Research Centre Leader:  Dr. Ng Chui Kim

Members: Dr Chew Khoon Hee, Dr. Ho Mui Yen, Dr Lee Xiau Yeen, Mr Goh Ching Lam, Mr Ng Chan Wah, Mr Ong Thai Kiat, Mr Khoo Kee Tong, and any interested relevant academic staff who may be appointed from time to time.

Objectives:

To foster and facilitate research and development (R&D) activities in advanced materials.

Vision Statement:

To be a globally recognized centre of excellence in research and development of advanced materials that can be beneficial to our country’s economy and infrastructure.

Rationale and Research Plan:

The centre will conduct research and develop applications with commercial potential in the following area: 

• Nanomaterials
• Nanostructured coating
• Nanocomposites
• Electroceramics
• Semiconductor
• Polymer
• Biomaterials

Operations and Activities:

Our research team is working on advanced energy materials for fuel cell and ultracapacitor as well as nanomaterials for coating, sensing and biomedical applications. Different types of advanced materials such as graphene-based materials, conducting polymer, nanostructured metal oxides and advanced ceramics materials have been successfully developed by the team via simple and cost-effective synthesis methods including hydrothermal, ultrasonication, sonochemical, electrochemical, ball milling, microwave heating and polycondensation.

Funding, Facilities and Equipment:

We conduct Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Charge-Discharge (CD) and Amperometric test to determine the electroanalytical and electrochemical performance of electrode materials, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) for determining the contribution of electrode or electrolytic processes in these systems; Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV/VIS Spectrometer can be conducted to examine the morphology and the composition of materials while the thermal stability of materials can be evaluated by thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DSC) analysis. For those applications require mechanical properties, we can perform mechanical testing to evaluate materials strength, hardness, fracture toughness and elastic modulus.