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Unesa.ac.id, Surabaya-Students of the Physics Education study program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State University of Surabaya participated in two national level competitions at once on Sunday (4/7/2021). The first competition is LKTIM Chemistry Fun Days 2021 which is held by Padjadjaran University. From UNESA, followed by a team consisting of three students. They are Iqbal Ainur Rizki, Isna Zakhiyah, and Hanan Zaki Alhusni.
On that occasion, the team which was mentored by Nugrahani Primary Putri, S.Si., M.Si brought and presented a work with the theme "Hydrodynamics: Technological Innovation of Water Splitting Rainwater into Hydrogen Gas Based on TiO2 Nanoparticles as a Future Energy Source".
One of the team members, Iqbal Ainur Rizki said that through this work they wanted to bring innovation in answering household energy problems in the community. He continued that energy issues, particularly household energy, in Indonesia need special attention.
He cited data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources showing that around 70% of the national LPG needs are still imported and become the burden of the state. It is estimated that domestic LPG demand in 2022 will reach 10.27 million tons. Meanwhile, the production is only 1.97 million tons. The data shows that the problem of the household energy sector is an urgent problem to be resolved immediately. One solution is through hydrogen gas which has the advantage of having a heating value of almost three times that of LPG and its combustion is also environmentally friendly.
Hydrogen gas can be produced through the water splitting process, especially rainwater. "Because Indonesia is a country with a fairly high rainfall reaching 3,000 mm/year. So we submitted a work on producing energy from rainwater,” he said. For this work, Iqbal and two of his colleagues received an award as Best Innovation.
On the same day, the UNESA team consisting of Iqbal Ainur Rizki, Isna Zakhiyah, and Fajriatul Mufarriha Sunni participated in the second competition, namely the International Invention Competition for Young Moslem Scientists (IICYMS) 2021 which was held in collaboration between IYSA (Indonesian Young Scientist Association) and UIN Sunan Gunung Jati Bandung.
The team created by Lydia Rohmawati, M.Si submitted a work on "Optimization of Milkfish (Chanos chanos) Bone Waste in Making Zinc-Carbon Batterries in Kalanganyar Village, Sidoarjo Regency" or on the utilization of milkfish bone waste into environmentally friendly Zn-C batteries.
Iqbal, the head of the team, said that the work started from their anxiety about the amount of milkfish bone waste that was processed by the community. Sometimes the waste of fish bones and spines is not disposed of properly, in fact a lot of it is just scattered on the road. Apparently, he continued, the waste of milkfish spines and bones has a high calcium content of up to 39.24%.
The calcium is one of the compounds with a high cell potential, which is -2.87 V. "So we use the milkfish bone waste as a zinc-carbon battery electrolyte charger," he said. "This study is still a preliminary study and there are still shortcomings, of course, because it will continue to be researched and developed further," said the 2019 student.
In the biggest international discovery competition in Indonesia, they won a gold medal in the pure science chemistry category at the university level and also received the Rector of UIN Sunan Gunung Jati Award. “On behalf of the group, I would like to thank the supervisors, the university, the lecturers and other friends who participated in supporting and praying for us. Hopefully this can be a motivation for us together to continue to make achievements in realizing UNESA one step ahead," he said.
Nugrahani Primary Putri, S.Si., M.Si as the team supervisor at the LKTIM Chemistry Fun Days 2021 event appreciated the enthusiasm, hard work and dedication of students to produce innovative works and were appreciated and appreciated by many parties in various competitions. According to him, students must have curiosity, care and sensitivity in seeing the problems that exist in the community.
Then be able to answer the problem creatively and innovatively, then be able to perform until the ideas and works are actually felt by the surrounding community. “They (students under their guidance, ed) are really active children and often take part in competitions. We hope that you will continue to be enthusiastic and inspire others to work, innovate and make achievements,” he hoped. (Unesa Public Relations)
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