Specimens that have been coated for a mixture of resin and mango peel extract

ITS Campus, ITS News –Organic waste usually left to rot can be processed and reused. Through innovation from the students of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), who succeeded in utilizing mango peel extract as an organic inhibitor to prevent corrosion of ASTM A36 low carbon steel

Because of this brilliant idea, the student team named Platinum ITS managed to achieve a proud achievement at the international level. Namely by winning a silver medal in the event Taiwan Innotech Expo 2021 last Friday (29/10).

ITS Platinum Team, an ITS student team that won a silver medal at the 2021 Taiwan Innotech Expo

The ITS Platinum team consisting of Mohamad Ikbal Pangestu, Miftah Eka Andrayani Wangsa, Eka Wahyu Muliana, and Kamila Zahranisa succeeded in making Indonesia proud by defeating approximately 100 teams from 12 countries in this competition held by the Taiwan Government.

A virtual booth exhibition that can be accessed online through the Taiwan Innotech Expo 2021 website

Virtual booth from the ITS Platinum Team at the Taiwan Innotech Expo 2021

Mohamad Ikbal Pangestu, Team Leader, said that organic waste that is left alone could damage the environment because of the decay reaction. Therefore, mango peel extract is used as an organic inhibitor to prevent corrosion of ASTM A36 carbon steel which is widely used in the petroleum and shipping industries. “This innovation can overcome the main problem in the use of steel, namely the occurrence of corrosion due to seawater (NaCl),” he said.

Mango peel extract which is going through the evaporation process using an evaporator

A team consisting of students from ITS Chemistry Department. This study chose mango skin because it contains many organic compounds, namely flavonoid compounds included in antioxidant mixtures. This flavonoid compound has a role as a hydrogen donor by donating a reducing group from the hydroxyl group attached to the aromatic ring to delocalize radical compounds.

The student, who is often called Ikbal, also explained using the mango peel extract. Initially, the mango skin separated from the fruit is cleaned with running water. The wet mango skin is then dried, and the section is taken using the maceration method. After that, mango peel extract was obtained, which was then mixed with acrylic resin. “The last stage is a coating on ASTM A36 low carbon steel,” said Ikbal.

The team, consisting of students from the 2018 batch of students, has tested the corrosion rate using the PGSTAT302N Autolab instrument. These tests found that the use of mango peel extract can withstand the corrosion rate of 1.12 x 10-7 millimeters per year with an efficiency of 99.999 percent.

Mango peel extract filtration process

Even though they can only participate in online competitions, the ITS Platinum Team can still feel the excitement of the event with a virtual booth that can be accessed online through the Taiwan Innotech Expo website. The team hopes that this research can be helpful, especially for the oil and shipping industry, and be a sweet gift for ITS, who will be getting older. “Happy birthday to ITS from the ITS Platinum team, our gift for our beloved campus,” concluded Ikbal. (ITS Public Relation)

ITS platinum team consisting of (from left) Kamila Zahranisa, Mohamad Ikbal Pangestu, Miftah Eka Andrayani Wangsa, dan Eka Wahyu Muliana

Reporter: Megivareza Putri Hanansyah