Reaserch on Progres:

1. The preliminary study of silver-selective membrane electrodes based on liphophilic stearic acid : a comparison between coconut oil and dibenzyl ether (dbe) as a plasticizer, 2000. (member of team)
2. Synthesis of butane-1,4-diyl[bis(chloroethanoate)] and its utilization as ionophore on ammonium-selective membrane electrodes, 2002. (principle investigator)
3. Quality on undergraduate education program batch V, “ The Application of Hybrid Problem-Based Learning to Increase Teaching-Learning Process”, The Ministry of National Education, April 2003 – November 2004. (member of team)
4. Study on remediation of aquatic environment from heavy metal pollutant by aquatic plants, March 2004 – December 2008. (principle investigator)
5. Development of lead (Pb) removal from contaminated soil using EAPR and EZ-EK system, April 2008 – June 2011. (principle investigator)
6. Development remediation method for Cs radionuclide contaminated soil using EAPR and EZ-EK system, July 2011 – present. (principle investigator)
7. Application of EAPR system and electrocoagulation process on the treatment of aquatic contaminated plume, April 2013 – present. (principle investigator)
8. Application of electrolysis on the production of biodiesel using acid or alkaline catalyst, April 2014 – present. (principle investigator)

   Research Roadmap:

   Environmental remediation research group – Development of methods for remediation of polluted soil and water using EAPR, EZ / EK and electrocoagulation processes

   The purpose of this research theme is to evaluate the combination of the EAPR (electro-assisted pytoremediation) process and the EZ / EK (entrapping zone / electrokinetic) process as well as the electrocoagulation process for remediation of soil and water contaminated by heavy metals. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the research being developed in the land and water remediation research group.

   
   Figure 1. Schematic of the research in the water and soil remediation research group

   Phytoremediation is a technique of using plants to reduce and reduce the availability of contaminants in soil or water. Some of the advantages of this phytoremediation method include the ability to reduce heavy metal concentrations. The heavy metals will accumulate in the roots and then translocate to the stems and leaves of the plant. However, the phytoremediation process also has several disadvantages, including short plant roots and slow biomass growth. In addition, the phytoremediation process of cleaning takes a relatively long time. Some of the weaknesses possessed by the phytoremediation process are then overcome through a combination of the phytoremediation and electrochemical processes which are then introduced by the term electro-assisted phytoremediation (EAPR). In the EAPR system, the electrodes used will function to mobilize metal ions through the electromigration process so that metal ions will be pushed and accumulated in the plant root area which is then followed by the absorption process by the plant roots. The advantage of the EAPR method is that it is possible to use plants with short roots so that it will overcome the shortcomings that exist in the phytoremediation process. Figure 2 shows the application of the EAPR process for the remediation of Pb-contaminated water.

   
   Figure 2.EAPR system reactor (A) and water sampling point in the reactor (B) and pot-shaped cathode (C)

   New and renewable energy research group – Application of electrolysis processes for the production of biodiesel with acid and alkaline catalysts

   Oil fuel is the energy source with the largest consumption when compared to other energy sources so that currently the world is facing a fuel oil crisis. The limited energy that comes from petroleum has demanded Indonesia to seek other energy sources whose availability can be renewed. Biodiesel is seen as an alternative future fuel that can be used as a substitute for petroleum. The advantages of biodiesel as a substitute for diesel fuel are that it is environmentally friendly, non-toxic, renewable and biodegradable as well as its abundant raw materials derived from vegetable oils and animal fats. Further research plans will be developed on the manufacture of biodiesel with a combination of modified methods of electrolysis process and chitosan heterogeneous catalyst modified in the sol-gel phase (hydrogel, xerogel, cryogel and airgel). Another advantage of this method is that the water content contained in used cooking oil, which is usually problematic for the quality of biodiesel, will be utilized in the electrolysis process to produce biodiesel with low water content (<1%) with high conversion results (≥ 97%). Previous research has shown the success of using a combined electrolysis process with chitosan as a heterogeneous base catalyst in the biodiesel production process from used cooking oil with a low conversion yield of 59.1% (Putra et al. (2014)) as shown in Figure 3. (Putra dkk. (2014)
   Figure 3. Biodiesel production by electrolysis and chitosan catalyst

   Improvement in this research was carried out by modifying the chitosan catalyst in the form of a gel phase. The catalyst will be coated on the surface of the graphite electrode, so it is expected that the graphite electrode alloy and chitosan gel will be able to increase the alkaline atmosphere in the transesterification process of used cooking oil into biodiesel. The combination of the two methods will then be used to develop a proto-type biodiesel production using chitosan gel coated electrodes in the electrolysis process as shown in Figure 4.

   
   Figure 4. Schematic of biodiesel production by electrolysis using a graphite electrode coated with chitosan gel