What an extraordinary experience I got when I studied at the Chemistry Education Study Program, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). My name is Mufid Permana, a final year student in Chemistry Education Study Program. I have participated in the student mobility program at Universiti Malaya, Malaysia for two weeks with three other students from the Department of Chemistry, FMIPA, UII. This activity is part of the Global Engagement Grant (GEG), which is a grant program intended for majors and study programs at the Islamic University of Indonesia in encouraging the development of sustainable innovation to strengthen international recognition. The student mobility program was accompanied by the head of the Chemistry Department, UII, Prof. Dr. Is Fatimah, S.Si., M.Sc., and Prof. Dr. Suresh Sagadevan from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. During two weeks at the Nanotechnology & Catalysis Research Center, Universiti Malaya, my friends and I did research on “Material Preparation and Characterization.”
Before doing research at NANOCAT, my friends and I had a discussion with Prof. Suresh regarding the material characterization procedure used. Then we go to the Nanomaterials Lab for the preparation of material characterization samples. The samples used in this study were SnO2, NiO, and SnO2/NiO composites. After doing the preparation we were invited to study together with Prof. Suresh related to “Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Daily Basis”. The lecture material begins with material development, the use of nanomaterials, nanoparticle synthesis methods, and quantum effects.
On the 7th day, we toured the molecular biology laboratory to discuss the performance of the PCR instrument. In the electrochemistry laboratory, we discuss the electrical characteristics of the material by cyclic voltammetry (CV). After the lab tour, we continued our research on cyclic voltammetry and sample preparation using nickel foam and SnO2/NiO composites. On the following day, we conducted sample preparation for the zeta potential characteristics and further researched the use of cyclic voltammetry instruments to characterize the electrical properties of SnO2/NiO composite materials.
On Saturday and Sunday, we were invited by Prof. Suresh and Dr. Viki to tour the city of Kuala Lumpur. It is such a wonderful experience to be able to visit famous places in Kuala Lumpur such as the Petronas Towers, Central Market, Petaling Street, and Little India. In the second week while at NANOCAT, we toured the Oleon Chemistry and materials chemistry lab with Ms. Ling, a Ph.D student from Universiti Malaya. Next, we toured the chemistry lab of materials and nanomaterials with Lia’s sister (Rashid, and Imam). In this lab, we are explained how to use chemical instruments used in doctoral student research.
On April 15th, we met with the director of NANOCAT and talked about the results of the two weeks of research we did at NANOCAT. In addition, we handed over a plaque from the UII Chemistry department to give to Dr. Mohd Rafie Bin Johan as director of NANOCAT and Prof. Dr. Suresh Sagadevan who acted as our supervisor while in Malaysia.
From the activity that lasted for 14 days, we gained a lot of knowledge and memorable experiences such as gaining extraordinary insights related to many things, regarding the deepening of nanoscience, nanotechnology, and the application of nanomaterials, especially catalysis. In addition, we can gain knowledge about the use of instruments that are not yet available in UII, such as VSM and Zeta Potential. We also gained a lot of experience both directly and indirectly during collaborative activities between Chemistry Department (UII) and NANOCAT (Universiti Malaya) such as students being able to feel the atmosphere of research excellence which is a fairly new atmosphere in exploring the world of science.
