Exploring Chemistry in fun ways

A e-KLESF 2021 workshop titled “Chemistry is Fun” and “My very Own Fuel Cell” was conducted  Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam (UiTM) Faculty of Applied Sciences senior lecturer ChM Dr Shahrul Nizam Ahmad, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Faculty of Science senior lecturer ChM Dr Sheela Chandren respectively. Dr Sheela was also accompanied by UTM Faculty of Science Postgraduate students Santush Suras Kumar and Nur Amirah Ibrahim. The speakers were from the Young Scientists Network, Academy Science Malaysia (YSN-ASM).

The webinar was held on 29 October 2021 via Zoom and Facebook Live. The objective of the webinar was to encourage participants to dive into the fun world of chemistry.

ChM Dr Shahrul during the webinar

ChM Dr Shahrul enlightened participants with his talk titled “Chemistry is Fun”. The talk aimed to share the daily use and the importance of chemicals to participants and how chemistry affects life in a positive way. In his talk, ChM Dr Shahrul shared what is the use of Fluorine; what is the use of Uranium; what is the use of Nitrogen; why salmon is pink or orange?; the chemistry of rain; the chemistry of pleasant smell of grass; the chemistry of unpleasant smell of fish; the chemistry of airbag and why mint is cool?.

ChM Dr Shahrul said he loves the smell of rain, “The smell of the rain is so pleasant. I tend to become more poetic during the raining seasion. The chemical responsible for the smell of the rain is petrichor, jasmine and ozone. The mixture of plant oils, bacterial spores and ozone is responsible for the powerful scent of fresh rain.”  “The fresh, earthy smell that we associate with rain, known as ‘petrichor’ comes from a variety of sources. During dry conditions, certain plants release oils which then become airborne under the impact of rain. Falling raindrops also stir up the soil, propelling a musky-smelling chemical secreted by bacteria, called geosmin. And finally, lightning can split molecules in the atmosphere to form ozone (O3), which has a chlorine-like tang,” he added.

ChM DrShahrul discussing other interesting chemistry facts during the webinar

ChM Dr Sheela, Santush Suras and Nur Amirah sharing the topic “My very Own Fuel Cell”

On the other hand,span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  ChM Dr Sheela, Santush Suras and Nur Amirah enlightened participants on the topic “My very Own Fuel Cell” which aimed to give exposure to students on the alternative ways of producing electricity and demonstrate the feasibility of using hydrogen to support the integration of renewable energy sources into the energy systems.

During the talk, ChM Dr Sheela, Santush Suras and Nur Amirah explained fossil fuel, the major energy source; the good and bad of fossil fuel; renewable energy ; hydrogen energy and advantages of fuel cell. They also demonstrated on how to create own the fuel cell.

CChM Dr Sheela explained, “Fuel cell works like a battery, but they do not run down or need recharging. Electricity and heat will be produced as long as the fuel is supplied. A fuel cell is made up of two electrodes; a negative electrode (anode) and a positive electrode (cathode), immersed in an electrolyte. Electrolyte will carry the electrically charged particles from anode to cathode and act as the catalyst that allows the chemical reaction to occur faster. By assembling this hydrogen fuel cell, students can get more knowledge on the other alternative ways to create electricity other than using non-renewable sources. The hydrogen fuel cell could significantly reduce pollution and man-made greenhouse gases.”

ChM Dr Sheela explaining the overall set-up of My Very Own Fuel Cell project

Santush Suras and Nur Amirah demonstrating the set-up of My Very Own Fuel Cell project

Nur Amirah sharing some interesting science experiments using household materials for participants

The speakers with participants at the end of the webinar

The talk concluded with an extensive yet insightful Q&A session, followed by photo-taking session.