Dr. Roto, a lecturer at the UGM Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA UGM), was inaugurated as a professor of chemistry on Tuesday (May 14). The inauguration ceremony at the UGM Senate Hall featured a speech titled “Quartz Resonator-Based Chemical Analysis and Its Applications.”
In his address, Professor Roto highlighted that analytical chemistry is a branch of chemistry focused on identifying, characterizing, and quantifying components in a sample. This field is crucial for ensuring the quality and safety of products.
“The essential roles of analytical chemistry include structure determination of compounds, quantitative analysis, quality control, medical diagnostics, forensic analysis, and environmental monitoring,” stated Professor Roto.
One analytical method that has been providing fast, accurate, selective, and sensitive results for over 30 years is the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM).
Professor Roto explained that QCM operates based on the piezoelectric effect, where applying an electric potential to a crystal causes it to vibrate, generating small sound waves within the crystal similar to waves created when a stone is dropped into water.
“These waves help the instrument measure the mass of substances adhering to the crystal’s surface,” he explained.
Professor Roto mentioned four major challenges in chemistry in the 21st century: environmental pollution, energy crisis, health and medicine, and raw material shortages, including food resources.
Regarding the environment, QCM can be part of air quality monitoring systems to monitor pollutant gas concentrations in specific areas continuously. QCM allows for the identification and monitoring of potentially hazardous pollutants to human health and the environment.
“Our research group has successfully analyzed ammonia, formaldehyde, and short-chain alcohols using this method in collaboration with researchers from the University of Birmingham, resulting in reputable scientific publications in the RSC Analyst journal,” he noted.
Professor Roto also emphasized food safety as a global concern that directly affects health. QCM can be designed to monitor food production processes and detect contamination during processing, as well as hazardous substances like pesticide residues.
Additionally, QCM analysis enables rapid pathogen detection at critical locations impacting public health, such as influenza, hepatitis B virus, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Recently, QCM has been widely used for virus detection tests.
“Early diagnosis of infectious disease agents like viruses is crucial for clinical and point-of-care applications,” he said.
The sensitivity and high intervention capability of QCM presents both challenges and opportunities for further research. Some QCM sensor designs might not detect extremely low or high gas concentrations.
“We have addressed this issue by converting liquids into vapors,” he added.
UGM Rector Professor Ova Emilia delivered a congratulatory speech following the bestowment of the professor’s symbol on Prof. Roto. She mentioned that Professor Roto is one of 460 active professors at UGM and one of 42 active professors out of the 58 professors at FMIPA UGM.
Author: Dita
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Firsto