Slide 1

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 2

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 3

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 4

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 5

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 6

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 7

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 8

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 9

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 10

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 11

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 12

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 13

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 14

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 15

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 16

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 17

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 18

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 19

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 20

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 21

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 22

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 23

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 24

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 25

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 26

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 27

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 28

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 29

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 30

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 31

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 32

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 33

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution


Slide 34

Centre for Photonic and
Advanced Materials
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

Introduction
• Photonic and advanced materials
are areas of technology, which are
advancing rapidly in the past two
decades. These technologies have
been propelled into their present
position as the technology of
choice and imparted dramatic
impact to many modern industries
such as energy, manufacturing,
medical, biotechnology,
communication, etc. and they are
still rapidly expanding to almost
every imaginable field.

Objectives
• The objective of forming this centre is to be part of an R&D
team of multi-discipline that would play an important role in
acquiring knowledge and technology for the development of
the country, particularly in the area of photonics and
advanced materials.

Mission
• To be an innovator of ideas and solution provider through
research and development activities and initiatives
• To provide researchers with the opportunities and resources to
conduct research and development work

Area of Interest
HIGH CONCENTRATION SOLAR ENERGY GROUP
• Concentrator photovoltaic design, solar hot water
system, solar furnace, high temperature solar
processes, Solar pumped laser system, Solar Power
Plant (Central tower, Parabolic dish, Parabolic
Trough), Solar Hydrogen, etc.

Area of Interest
OPTICAL SENSOR AND
DESIGN GROUP
• Waveguide and fiber based
optical sensors, optical
biosensors, optical
chemical sensors, microfluidic sensor, plasmonic
sensors, optical sensor
system, optical coherence
tomography (OCT), etc.

Area of Interest
PHOTONIC DEVICES
AND SYSTEMS GROUP
• Fiber to the home system
(FTTH), optoelectronic
devices, optical fiber
communication systems
and network modeling,
optical sensor network,
optical sensor system etc.

Area of Interest
RHEOLOGY and MATERIALS PROCESSING GROUP
• Rheology and processing of polymers,
Nanomedicine, Multi-phase flow (slurries and
suspensions), Nanocomposites, Polymeric nanopigments, Investigation of the rheological properties
of thickened wastewater sludge, Recyclability of
silver based conductive adhesives, etc.

Area of Interest
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY GROUP
• Optimizing the processes through computer
modelling, Metal-Matrix Composite (MMC)
fabrication process by gravity die/squeeze casting
technology, materials processing of lead-free
interconnection and new alloys with desirable
mechanical properties, reliability and
manufacturability, etc.

Selected Projects

Pre-commercialized project on grid
connected dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman, Dr Yap
Vooi Voon, Wong Chee Woon, Dr Lau Sing Liong, Dr Ng See
Seng, Dr Tan Kia Hock, Jessie Siaw Fei Lu, Yew Tiong Keat, Tan
Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. To construct 120 meter square non-imaging solar
concentrator
2. To design the 20 KWp dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system
3. To connect the electrical output power of CPV
system to the Grid
4. To compare the performance of CPV system with
flat plate PV system

Research and development on secondary optics
in dense array concentrator photovoltaic
system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers: Wong Chee Woon
Funded by: e-Science Fund

Project Description:
This study embarks on the following objectives:
1) To analyze secondary optics of Non-Imaging
Planar Concentrator using Monte-Carlo ray
tracing method.
2) To fabricate secondary concentrator attached
to dense array Concentrator Photovoltaic
receiver with cooling system.
3) To increase packing factor of solar cells in
dense-array configuration for optimizing the
overall system performance.
4) To evaluate the performance of secondary
concentrator in dense array concentrator
photovoltaic system.

