Lowokwaru, MC – Starting from the desire to be able to utilize aluminum foil waste that is difficult to decompose, students of Brawijaya University (UB) Malang won an award. When displayed at Ubudiyah Indonesia University (UUI) Banda Aceh, July 20-21, 2016, the work of the Chemical Engineering students of the UB Faculty of Engineering won an award, Tuesday (26/7).
This innovative work of deodorant from aluminum foil waste by FT UB students was made by three students, namely Surya Diki Andrianto, Rachdian Rizqi Abadi, and Septia Astuti, guided by Ir. Bambang Ismuyanto, MS.
Surya Diki Andrianto said that the product he made with his team won an award at the 2 event.nd International Art Creativity & Engineering Exhibition (2nd I+ACEH). Where this competition is recognized by the world invention organization World Invention Intellectual Property Associations (WIPA).
“We are in Aceh exhibiting Alcandeon's work (Aluminum Cans Antiperspirant Deodorant)", namely a body odor remover made from aluminum waste," explained Surya, Tuesday (26/7).
At this championship in Aceh, Surya explained that they won awards in the field of environment form Gold Medal and Special Award from Association Innovation Award (AIA) South Korea.
This event itself was attended by 60 participants, both from high school/vocational school levels and students from various countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and South Korea.
The reason Surya and the team chose this work was because they were inspired by the difficulty of aluminum waste being degraded from the environment. On the other hand, aluminum is one of the elements that make up alum, which is the basic ingredient of deodorant.
"Aluminum waste can be obtained from cans or used aluminum foil in medicine and instant drink packaging," explained Surya.
The process of making the product that has been developed for two months in the UB Chemical Engineering Science Laboratory is by extracting aluminum waste with Potassium Hydroxide (KOH), then reacting it with Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4).
Later this reaction will produce Potassium Aluminum Sulfate or alum. "The advantage is, this product does not contain chlorine (CI) which can cause skin irritation," Surya added.
Surya continued, aluminum also functions to shrink the pores of the skin so that it does not produce sweat (antiperspirant). From the results of the product trial, it was also obtained that the acidity level of the skin (PH) reached 3,9 or in accordance with human skin conditions. The production cost of Alcandeon itself is around Rp 10.000 per piece. (cah/yon)
