Taklimat Permohonan Geran Penyelidikan

(FRGS)
(Fasa 1/2014)
mohd amri lajis, PhD
Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation
(ORICC)

Bilik Teratai, Pej. Pendaftar UTHM

12 Feb 2014

Jadual Permohonan Dana Penyelidikan 2014 KPM

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Government Policy, National Agenda, and Global Aspiration

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Permohonan FRGS online

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Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Permohonan FRGS online

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Permohonan FRGS online

Upload complete Profile CV

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Ringkasan Penilaian FRGS (Summary of FRGS Assesment)

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Jangkaan Dapatan (Expected Result)

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Budget Allocationand Ceiling

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Budget Allocationand Ceiling

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Budget Allocationand Ceiling

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Budget Allocationand Ceiling

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Budget Allocationand Ceiling

FRGS
BIL

1
2

PERKARA

Siling
Permohonan
Tempoh
Penyelidikan

KPI

Single
Disciplinary
Project

Trans
Disciplinary
Project

ERGS

PRGS

RM150,000

RM450,000

RM300,000

RM500,000

Maks 3 tahun

Maks 3 tahun

3 tahun

2 tahun

1 PhD

1 PhD

3 papers in
index link journal
(2 years)

3 papers in 1 IP/project
index journal
1 IP (filed)

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Executive Summary (including General Overview, Problem Statement, Objective,

Methodology, Solution, Contribution)
Generally, the microstructure of eutectic Aluminium Al-Si alloys containing around 10 to 13% Silica
prepared by conventional casting process. Recently, the application of eutectic Al-Si12 alloy has
increased, bringing about the need to study the effect of elements additions on microstructure &
mechanical properties and also cooling rate of Al-Si12. Thus, there is a need to study the effects of
pure rare earth metals especially Cerium and Lanthanum on Al-Si12. It normally consists of large
Plate-Like acicular or lamellar eutectic Silica phase with sharp sides and edges which lead to
premature crack and fracture in tension. To avoid these problems, structural modification must be
done through elemental additions to achieve fine Silica phases with fibrous shapes. The main
objective is to optimize the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si12 with detailed
thermal analysis (cooling curve behaviour). 0.1% to 1% wt of Lanthanum and Cerium will be added to
Al-Si12 by using induction melting furnace. Computer aided cooling thermal analysis will be used to
measure the cooling curve and evaluate the parameters such as nucleation growth, growth
temperature, undercooling, fracture solid, -aluminium, eutectic silica structure and also time of the
melt solidification. The Cerium and Lanthanum additives are expected to improve the microstructure
and mechanical properties of Al-Si12. The significance output is that it provides new knowledge and
understanding of the interaction between various additives during melting of Al-Si12. Upon further
implementation, the aluminium industries will benefit from this research in terms of increased
productivity, quality, cost and time savings due to increase use of aluminium based secondary alloys.
The research output will also contribute towards sustainability of available material resources and
better environmental protection through reduced materials waste. The pool of knowledge created in
this area will serve as further references for other researchers through publications, conferences and
seminars.
Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM
dr. amri

Executive Summary (including General Overview, Problem Statement, Objective,

Methodology, Solution, Contribution)
Malaysian soils such as Ultisols and Oxisols, like most other tropical soils, are known to be highly
weathered, acidic, and inherently low in P and have high P fixing capacities (Zaharah and Sharifuddin,
1997; Sallade and Sims, 1997; Goh and Chiew, 1995). The abundance of variable charge colloids in
these soils together with low pH and low CEC has led to the presence of high amounts of oxides and
hydroxides of Fe and Al. The oxides and hydroxides fix large amounts of soluble P leading to low
concentrations of available P in soil solution (Wilson et al., 2004). Thus, large amounts of phosphate
fertilizers are required to attain high yields from crops. However, this approach has not been
successful because it is not only economically unsustainable but also not environmental friendly
because excessive and unbalanced use of P fertilizers lead to water pollution called
eutrophication. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to amend commonly used phosphate
fertilizers such Triple Superphosphate, Christmas Island Rock Phosphate, and China Rock Phosphate
with highly negative charged substances such as zeolite, activated carbon, and humic acid to chelate
or fix Al and Fe so as to make P readily available for plants to efficiently utilize P in fertilizers. A field
experiment will be carried out investigate the effect of different combinations of the aforementioned
P fertilizers with zeolite, activated carbon, and humic acid on P availability and its use efficiency. The
test crop will be Zea mays. Variables to be studied to indicate the success of this research are: total P,
organic P, soluble and loosely bound phosphorus, aluminum phosphates, iron phosphates, reductant
soluble phosphorus, calcium phosphate, strongly adsorbed iron and aluminium phosphates fractions,
fresh cob yield, dry matter, soil pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), NPK uptake and use efficiency. It
is expected that at the end of this study, P availability and use efficiency could be significantly
improved thereby contributing to the reduction of the excessive use of P fertilizers and the P import
bill of Malaysia and elsewhere. Additionally, the outcome of this study may contribute to reduction of
environmental pollution caused by P eutrophication. Furthermore, this will ensure increase in yield
without degrading the quality of the enviroment.