Patent fund for the Nonimaging dish concentrator for
the application of concentrator
photovoltaic system
Project leader: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Co-researchers:
Dr Philip Tan (advisor), Wong Chee Woon, Yew Tiong Keat,
Tan Ming Hui, Tan Woei Chong
Funded by: Akaun Amanah Industri Bekalan Elektrik
(Malaysia Electricity Supply Industry Trust Account), Ministry
of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Project Description:
1. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in Malaysia as deemed
appropriate;
2. file patent for the new invention supported
by AAIBE fund in overseas in the manner as
deemed appropriate

Research on novel non-imaging
optics to improve the efficiency of
concentrator photovoltaic system
Project leader: Wong Chee Woon
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Chong Kok Keong
Funded by: FRGS

Project Description:
A research on non-imaging optics to achieve high
solar concentration ratio with uniform illumination
area has been proposed by using multi-faceted
mirrors as the optical aperture to gather and to
concentrate the incident sunlight into a target
plane. A prototype of non-imaging solar
concentrator with a total reflective area of 4.16 m2
has been constructed. A CPV module, which
mounted on the target, mainly consists of multijunction solar cells, cooling block and electrical
connections. Performance study on the system has
been carried out to achieve high solar
concentration ratio with the variation of flux
distribution at the target plane.

Hybrid solar holographic and luminescent concentrator for
bifacial solar cells
Project leader: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Co-researchers: Prof Dr Faidz Abd Rahman and
Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description: The luminescent solar concentrator
(LSC) consists of a transparent plate doped with
luminescent materials, such as laser/organic dyes,
semiconductor quantum dots, rare earth materials, and
semiconductor polymers. Incident sunlight is first absorbed
by the luminescent materials, then re-emitted at different
wavelength and guided to the edge of solar concentrator by
total internal reflection.

Diagram of LSC

The holographic solar concentrator (HSC) is another planar
solar concentrator with similar structure as the luminescent
solar concentrator. The only difference is that HSC uses
holographic films to diffract sunlight to a larger incident
angle so that total internal reflection could occur inside the
concentrator and guide the light toward solar cells.
In this research project, a new hybrid luminescent and
holographic solar concentrator (LHSC) with bi-facial solar
cells is proposed and developed. A simulation model for
LHSC will be developed and prototype of LHSC will be
constructed and tested.

LSCs with various luminescent dyes

Investigation of Pt-reinforced Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
alloy in bi-facial solar cells for solar electricity
generation
Project leader: Dr Karen Wong Mee Chu
Co-researcher: Ir Dr Lim Yun Seng
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Prototypes of bi-facial solar panels are constructed using Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu solder
reinforced by Pt particles as interconnection material. The connectivity between the
ribbon and metallization is investigated and the efficiency of the solar panel is
determined. One patent has been filed PI 2013004584 on 19 December 2013. This
patent is sponsored by Kass International Sdn Bhd. This project has won two awards
at the 24th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition 2013 (Gold
Award & Special Award for Best Invention)

Fabrication and investigation into novel structures of
nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell for
achieving high conversion efficiency in sustainable
energy development.
Project leader: Dr Liang Meng Suan
Co-researchers: Dr Khaw Chwin Chieh, Dr Lai Soon Onn,
Dr Wang Chan Chin, Dr Lew Kim Luong
Funded by: ERGS

Project Description:
In the past few hundred years we have built factories and automobiles that burned
fossil fuels which took millions of years to form. The fossil fuels are depleting fast and
we will run out of them in the not so distant future. However, we have a clean and
sustainable source of energy if we can harvest solar energy directly.
The DSSC project in UTAR focus on novel approaches such as the nanocrystalline
titanium oxide layer, injected with an electrolyte, generating current by picking up
electrons released by dye molecules as it absorbs light. The whole mixture is
sandwiched between transparent conducting glasses doped with tin oxide. Electricity
starts to flow when the cell is exposed to sunlight.

A study on effect of inorganic nanocrystal
in organic solar cells
Project leader: Dr Chen Kah Pin
Co-researchers: Dr Lew Kim Luong, Dr Liang Meng
Suan, Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
Organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted
considerable interest due to their great potential
for the production of flexible and large-area solar
cells at dramatically low costs and easyprocessing fabrication properties. However one
of the major problems in organic solar cell
development is their low efficiency.
One of reasons of low efficiency is its limited
absorption spectra and poor absorption
coefficients compared to crystalline inorganic
materials. This project introduces inorganic
nanocrystals TiO2 into the organic bulk heterojunction solar cells to improve their
performances. The inorganic nanocrystals TiO2
offer several advantages such as having high
absorption coefficients and size tunability.

