NTU MAE Emeritus Professor Recognized for Outstanding Research in Green Chemical Engineering

We are pleased to share that Emeritus Professor Lua Aik Chong has been awarded "Outstanding Paper of Green Chemical Engineering in 2024" for his research on sustainable activated carbons derived from oil-palm shell waste in the paper given below. Published in the Tier 1 journal Green Chemical Engineering (2023 Impact Factor: 9.1, 2023 CiteScore: 11.6), his study optimizes pyrolysis and activation processes to enhance activated carbon properties for industrial applications.

A.C. Lua, A comparative study of the pore characteristics and phenol adsorption performance of activated carbons prepared from oil-palm shell wastes by steam and combined steam-chemical activation, Green Chemical Engineering 5 (2024) 85–96.

The research highlights a novel steam-chemical activation method, incorporating potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃), and potassium chloride (KCl)—the first reported use of KCl and Na₂CO₃ in such biomass activation. The study demonstrates that steam activated carbon derived through optimized vacuum-pyrolysis exhibits superior phenol adsorption capacity (275.5 mg phenol/g activated carbon), nearly 1.87 times higher than conventionally prepared counterparts pyrolyzed in nitrogen flow, making it highly effective for removing phenolic contaminants from industrial processes.

This achievement reflects NTU MAE’s commitment to sustainable materials research, contributing to advancements in waste valorization, environmental engineering, and green chemistry.

🔗 Read more about the research paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666952822000905