Nanomaterials are very attractive materials as they have very different characteristics from those seen on their macroscopic scale. There are various attractive quantum phenomenons arising from the minimising up to nanoscale dimensions. The platinum known as inert material can change into catalytic material if minimised to nanoscale. Stable material such as alumunium can turn combustible while insulators become conductors.
Those were stated by Prof. Dr. rer. Nat. Drs. Karna Wijaya, M.Eng., Tuesday (9/2/2010) at the UGM Senate Hall when he was inaugurated as Professor of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). He explained that layered nanomaterials with nanostructure through nanotechnology, such as self-assembly and other preparation methods, can be converted into excellent materials; one of those is nanocomposite with high mechanical, chemical and physical properties. “Smectite intercalated by organoamonium ion can be used to absorb contaminants in organic species that are insoluble in water. Meanwhile, nanocomposite clay-polymer can be used as component for vehicle interior,†said the man who was born in Jakarta, 7 Desember 1963.
Wijaya added that zeolite can be used as catalyst in oil processing, or as catalyst in hydrocarbon conversion into chemicals that have economic values. In agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery, zeolite can be used as adsorbent and arrangement of nutrients.
Meanwhile, pillared clay that is porous nanocomposite is useful as wastewater processing material, anti-bacterial matrix, cracker catalyst and photocatalyst. Silica with its exotic pores can be made as adsorbent and molecular sieves, or through ligand insertion, can be formed into nanocomposite that has the potential as adsorbent of heavy metal cations.
“Motivated and inspired by the success in designing porous and layered material and the insertion of guest species in gallery or nanomaterial pores, in the future we expect that various types of intercalation compounds and inclusion with more specific functions can be synthesised,†said the husband of Dra. Titik Nurchasanah.