Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus

Skip to content

Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus
(National Defence University of Malaysia, Malaysia)

Gambar1
Biodata:
Emeritus Prof. Dato’ Dr. Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus obtained his B.Sc. degree (Chemistry) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1976 and, received his MSc. in 1978 and then PhD in 1980 from University of Salford, UK. In 2011, after 31 years working in UPM, he joined UPNM as a senior contract professor. He is a very active researcher in analytical and polymer chemistry. He has supervised numerous postgraduate students, been awarded with many research grants, authored and co-authored of more than 200 papers in Scopus indexed journals and involved in writing of more than 300 abstracts and proceedings, and travelled to variuos countries including Singapore, Thailand, India, Japan, China, Australia, UK, Korea, France, Swizerland, and USA to participate in conferences. In addtion he has established research colllaborations with scientists from the UK, USA, Japan and Australia. His recent total SCOPUS citations are more than 5500 with h-index of 41.

Abstract:

Characterization of Poly(Lactic Acid) Clay Nanocomposites Using X-ray Diffraction Analysis
Wan Md Zin Wan Yunus
Center for Tropicalisation, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Sungai Besi Camp 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
wanmdzin@upnm.edu.my

Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) which is a product of condensation polymerization of lactic acid, is a biodegradable polyester that has been studied as an alternative material to petroleum based polymers for many industrial applications due to its high strength, thermoplasticity, transparency and fabric ability. In addition, it can be synthesized by a fermentation process using carbohydrate from plants such as tapioca, corn or rice. However, its uses are restricted to certain area of applications due to its brittleness and low flexibility. One of the attempts made to reduce this polymer brittleness and increase its flexibility to widen the scope of the applications is to convert it into nanocomposites by blending it with a small quantity of nanomaterials. We have studied the preparation of PLA nanocomposites using synthetic and natural clays as their additives and characterization using various instruments. In order to improve the clay compatibility with the matrix, the inorganic materials were first modified using large organic molecules. In this lecture, use of an x-ray diffraction analysis for the PLA clay nanocomposite characterization is discussed. This analysis technique can be used as a tool to determine the clay layers’ arrangement before and after its modification, as well as their arrangements in the synthesized nanocomposites.