus pre-treatment cannot be generalized for all natural materials. Once precursors from natural materials are obtained, material synthesis can be carried out, such as in synthesis using pro-analysis precursors.
Then, Prof. Yuni explained the use of superior inorganic tissue materials as environmentally friendly catalysts in the conversion of biomass waste. The compound 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is one of 12 priority chemicals where one of the most popular applications is the synthesis of polyethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (PEF) which is environmentally friendly and is projected to replace polyethylene terephthalate (PET). “In our research, FDCA was synthesized from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) by oxidation with the help of CuO/ZSM-5 and NiO/ZSM-5 catalysts from natural precursors. The delignified cellulose was successfully converted into FDCA in one-pot with a yield of 12.7%,” said Prof. Yuni.
She also explained the use of superior inorganic network materials for energy, namely natural mineral-based Zeolite NaY as a catalyst for cracking n-hexadecane. Then, the use of superior inorganic tissue materials in health, namely the engineering of locally loaded RNA extraction kits and the use of waste as a source of superior inorganic tissue material precursors.
Prof. Yuni said, there are three challenges faced in developing natural material precursors for the synthesis of superior tissue materials. First, synthetic zeolite from China, which is much cheaper than the cost of synthesizing superior inorganic network materials from natural materials in Indonesia. Second, the extraction of natural materials and biomass waste, if not monitored, can disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and deplete important elements in nature over a certain period of time. Third, scale up the material synthesis process which requires collaboration with many parties, such as researchers from engineering and industrial faculties.
“The use of natural materials as precursors for superior inorganic tissue materials must continue to be improved, because they can provide added value, support the nation’s independence by increasing the percentage of domestic component levels (TKDN), as well as resilience in the fields of environment, energy and health. Of course, still by following developments in science, market needs and a sustainable ecosystem balance. Finally, collaboration is needed with universities and research institutions at home and abroad, and support from UI to accelerate the achievement of research targets and outputs that have an impact on the wider community,” said Prof. Yuni which was broadcasted live via the Universitas Indonesia YouTube channel and UI TV.
During the inauguration process, the Dean of FMIPA UI (Period 1994-1998) Prof. Dr. Endang Asijati; Head of Human Resources Division PT Mowilex Emenda Brahmana; Head of the Internal Monitoring Unit of the Bogor City Regional Hospital, Dr. Marthino Robinson, SpPD-KHOM; Regional Business Director PT IMCD Kristian Hartono, S.Si., MBA; and Director of PT Ecomindo Saranabuat Wahyu Setiaji were present.
Prof. Yuni completed her undergraduate education at the Department of Chemistry, FMIPA UI in 1997. Then, she continued her Masters education at the School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Australia and graduated in 2001. In 2005, she succeeded in obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D) from the Department of Chemistry, The School of Natural and Computing Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Some of her scientific works are entitled Comparative study of microwave-assisted versus conventional heated reactions of biomass conversion into levulinic acid over hierarchical Mn3O4/ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts (2023); Significance of ZSM-5 hierarchical structure on catalytic cracking: Intra- vs inter-crystalline mesoporosity (2023); and Metal-organic framework derived ZnO/porous carbon − 13X zeolite composite modified with chitosan and silver nanoparticles as versatile antibacterial agent (2022).
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Dra. Amelita Lusia, M.Si., CPR
Head of Public Relations Bureau and KIP UI
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