Problem Statement
Demand for aluminium products is increasing since aluminium alloy offers excellent corrosion resistance
with good strength and low density. Due to increasing of the demand of this metal, solid waste problem is
one of the most popular issues that have received extensive public extension despite that an increasing
amount of aluminum utilized today is coming from recycled automotive components. In 2005, for the first
time, recycled scrap coming from automotive products is expected to exceed that coming from used
beverage cans. However, the existing automotive recovery infrastructure is well suited to ferrous-based
vehicles. It was found that the current equipment and processes are well suited for steel-based components
and a complete redesign of the equipment and processes would be needed to recover and re-manufacture
the aluminium components. This reason justifies the need for further research on the recovery infrastructure
and recycling of automotive aluminium. Furthermore, finishing process in industry generates waste usually
in chip form but recycling of chip is difficult due to their elongated spiral shape and micro size nature. Their
surface area is relatively large and covered with oil emulsion which it is not effective for recycling through
remelting approach. Thus, this study uses direct recycling techniques by utilizing hot press forging process of
aluminum chip for which this process purposely to prevent harm on environmental impact, decreasing
energy consumption, as well as reducing the total cost and time production (by reducing the step process).
On the other hand, the conditions for consolidation considering chip sizes that affect the mechanical and
physical properties in relation to forging products are rarely documented in recent literature. It has been
reported that oxide precipitates in the recycled specimen leads to distortion of ductile properties especially
at elevated temperature. Oxide precipitation is closely related with recycled aluminium alloy chip size in
which increment of oxidization is directly proportional to the increment of chips surface area. In previous
studies, less quantitative evaluations were made on the relationships of the chip size with oxide
precipitation on the mechanical properties and microstructure of the recycled aluminium alloy (AA6061)
whereby it is important to clarify this relationship in scientifically distinct, well-structured manner.
Therefore, response surface methodology (RSM) design will be used to model and develop a robust
modeling and optimization on the effects of chip size, oxide precipitation, pre-compaction cycle, holding
time and suitable pressure which gives significance to the responses of the process.

Objectives

1) To determine the effect of zeolite, activated carbon, and humic acids as

amendments in P-fixation in acid soils.
2) To evaluate yield of crops through improving phosphorus uptake and use
efficiency in cultivated acid soils.
3) To enhance physical and chemical properties of vermicompost.

4) To evaluate the effects of vermicompost on soil properties and plant growth.

5) To characterize the function of ICS cDNA via heterologous expression in
selected model systems.
6) To assess the efficacy of transient expression of ICS cDNA on fungi-infected
plants

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Continue: Objectives

7) To determine the effects of chip size, oxide precipitation, pre-compaction

cycle, holding time and suitable pressure on the mechanical and physical
properties of the recycled chip AA6061 aluminium alloy in hot press
forging process.
8) To identify and make recommendation based on mechanical and physical
properties between recycled and reference specimen AA6061 aluminium
alloy billets.
9) To identify the significance factors and percentage of contribution for
each factor on responses investigated.

10) To verify with the application of a robust modelling and optimization

technique on the effects of chip size, oxide precipitation, pre-compaction
cycle, holding time and suitable pressure over the mechanical properties
responses by employing the Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

