ITS Professor Unveils Advanced Material Innovations for Energy Storage and Environmental Technology
Using photocatalytic technology made of semiconductors, such as reduced Graphene Oxide and copper oxide (rGO/CuO) composites, CO2 exhaust gases can be converted into alternative fuels like methanol and methane.
Surabaya (ANTARA) - The 245th Professor of the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Prof Diah Susanti, has developed advanced material innovations for energy storage technology and environmental pollution control to address the energy crisis while supporting environmental sustainability.
“With photocatalytic technology made of semiconductors such as reduced Graphene Oxide and copper oxide (rGO/CuO) composites, CO2 exhaust gases can be converted into alternative fuels like methanol and methane,” said Diah in Surabaya, East Java, on Friday.
In a scientific oration titled “Advanced Material Engineering for Energy Storage Technology and Environmental Pollution Control,” the lecturer from the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering (DTMM) at ITS emphasised the importance of energy transition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from fossil fuel use.
In addition to converting carbon emissions, the photocatalytic technology she developed is also utilised to decompose toxic industrial dye waste, such as Rhodamine-B (RhB) and Methylene Blue (MB).
According to Diah, the composite material based on reduced Graphene Oxide and zinc oxide (rGO/ZnO) developed by the DTMM ITS Materials Chemistry Laboratory is capable of degrading RhB liquid pollutants by up to 99.5 per cent in just five hours.
In the field of energy storage, Diah has also developed electrochemical supercapacitors as energy storage devices that combine the advantages of conventional capacitors and batteries. This technology possesses high power density, allowing it to overcome the energy density limitations found in power storage systems.
“Its capacitance can even reach 10,000 times greater than that of ordinary conventional capacitors,” she stated.
She explained that supercapacitors are classified into three main types: Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), pseudocapacitors, and hybrid systems.
Her research has successfully developed all three types using rGO materials combined with various metal oxides, such as WO3, NiO, CuCr2O4, and manganese oxide compounds.
This technology is designed to be integrated with batteries or fuel cells in electric vehicles to accelerate the charging and discharging processes while maintaining a stable power supply.
Looking ahead, Diah hopes that the developed nanotechnology innovations can be applied on an industrial scale through collaboration with various global partners to support Indonesia’s Net Zero Emission (NZE) target for 2060.
“Whenever there is an opportunity, women must also continue to be empowered and strive to provide their best research contributions for the preservation of nature,” she said.