Depok, December 15, 2022. The use of fossil fuels today results in high CO2 gas emissions, causing global warming. There is a need for new renewable energy sources that are environmentally friendly to replace fossil fuels, which have the drawback of a slow carbon cycle. Meanwhile, humans consume a large amount of energy to meet daily needs. Consequently, exploitable petroleum reserves are dwindling because not all carbon emitted into the atmosphere returns as petroleum deposits.
“Therefore, as a country rich in sunlight and abundant minerals, Indonesia holds a good position or momentum to contribute to solving the energy problem. With the intellectual efforts of researchers and technological advances, it is very possible to produce new energy that can replace the current energy we use and address the carbon cycle issue by shortening its chain,” said Prof. Dr. Jarnuzi Gunlazuardi during his inauguration speech as professor of Photo Electrochemical Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), on Wednesday (12/14).
According to Prof. Jarnuzi, the system can fundamentally convert (fix) CO2 gas into methanol or N2 gas into ammonia. Methanol and ammonia can serve as energy-producing fuels or precursors to other compounds useful for life.
“In photoelectrochemical cells, inefficiency problems sometimes occur due to overpotential. To overcome this, additional external electric power input is needed. We propose to solve this by developing a tandem system between a solar cell and an electrochemical cell. The solar cell used is a Gratzel-type cell, also known as a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC), tandemly combined with a photo electrochemical (PEC) cell, hence the tandem system is called DSSC-PEC tandem,” he explained.
He added that the DSSC-PEC tandem system developed with sunlight and aqueous electrolyte media can convert CO2 into methanol, nitrogen into ammonia, and produce hydrogen from water splitting. Hydrogen is a renewable, environmentally friendly energy source considered a future fuel. Meanwhile, methanol and ammonia, besides being fuels, are important precursors for chemical materials used in industry or agriculture.
The inauguration ceremony was led by UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, SE, MA, Ph.D., at the Balai Sidang, UI Campus, Depok, and broadcast virtually via Universitas Indonesia’s YouTube channel and UI Teve.
“I thank you for your speech, which is very relevant to the energy transition where we will undertake decarbonization. We will shift from fossil energy to new renewable energy and see blue skies again. Congratulations on your inauguration as a full professor at FMIPA UI,” said the rector.
The ceremony was attended by Vice President of Pertamina Energy Institute, PT Pertamina (Persero), Dr. rer. nat Hery Haerudin; Senior Researcher, Center for Political Research (Conflict, Defense, and Security), BRIN, Prof. Dr. Hermawan Sulistyo, MA; Senior Researcher, Center for Medicinal Raw Materials and Traditional Medicine Research, BRIN, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Hanafi, MSc.; Senior Researcher, Chemical Research Center, BRIN, Prof. Dr. Ir. Anny Sulaswatty M.Eng; and Professor at FMIPA Halu Oleo University, Kendari, Prof. Dr. Muh. Nurdin, M.Sc.
Prof. Jarnuzi completed his undergraduate education at the Chemistry Department, FMIPA UI. After graduating in 1984, he began his career as a lecturer in the Chemistry Department, FMIPA UI. He then continued his master’s and doctoral studies in Environmental Chemistry at Ehime University, Matsuyama, Japan, from 1988-1993.
To date, Prof. Jarnuzi has published 40 international journal articles and 44 international conference proceeding articles. Some of his published works include Comparative Study of Bismuth Ferrite Deposition Method on TiO2 Nanotube and Performance of Hydrogen Evolution in a Photoelectrochemical Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Tandem System (2022); Core-shell copper-gold nanoparticles modified at the boron-doped diamond electrode for oxygen sensors (2022); Electrochemical Preparation of Highly Oriented Microporous Structure Nickel Oxide Films as Promising Electrodes in Urea Oxidation (2022); Magnetically Separable Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 Photocatalyst Composites Prepared through Hetero Agglomeration for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Paraquat (2021); and NickelCobalt Modified Boron-Doped Diamond as an Electrode for a Urea/H2O2 Fuel Cell (2021).
Source : https://sci.ui.ac.id/