Methodology
Phase-01: Isolation and characterization of humic acids
Humic acid (HA) will be isolated from well decomposed peat soil by the method of Ahmed et al. (2004). Peat soil
and 0.5 M KOH will placed inside a polyethylene bottle in a ratio of 1:10 (weight:volume basis). The mixture will
be shaken at 240 rpm for 24 h at room temperature. Afterwards, it will be centrifuged for 15 min at 10,000 rpm.
The dark-coloured supernatant liquid containing humic acid (HA) will be decanted, filtered using Whatman filter
paper number 2, pH of the liquid will be adjusted to 1.0 using 6 N HCl and allowed to stand at room temperature
for 24 h. The suspension containing HA will be transferred into polyethylene bottle and centrifuged at 10,000
rpm for 10 min. The HA will be purified by the method of Ahmed et al. (2004). After the purification, the HA will
be oven dried at 40C until constant weight is attained. The ash and organic carbon contents of the HA will be
determined by the dry combustion method (Chefetz, 1996). For the functional groups analysis, 20 mg of HA will
be dissolved in 4 mL of 0.0 8M NaOH and shaken for 30 min at 180 rpm. The solution will be titrated with 0.10
M HCl to pH 2.5 (within 15 min). Carboxyl content will be calculated based on the amount of acid required to
titrate the suspension between pH 8 and the end point (approximately pH 3). Phenol content will be calculated
by assuming that 50% of the phenols will dissociate at pH 10. Total acidity will be calculated by summation of
the carboxyl and phenols (Inbar et al., 1990). E4/E6 will be determined using UV-Vis spectrophotometer (PerkinElmer Lambda 11).
Phase-02: Production and characterization of activated carbon
Rice straw as the raw material for the production of activated carbon will be collected from a rice field. The rice
straw will be washed several times using tap water and finally with distilled water. The washed straw will be
dried at 60C in an oven to remove excess water content until constant weight is attained. Afterwards, the dried
sample will be grinded to size of 0.5 mm and stored at room temperature for further use. For thermal activation,
the initial weigh of grinded straw will be measured and placed in crucible with a lid and heated in a furnace at
750C for 45 minutes for its optimization (Alam et al., 2007). The activated carbon produced will be crushed and
sieved using sieve shaker to size fractions less than <150 m. The activated carbon will be characterized for pH,
CEC, porosity, C, TOC, ash, P, N, K, Ca, and Mg.
Phase-03: Characterization of zeolite
Clinoptilolite zeolite will be used in this study and it will be characterized for pH, CEC, P, N, K, Na, Si, Fe, Al, Mg,
and Ca.

Methodology
Phase-01: Experimental Design
The experimental design of the research work consisted of two phases. During the first phase,
experimentation is performed in full factorial design whereby three main parameters (i.e. chip size,
oxide precipitation, pre-compaction cycle, holding time and suitable pressure) will be chosen whereas
experiments incorporating response surface methodology (RSM) are conducted in the second phase.
For second phase, the experimental runs were designed based on the Central Composite Design (CCD)
concept of response surface methodology (RSM). Total number experiments for full factorial design
will be 27 (3 factors and 3 levels) whereby for RSM with full CCD is 24. Linear and quadratic models
are directly generated from the sofware Design Expert after ANOVA analysis.
Phase-02: Aluminium Chips Preparation
AA6061 aluminum alloy chip is prepared by high speed milling using Sodick-MC430L high speed
machining or as an alternative to be collected at IAC Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd. (AA7075 aluminium
grade). Machined chips are kept clean after this process. Three selected recycled chips from the HSM
milling with constant 1100m/min cutting speed, 0.02, 0.05, and 0.10 mm/tooth feed; and 0.50, 1.00,
and 1.50 mm depth of cut are labelled by small, medium and large sizes.
Phase-03: Aluminium Chips Sample Characterization
Chip sizes i.e. length and width are measured by Tools Maker Microscope (Nikon MM-60). Meanwhile
the thickness of the chip is measured by Optical Microscope (Olympus BX60M) after cold mounting.
The chips then cleaned using ultrasonic bath by applying acetone solution and drying in furnace at
60C. Soon after, the chips will be inspected for chemical characterization using Energy Dispersive Xray spectroscopy (JEOL-JSM 6380 L.V) to analyze its chemical composition as a comparison purposes.
The oxygen content of the recycled chips is determined using an oxygen nitrogen analyzer.

