TAHNIAH UNTUK GERAN TAJAAN KURITA WATER AND ENVIRONMENT TAHUN 2024 - I

DR. NURUL YANI BINTI RAHIM

More than 70 % of domestic water in Kelantan is supplied by groundwater sources. These water sources are commonly contaminated with heavy metals and do not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standard. The main water treatment consortiums have been using Aluminum Sulphate (Al2SO4) and Polyaluminum Chloride (PAC) to treat the incoming water from the local river. The occurrence of aluminium in treated water has been considered for many years to be an undesirable aspect of treatment practice. Complaints about unsatisfactory water services in Kelantan have led to more feasible and cheaper research for treating their groundwater. The objective of this proposal is to develop alginate beads doped with deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for the extraction multicomponent of metals in groundwater collected from different places in Kelantan. Alginates are naturally occurring polymers exhibiting low toxicity, good biodegradability, inexpensive production and good availability. Due to the high solubility and weak chemical resistance, chemical modification is usually essential in the preparation of alginate bead-based adsorbents, which generally includes surface doping. Surface doping can increase the metal uptake capacity and enhance the selectivity of the adsorbents by constructing hybrids with different materials such as DESs. DESs are green chemicals which can be produced by mixing two or more components of hydrogen bond donor and hydrogen bond acceptor in an appropriate mole ratio to obtain an eutectic mixture. To achieve the objective, three different alginate-based beads, including sodium alginate (SA) without modification and SA beads will be doped with betaine: lauric acid and betaine: caprylic acid DESs and characterized using various advanced instruments. The as-prepared alginate beads will be employed for their capability for the extraction of metals from groundwater in a batch system by optimizing the key parameters. Then, the greenness of the developed method will be evaluated based on the Analytical Eco-Scale approach.

DR. MOHD SAIFUL BIN SAMSUDIN

Environmental pollution by microplastics is a significant and complex global issue. This study aims to evaluate the occurrence, distribution, and characterization of microplastics in Kerian River and to explore the association between physicochemical parameters and microplastics using machine learning and chemometrics approaches. In general, this study will be divided into three parts: (1) assessment of surface water sampling in the Kerian River; (2) preparation, extraction and identification of polymer structure of microplastics in the surface water of Kerian River using stereomicroscope and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy; and (3) development of machine learning model using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and chemometrics technique namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for physicochemical parameters and microplastics in Kerian River. This study can act as a reference for guiding local authorities to enhance plans and regulations in improving and maintaining the water quality of the Kerian River from microplastics pollution, which contributes towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals: Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG6) to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This study also aligned with Malaysia's Ministry of Water and Environment's Roadmap Towards Zero Single-use Plastics 2018-2030 and National Marine Litter Policy and Action Plan 2021-2030 to reduce plastic usage and improve the environment.