Donor

Acceptor

Analysis of Long Period Fibre Gratings
(LPFGs) sensing performance
Project leader: Yong Yun Thung
Co-researchers: Dr Lee Sheng Chyan, Prof Dr Faidz
Abd Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
One of the common techniques used for LPFG
fabrication is using electrical arc-induced whereby
the fabrication system can be setup by using simple
arcing circuit with aligner to write the grating on
fibre. Our objectives are to analyse and optimize the
LPFGs sensing performance at the wavelength of
800 to 900nm by using arc-induced method.

-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70
-80

Wavelength, nm
850
859.56
869.12
878.68
888.24
897.8
907.36
916.92
926.48
936.04
945.6
955.16
964.72
974.28
983.84
993.4
1002.96
1012.52
1022.08
1031.64
1041.2

0

dBm

Current research trend is focusing on the
improvement of measurand sensitivity. However it is
found that there wasn’t much research work on the
LPFGs sensitivity performance at the wavelength
range of 800nm to 900nm. Therefore it has a high
research value for analyzing of LPFGs sensing
performance at this wavelength range.

Fabricated LPFG at
900nm region

Study of biological components
immobilization on polymerbased film and its effects on the
characteristics of Long Period
Optical Fiber biosensors
Project leader: Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Co-researchers: Dr Loh Han Chern, Dr Tan
Ching Siong (MMU), Loh Mey Chern
Funded by: FRGS

Project description
The research focus on designing and
characterizing biosensors based on arcinduced long period fiber gratings (arcinduced LPFGs). The LPFG was coated
with polyelectrolytes (PEs) to increase
the sensitivity. It is then coated with
gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and lastly, a
biological component to detect an
analyte.

Design and Fabrication of Micro Fiber
Sensor Based on Arc-Induced Method
Project leader: Lin Horng Sheng
Co-researchers: Yong Yun Thung, Dr Yong Thian Kok,
Prof Dr Faidz Abdul Rahman
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: MF is of great interest device
application on optical sensing due to its high
evanescent field that interacts with surrounding
refractive index (SRI). This can be explained by the
conceptual diagram in Fig. 1, the model is similar to
a Mach-Zehnder or Michelson interferometer. The
input power, Pin is launched to the MF at
fundamental mode (HE11). The transition of the
taper are deemed to be abruptly changed that
significant portion of power is coupled to higher
order mode (HE12) from the dominating HE11 mode
at the entrance and vice versa, HE12 mode is coupled
back to dominating HE11 mode at the exit [1]. Along
the tapered length, the MF is air cladded and hence
sensitive to SRI. Besides that, modal interference
occurs along the tapered length and it results
sinusoidal spectrum as shown as Fig.2

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram of MF
interferometer

Fig. 2 Simulated transmission spectrum of
MF

Short pulse high energy laser pulsed system
Project leader: Dr Teh Peh Chiong
Co-researchers: Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Funded by: UTARRF
Block Diagram

Project Description:
The research focus on the development of the driving
electronics and control system required to drive the fiber laser
system through gain switching to generate short (nanosecond
to microsecond) optical pulses. This research has the goal to
establish the understandings and parameters required for
development of a compact, single seed laser source which can
be extended to high energy pulsed laser system through fiber
amplification.

Experiment setup
Electrical pulse
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6

2 0 0 ns

0 .4
0 .2
0 .0
-0 .2
0

Optical pulse
1.2

1 .0

1.0

Amplitude(A.U.)

