VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian students from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya, East Java province have made another achievement. The ITS student team succeeded in innovating used aluminum into a renewable energy source. Through the Exact Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-RE), the ITS team conducted research to see the effect of pre-treatment on aluminum metal on the amount of electrical power produced. According to the Head of the ITS research team, M Rizki Akbar, his research was motivated by concerns regarding used cans and aluminum foil around campus laboratories. Based on this concern, the students from the ITS Engineering Physics Department conducted research entitled The Effect of Pre-Treating Aluminum Waste Using HCl/Na2MoO4 Solution on Increasing the Rate of Hydrolysis in Hydrogen Production for Fuel Cell Applications to overcome the problem of waste cans and the like which are highly polluting the environment. This research, carried out at the ITS Advanced Functional Materials Laboratory, examined the effect of pre-treatment of aluminum using hydrochloric acid and sodium molybdate on the rate of hydrogen production. In the process, the hydrolysis reaction that occurs in aluminum produces hydrogen gas. Then, the gas is broken down into electrical energy using a device called Proton-exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. This pre-treatment stage has proven useful in producing aluminum metal that is clean from dirt. With pre-treatment for 60 seconds, it is known that 0.5 grams of aluminum cans can produce 233.93 milliwatts of electrical power. This electrical power is much greater than aluminum cans without going through the pre-treatment stage, which only produces 29.78 milliwatts. Accompanied by a supervisor from the ITS Engineering Physics Department, Dr Ing Doty Dewi Risanti ST MT, the ITS research team succeeded in lighting a small lamp for 40 minutes using a 4 gram aluminum can. The research team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology concluded that their discovery has the potential to become a renewable energy source in the future. This is, of course, with better processing and free from dangerous chemicals. Thanks to the studies carried out, the research team from ITS succeeded in winning the 36th National Student Science Week (Pimnas) which was held in November 2023. They managed to bring home two medals at once, namely a silver medal for the poster category and a bronze medal for the presentation category. This success is a matter of pride for the team, because it succeeded in making the name of the alma mater proud on the national stage. This research carried out by the ITS research team is an example of innovation that can be used to reduce waste. In addition, this innovation has also succeeded in developing new and renewable energy sources. It is hoped that this breakthrough can be a solution to overcome environmental and energy problems in Indonesia.