The process of solvent evaporation in research conducted by the ITS Platinum Team to participate in the Korea International Women’s Invention Exposition (KIWIE) competition in Korea

ITS Campus, ITS News – Thanks to transforming mango peel extract into an environmentally friendly SS-304 metal corrosion inhibitor agent, five students of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) again gained brilliant achievements. Thanks to this unique innovation, they won a gold medal in the Korea International Women’s Invention Exposition (KIWIE) competition which took place in South Korea, for three days starting last October 23.

The five are Ahnaf, Tiara Mahendra Kurniawati, Ulfa Miki Fitriana, Hafildatur Rosyidah, and Mohamad Ikbal Pangestu. They are part of a team called Platinum. KIWIE itself is an annual expo of professional and international standards participated in by 17 countries and is routinely held annually by the Korea Women Inventors Association (KWIA) which is located in Kintex-ro, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

One of the team members, Tiara Mahendra Kurniawati or who is familiarly called Mahen said metal inhibitors that are often on the market are commonly used using the electroplating method. That is a method to inhibit metal corrosion by coating the metal to be used using other metals that are more easily oxidized. This method uses electrochemical principles. “The waste from this process is quite a lot and dangerous, so we need to find other alternatives,” he said.

The process of mixing mango peel extract with the test solution by ITS Platinum Team

Mango peel was chosen as the basis for research because mango peels are often discarded, rarely used, and can create new organic waste. “Do not want that to happen, we use mango peel to be used as an inhibitor, where the skin contains chemical compounds such as flavonoids which can act as antioxidants,” explained the girl from Bogor when contacted via text message.

Due to these properties, continued Mahen, the corrosion rate can be resisted. In the process, the first dried mango skins dry. Then, the mango peel is chopped until it can be extracted. The extract results will later be mixed with the test solution, namely salt water (NaCl).

“We use the test solution to determine the level of corrosion in metals and the effectiveness of the inhibitor in holding down the rate of corrosion,” added the student who is also a member of ITS Spektronics Team.

In his research, this research has been tested on an SS-304 plate, which is a type of metal plate that is widely used for food cans and other household items. As a result, this inhibitor was able to withstand the corrosion rate with an efficiency of 88 percent. “There have been similar studies, but what distinguishes our study is the type of metal and the inhibitor material used,” he explained.

The type of metal used by the ITS Platinum Team for trials

In preparing for this competition, the Platinum Team received full support from the ITS Chemistry Department, especially the supervisor, Dra Harmami MSi, for understanding theoretical concepts and the application of innovation. Besides, they were also facilitated to conduct experiments at the ITS Chemical Instrumentation and Analytical Science Laboratory before the Covid-19 pandemic. “The innovation we designed is a continuation of the PKM Research (PKM-P) which was founded in 2018,” he said.

It’s no secret that this Platinum Team member has experienced participating in similar competitions and has succeeded in bringing the name ITS to the international arena. “Competitions like this give our team their interest, especially as students of the Department of Chemistry, we have to play a role to help overcome environmental problems,” said the student who was born on November 6, 1997.

Despite being constrained in terms of communication and coordination between teams due to the pandemic, the Platinum Team was finally able to finish this competition well even though it was conducted online. “I hope that the innovation we provide can be of benefit to society, especially in the field of corrosion inhibitors on metals that are environmentally friendly,” he concluded. (chi/ITS Public Relations)

(From left) Mohamad Ikbal Pangestu, Tiara Mahendra Kurniawati, Hafildatur Rosyidah, Ulfa Miki Fitriana, and Ahnaf are the ITS Platinum Team who successfully won gold in Korea