1 .2

0 .8
0 .6
8 ns
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

0.8
0.6

200ps

0.4
0.2
0.0

- 0 .2
0

10

20

30

-0.2

40

0

T im e ( n s )

1

2

4

5

200ps

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4

3

Time(ns)

8ns
A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

With the availability of high performance Field Programmable
Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and high speed Digital-to-Analog
Converters (DACs) components, the implementation of
arbitrary waveform generation for generating pulses/arbitrary
waveforms become feasible and cost effective.

300

200ns
A m p l it u d e ( A . U . )

For the laser pulse width having nanosecond duration, this
energy transfer is thermally based, as the material will
absorbed the pulse energy, balanced by the diffusion of heat
into the surrounding substrate.

200

T im e ( n s )

A m p lit u d e ( A . U . )

Typically, these lasers operate to generate pulses with
nanosecond duration and require to process a wide variety of
different materials ranging from polymer to metal.

100

33ns

0 .2
0 .0

1 .2
1 .0
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0 .0

-0 .2
0

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

-0 .2
0

Arbitrary

20

40

60

T im e ( n s )

80

100

Optical Encrypted Digital Holographic
Watermarking
Project leader: Dr Yong Thian Khok
Funded by: UTARRF
Project description: Digital watermarking is a
commonly used technique to protect the owner
copyright by embedding hidden information
(watermark) into the digital contents. In this
project, we are going to define, design and
develop a new secure optical encrypted digital
holographic watermarking scheme. The encrypted
hologram is optically generated using digital
holography technique, which is then embedding
into host image. Only the authorized party can
extract the watermark pattern and thus it offer
higher security protection. The proposed scheme
has a capability to watermark 3D objects with
another hidden 2D or 3D object. The scheme will
be analyzed in term of security and efficiency and
to be implemented in image copyright protection
through encryption and watermarking.

Continuous-measurement interpretation of
master equations
Project leader: Dr Tan Eng Kiang
Co-researchers: Hong Kai Sze
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description: We wish to provide a new measurement
interpretation to conventional Markovian quantum optical master
equations . This is done following the recently proposed measurement
master equation [1] which has been derived directly from the
prescription by J. von Neumann. We proceed by showing that
conventional master equation for an open system can be obtained
directly from the perspective of generalized measurements where the
evolution of the system is subject to a sequence of measurements
occurring at a fixed rate.
[1] Cresser J. D. et al., Opt. Comm. 264 (2006) 352

Development of a Fundamental & Accurate Formulation
to Optimize the Optical Performance of Radio Telescopes
in THz Frequencies
Project leader:
Co-researchers:

Funded by:

Dr Yeap Kim Ho
Ir Prof Dr Tham Choy Yoong
Emeritus Prof Dr Kazuhiro Hirasawa
Dr Yeong Kee Choon
Dr Humaira Nisar
Dr Teh Peh Chiong
FRGS

Project Description:
Optical design in the THz region is challenging
because neither set of the techniques for the
analysis in the optical and microwave bands
could be applied directly in the analysis of the
THz band. Since cross polarization, distortion,
and diffraction cannot be ignored in the THz
region, this project aims to develop a rigorous
formulation which accounts for all these
effects in the design of THz radio telescopes.

Tool life prediction of industrial
tool steel SKD 61 & SKD 11 under
extreme high pressure of working
condition in metal forming process

Tension
Cyclic

TensionCompression
Cyclic

Project leader: Dr Wang Chan Chin
Co-researchers: Kam Heng Keong
Funded by: UTARRF
(a) Before fracture

Project Description:
Tool life is an important indicator of the forging
operation in manufacturing process. Studies and
analyses of forging process are usually based on
material properties of tools and workpiece. There are 2
types of alloy tool steel: JIS SKD61 and SKD 11 to be
studied. Static tests and fatigue tests will be used to find
out more about the material properties under different
loading. Dynamic universal testing machine will be used
to carry out the experiment to identify the S-N curve of
fatigue life characteristic on specific carbide tool
materials by applying various frequencies, amplitude of
loading condition. From the S-N curve shown, the
material SKD 61 that were tested under tension cyclic
loading could sustain a higher number of cycles (about 5
times higher at 800MPa) compared to testing under
tension-compression cyclic loading.

