Khalil
Advanced NANOmaterials
Research Group
Department of Chemistry
University of Indonesia
Hybrid nanocatalysts for solar-driven photoreduction of CO2
One of the major problems in photoreduction of CO2 into useful added-value chemicals such as methanol or methane is the deployment of effective, stable and inexpensive photoreduction catalyst materials. Currently, the activities of most catalytic materials are often limited under small fraction of UV irradiation in the broad solar energy spectrum reaching the earth’s surfaces. In addition, the fast electron/hole recombination rates may also contribute to the reduction of catalytic activity. In this work, multifunctional hybrid nanocatalysts will be developed by integrating the catalytic materials with suitable semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) as photosensitizer and noble metal nanoparticles to facilitate surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. QDs can help to extend the photoreduction activity of catalytic material into broader range of solar radiation spectrum. Meanwhile, the deposition of noble metal nanoparticles such as Au or Ag onto the catalyst’s surface may also facilitate the reduction of charge recombination rate via SPR effect and therefore, enhance its catalytic activity.
One-pot synthesis of core-shell Au-Pd nanoparticles for Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction
Bimetallic core–shell nanostructures such as Au-Pd nanoparticles have received many attentions due to their different physicochemical properties, such as optical, magnetic, electronic and catalytic properties relative to their monometallic counterparts as the result of the synergistic effects between a metal core and the shell. Here, our focus is to develop a one-pot synthetic method that can be used to fabricate Au-Pd nanostructures with high degree of control in particles morphology. Au-Pd core-shell bimetallic nanoparticles are believed to have a great potential application in plasmon-enhanced catalytic reactions such as in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. Suzuki-Miyaura coupling is an important organic reaction and widely used in the synthesis of various type of organic molecules such as polyolefins, substituted biphenyls, and styrenes.
Functional inorganic nanoparticles for biosensing and bioimaging
Unique advanced inorganic nanoparticles such as metal oxide, noble metal, and semiconductor quantum dots nanoparticles have attracted many attention especially in bioimaging and biosensing application due to their excellent size-dependent optical properties. Here, our efforts is to develop various collection of multifunctional inorganic nanoparticles and investigate their application in biomedical applications as an essential tool for medical diagnostics for cancer cells and specific cellular targets.
Research prior to UI appointment
Surface-functionalized hematite nanoparticles for catalytic aquathermolysis reaction
In upstream oil & gas industry, aquathermolysis is a process where steam along with catalyst is injected into oil well to improve heavy oil production by reducing oil's viscosity due to the degradation of large hydrocarbon molecules such as resins and asphaltenes. The aim of this work is to study the potential application of hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles in aquathermolysis of heavy crude oil. The surface chemistry of hematite was functionalized with oleic acid to improve the ability of nanoparticles penetrate into the oil phase. It is believed that large hydrocarbon molecules may attached onto the surface of hematite particles and undergo oxydatively decomposition into light hydrocarbon molecules.
TEM images of hematite NPs
Dispersibility of surface-functionalized hematite NPs in aqueous & organic phases
Proposed schematic mechanism of aquathermolysis reaction using hematite NPs
Electrodeposition of iridium oxide nanoparticles for pH sensing electrode
This work focuses on the fabrication of pH sensing electrode using electrochemical deposition method where colloidal solution of iron oxide nanoparticles (Ø = 1-2 nm) was used as the deposition solution. Here, iridium oxide nanoparticles was deposited using cyclic voltammetry (CV) on the surface of stainless steel and Au. These two IrO2-electrodes had a super-Nernstian response values of 80.4 and 74.1 mV/pH, respectively, and showed an excellent performance as pH sensor.