Methodology
S. ratti larvae will be obtained from the feces of infected wild rats (Rattus rattus) and while S.
stercoralis will be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC; Atlanta, USA) and to be used
to generate known positive control. The fecal samples will be mixed with an equal part of finely
ground wood charcoal, moistened with water, spread equally on petri dishes and will be incubated at
25C for 5 days. S. ratti filariform larvae (L2) will be harvested according to the Baermann (1917)Moraes (1948) method, will be concentrated by centrifugation for 5 minutes at 1 000g and wil be
stored at 20C. The excretory-secretory proteins (ES) extract will be obtained from S. ratti filariform
larvae (L2) and will be resuspended in 1ml of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) pH 7.2 containing
protease inhibitors (1mM EGTA, 10mM EDTA, and 0.05mM PMSF), and will be sonicated on ice (2
cycles of 10 s). The excretory-secretory proteins (ES) suspension will be centrifuged at 5000rpm for 30
minutes at 4C, and the supernatant will be submitted to protein estimation by the Lowry et al.
(1951) method. Sera from rat and rabbit that are naturally and experimentally infected with S. ratti
and S. stercoralis filariform larvae (L2) will be submitted to salt precipitation (3.12 M amonium
sulfate, pH 6.5) to obtain the gammaglobulin fraction. After incubation for 18h at 4C the preparation
will be centrifuged at 2000rpm for 30 min at 4C. The pellet will be washed three times in 1.56M
ammonium sulfate pH 6.5 and will be dialyzed for 24h at 4C against saline solution. The uninfected
rat and rabbit sera will be used as known negative control. The excretory-secretory proteins (ES)
extract of the S. ratti filariform larvae (L2) will be diluted (v/v) in sample buffer (6.5g of final protein
content) and will be boiled for 3 minutes at 100C. The excretory-secretory proteins (ES) of the S. ratti
filariform larvae (L2) will be submitted to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
(SDS-PAGE) using a 12% resolving gel under denaturant and reducing conditions (Biorad System, US),
as described by Laemmli (1970). After SDSPAGE, the gels will be stained by Silver Staining Method
and will be used for nitrocellulose membranes analysis for Western Immunoblotting (0.45m; Sigma,
US), as described by Towbin et al. (1979), using a transfer apparatus (Hoefer System, US).

Methodology (Gantt Chart and Milestone)

Methodology (Gantt Chart and Milestone)

Methodology (Gantt Chart and Milestone)

Novel, New Theory and Knowledge, Cutting Edge and High Impact
Example 01:
1) A new environmental friendly technology will be developed to sustainably
improve P use efficiency from phosphate fertilizers thereby recducing excessive
use of these fertilizers in agriculture. This will also ensure increase in yield
without degrading the quality of the enviroment.
2) Improved vermicompost using livestock manure and plant residue as feeding
materials.It is also expected that we will discover the potential usage of
vermicomposting on waste management and organic farming system.
3) Addition to national gene database. Establish a protocol for biolistic delivery of
transgene into selected model plant. Assessment in the effectiveness in the use
of transient expression in plant defence.
4) Excretory-secretory proteins (ES) of the filariform larvae (L2) of S. ratti which are
highly immunogenic and species specific against S. stercoralis will be identified
and isolated.

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Novel, New Theory and Knowledge, Cutting Edge and High Impact
Example 02:
1) The scope of this research introduces a direct technique for recycling aluminium
scrap instead of conventional method which it will be carried out without melting
phase. This technique is characterized by fewer steps and gives benefit on low energy
consumption and production operating cost. It is hoped that reveals the performance
of recycled aluminium chips on their mechanical and physical properties by
comparing them with the original aluminium-base alloy. It is expected that to review
the possibility of this recycled aluminium chips to be used as a secondary resources
and hence, as an alternative to overcome the shortage of primary aluminium
resources.
2) Furthermore, it will help to reduce the land use for waste disposal and provide to
lower air pollution emission. This will be an initiative to machining practitioners and
industry as a way to support our government strategy on green technology and waste
management solutions.
3) Finally, with time consideration, as complexity in dynamics of hot forging processes
increased substantially, researchers and practitioners have focused on mathematical
modeling techniques to determine optimal or near-optimal cutting condition(s) with
respect to various objectives and responses criteria. Therefore, modeling and
optimization technique called response surface methodology (RSM) could be used to
provide optimal or near-optimal solutions to the overall optimization problem
formulated, and subsequently implemented in actual hot forging process.

Appendix

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Research Publication

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

References:

JADUAL KERJA PENILAIAN

Panel KPT berhak untuk menolak semua
permohonan daripada institusi tersebut jika tidak
memenuhi syarat dan garis panduan yang
ditetapkan.
Pihak KPT hanya menerima permohonan geran
FRGS fasa 1/2014 yang telah disahkan oleh panel
KPT sahaja

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri

Terima kasih
&
Thank you...

Office of Research, Innovation, Commercialization & Consultation (ORICC), UTHM

dr. amri