(b) After fracture

Fig. Fatigue Test (10Hz)
Original Specimen

Fracture point
Fractured Specimen
Fig. Testing Specimens

Fig. S-N Curve

Structural performance of lightweight concrete beam
Project leader: Lim Jee Hock
Co-researchers: Dr Lim Siong Kang
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description: Nowadays, lightweight foamed
concrete is commonly found in construction field due
to its light-weight properties, and some advantages. In
this project, engineering properties of lightweight
foamed concrete have been studied, such as density,
compressive strength and flexural strength. The main
objective of this research is to study the structural
performance of structural beam incorporated with
lightweight foamed concrete at 1750kg/m3 ±10% of
density. Besides that, the compressive strength of the
lightweight foamed concrete is a target to obtain at
least 25N/mm2 at 28 days which can be used for
structural purpose. In addition, the structural tests will
be conducted to compare the flexural strength of
composite beam (normal weight and new type of
lightweight concrete) by using simple beam with thirdpoint loading. The experimental test method is base on
ASTM C78/C78M – 10: Standard Test Method for
Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with
Third – Point Loading).

IMPROVING DUCTILITY AND ELASTIC
RECOVERY OF BITUMEN-NATURAL
RUBBER LATEX BLEND

Project Description:
The increased volume in heavy goods vehicles
has led to dramatic increases in stress levels
on bitumen surfaces. As a result, road
engineers increasingly use polymer modified
bitumen to improve its durability.
Cationic SBR latex blended bitumen has been
found to give better performing properties,
such as ductility and elastic recovery at low
temperature, compared to natural rubber
latex (NRL). Hence, improvement of such
properties of the NRL blended bitumen is
needed to meet the customer requirement,
which was done by grafting polystyrene (PS)
chain onto NR backbone.

22.7

21.4

22

21.8

20

Ductility, cm

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Tinavallie A/P Grumoorthy
Funded by:
Synthomer/Revertex Malaysia Sdn Bhd

23.6

24

18
16
14

12.4

12
10

Control

2
4
5
Dosage of NR-g-PS, phr

NR-g-PS latex particles

6

A study of the thermal aging of
carboxyalted nitrile rubber latex
thin film

XNBR Glove

Project leader: Dr Mohammod Aminuzzaman
Co-researchers: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Funded by: Synthomer Sdn Bhd
Project Description:
Objectives:
• To investigate the effect of accelerated aging
on the mechanical properties of carboxylated
nitrile rubber (XNBR) latex thin film
•

•

To study the chemistry of the aging process in
XNBR thin film by using FT-IR.

To predict shelf life of XNBR products (glove)
of using Arrhenius equation.

Measurement of tensile strength
virgin thin film

aged thin film
crack

Surface morphology

Preparation and Characterisation of
Superabsorbent Based on Carboxymethyl
Cellulose and Modified Cellulose from Ceiba
pentandra (L.) Gaertn. (Kapok Tree)

110
100

500

90
80

400

70
60

300

50
40

200

30
20

100

10

0

Project Description:
Most of the current synthetic SAPs on the
market are expensive, poorly degradable and
harmful to the environment. Polysaccharidebased SAPs are garnering popularity due to
the environmental problems caused by
synthetic polymer waste.
Only a few researches have focused on the
synthesis of both CMC-based SAP and
modified natural polysaccharide-based SAP. In
this study, the highest water absorbency of
the modified cellulose-based SAP was 552 g/g
in distilled water and 96 g/g in saline solution.
The grafting efficiency obtained was 77.3 %.

0

0

10

20

Time(hour)

30

40

50

Q(g/g)

Q(g/g)

Project leader: Dr Chee Swee Yong
Co-researchers: Jennifer Khoo Meei Yun
Funded by: FRGS

120

600

SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON
SUPPORTED VANADIUM BASED OXIDE
CATALYSTS
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Gulnaziya Issabayeva
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the modified vanadium based oxide
catalysts supported on the activated carbon.
Besides that, the catalytic properties (i.e. activity
and selectivity) could be further enhanced by
manipulating various parameters, i.e. synthesis
methods and the addition of support materials in
producing a good and well-performed VPO
catalyst system. The physical and chemical
characteristics of modified vanadium phosphate
catalysts supported onto activated carbon will be
studied.

