Speakers -ISESCE 2023
Keynote Speakers
 | Prof. Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia |
Title: Role of pore geometry of Ca1+xAl1-xLaxO3 composite catalyst supported on MCM-41 in selective glycerol etherification to polyglycerol
Abstract: Glycerol is abundantly produced by oleochemical and biodiesel industries and its industrial uses are rather limited. Polyglycerol is one of the potential products of industrial importance but it’s selective production through catalytic means often subjects to a few drawbacks. A novel heterogeneous catalyst was prepared by means of a co-precipitation method and its activity in selective glycerol etherification was demonstrated. Lanthanum (La):calcium (Ca) ratio, temperature, and the duration of calcination positively influenced the conversion of glycerol. A regression model was established to predict the effect of calcination conditions and La:Ca ratio on glycerol conversion. After 8 h of reaction, a conversion of 81.6 % was achieved under atmospheric pressure for at 250 °C, 3.5 wt. % of catalyst and with a La to Ca ratio of 1:2.7. The catalyst was subjected to a thermal treatment at 560 °C for 4.5 h. The catalyst characterization revealed well-mixed oxides with desirable properties such as sufficient porosity and surface area. It also showed that the formation of the O–Ca–O functional group sitting on the surface of the catalyst facilitated high glycerol conversion. The synthesized catalyst with excellent porosity and stability area was promising for glycerol etherification.
Experience:
Professor Dr Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah received his B. Tech (Hons), MSc, and PhD in 1995, 2000, and 2004, respectively. He was the Deputy Dean (Industry and Community Network) at School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia between 2010-2012 and Deputy Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies) between 2013-2018. He will also serve his deanship of the school in 2022-2024. He is registered as a Professional Technologist at Malaysian Board of Technologists (MBOT) and a Fellow Member of Institut Kimia Malaysia. His research works mostly involve the use of ordered porous materials in oleochemical reactions, renewable energy, waste treatment, and waste valorization. He has nearly 300 refereed publications in journals and book/book chapters mainly as the main author, and also involves as a technical committee member to nearly 150 international scientific conferences. He is often invited to share his research experiences in international conferences held in Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, The Philippines and China. In addition, he is an evaluator for research proposals from different agencies locally as well as from several international scientific bodies in the USA, Oman, Qatar, Kazakhstan, and Chile. He is also an expert panel of the Department of Environment Malaysia for the evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment reports for various proposed projects related to petrochemical complexes, paper mills, metal smelting, chemical, lead-acid battery recycle plants, etc. He is one of the recipients of the Top Research Scientists Malaysia (TRSM) award in 2014 and listed in the List of World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2020 and 2021. His h-index (Scopus) currently stands at 54 with more than 10,000 citations.
 | Prof. Ali A. Ensafi Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan |
Title: The Role of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Energy Production and Storage Materials
Abstract: Presently, 80% of the world’s energy is supplied by fossil fuels which thus leads to strong global warming effects. These crises urge scientists to take advantage of other energy sources with no environmentally destructive effects, including wind and hydropower, fuel cells, and solar energy. To benefit from these energy sources, significant efforts are required to develop and design high-performance devices for efficient energy conversion and storage, and green production of electricity. In the recent era, with the emergence of electric vehicles and intelligent portable electronic devices, as well as the increasing environmental concerns and consumption of fossil fuels, the demand for clean and renewable energy is escalating. Thus, there is an immediate requirement for energy storage and conversion systems. As for electrochemical and electrochemical energy storage devices, supercapacitors and fuel cells have gained tremendous attention from both industry and academia due to their unique characteristics such as ultra-long durability, environmentally friendly, and good reliability. Therewithal, more demands have been made like green energy sources, wearable, portable, flexible, and miniaturized electronic devices.
Experience:
Prof. Ali A. Ensafi was graduated in Analytical Chemistry (Ph.D.) in 1991 from Shiraz University (Iran). Then, he joined the Department of Chemistry at Isfahan University of Technology (IUT, Iran). He became a full professor in 2001 at Isfahan University of Technology. He joined as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR, USA) in July 2021.
As a visiting professor, he was at the University of Waterloo (Canada) from 1999 to 2000 and at the University of Arkansas (USA) from 2007 to 2008.
He is Head of the Center of Excellence in Sensors & Green Chemistry of IUT, Research & Technology of Iran, and Head of the Department of Chemistry at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran.
He has an H-index of 71 and has published more than 540 ISI papers, and he has more than 150 international and national oral presentations.
He has been awarded three international awards. He is co-authors of 18 books (Academic Press, Elsevier, American Chemical Society & Springer publishers), Editor of a book “Electrochemical Biosensors, Elsevier”, Associate Editor of the two journals including Biosensors & Bioelectronics X (Elsevier), Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society (Springer-Nature), and Editorial Board of 15 International Scientific Journals.
Prof. Ensafi is in the top 1% of Scientists in Chemistry in Thomson Routers, Essential Science Indicators.
His research program is developing sensors and biosensors (based on electrochemical and spectroscopic methods) and new energy source-based nanomaterials for fuel cells, supercapacitors, and energy storage.