XRD Profile

Catalytic Performances

ULTRASONIC SYNTHESIS OF VANADYL
PYROPHOSPHATE CATALYSTS FOR PARTIAL
OXIDATION OF N-BUTANE TO MALEIC
ANHYDRIDE
Project leader: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Co-researchers: Dr Tang Siah Ying
Dr Yogeswaran a/l Mohan
Funded by: UTARRF

Project Description:
The objectives of the present research are to
synthesise the vanadyl pyrophosphate
catalysts using newly modified synthetic route,
i.e. ultrasonic assisted technique. The
synthesised catalysts would exhibit higher
specific surface area of the catalysts and
further improve the catalytic properties (i.e.
activity and selectivity) of the catalysts. The
effect of ultrasonic treatment on the
physicochemical characteristics of the
synthesised vanadium phosphate catalysts will
be studied.

A NOVEL PALM SHELL BASED ACTIVATED
CARBON CATALYST FOR CARBON DIOXIDE
CAPTURE AND REFORMING OF METHANE
Project leader: Dr Sumathi A/P Sethupathi
Co-researchers: Dr Leong Loong Kong
Funded by: e-Science Fund
Project Description:
1. To elucidate the potential of activated carbon (AC) for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture
and storage.
2. To investigate the roles and behaviors of metal in the preparation of catalytic AC for
CO2 methanation.
3. To investigate the catalytic activity of AC catalyst in the CO2 reforming of methane
(CH4) reaction and characterize the optimum catalyst.
4. To understand the reaction conditions for CO2 methanation by AC catalyst.
5. To propose a suitable reaction mechanism based on the thermodynamic analysis
and experimental observations.

Developing A Novel Adsorbent for CO2
Capture from Flue Gas: Amine−crosslinked
Cellulose−supported Aminosilane
Project leader: Tan Kee Liew
Co-researchers: Dr Sumathi, Dr Yamuna, Chong Foon
Yee
Funded by: UTARRF
Project Description:
A novel amino−functionalized solid sorbent will be prepared by grafting a monoaminosilane, namely
3−aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) onto a cellulose−based support, which is derived from oil palm
fronds. Additional functional amino groups are introduced into between the cellulose chains by means of
crosslinking. The grafting process variables will be optimized to produce an optimized adsorbent, with the
maximum sorption capacity under simulated flue gas conditions. The optimized sorbent is to be
characterized in terms of textural properties, eg. pore surface area and pore volume. Elemental analysis
and thermal stability analysis of the developed sorbent will be conducted as well. An adsorption test rig
will be set up to evaluate the practical performance of the adsorbent. The effects of temperatures, CO2
partial pressures, composition of moisture on the adsorption capacity and kinetics are studied within the
typical flue gas range.

CFD and Experimental Studies on a Solar
Driven Membrane Distillation in
Wastewater Treatment
Project leader: Chong Kok Chung
Co-researchers: Dr Lai Soon Onn, Dr Ooi Boon Seng
(USM) and Dr Lau Woei Jye (UTM)
Funded by: UTAR Research Grant

Project Description:
The aim of the project is to design design and
fabricate the laboratory experiment on solar
driven membrane distillation process in the
wastewater
treatment.
Subsequently,
experimental studies were conducted to
investigate the effect of heat and mass transfer
properties (e.g. difference inlet temperature
and flow rate) on the permeate flux in distilled
water production by using self fabricated
membrane with different additive. Furthers,
CFD simulation was utilized to study the effect
of heat transfer properties (e.g. difference inlet
temperature and flow rate) in the membrane
module.

Figure 1 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2 Cross Sectional View of Hollow Fiber PVDF Membrane

Figure 3 CFD Simulation Result on Membrane Module Temperature Distribution