Speaker
Description
Rice husk in Malaysia has been treated as agricultural waste for the whole this time. To disposed them, they were usually burnt and this act have caused air pollution to the environment. Few researchers have tried to save the environment by transforming the rice husk into something usefull for example like implementing rice husk into composite panels for furniture. Similar to other organic substance, rice husk can be treated to become activated carbon through control carbonization and activation process. Activated rice husk carbon have been reported to be developed for multiple usage such as in battery storage or fertilizer applications due to its high porosity properties and their flexibility to be surface modified with various functionalities groups. This study is focusing in developing activated rice husk carbon (ARHC) conductive ink that will be used to fabricate in house screen printed electrode (SPE) for detecting SARS-COV-2 viruses (COVID19). To synthesis the ARHC, rice husk was carbonized at 500°C for 2 hours and further treated with activation process at 850°C for 2 hours in NaOH soaking. To prepare the conductive ink, the synthesized ARHC were mix with Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) powder binder and N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. To fabricate the SPE, ARHC conductive ink will be printed as the working electrode (WE) on polyethylene (PE) subtrate using screen printing technique. Meanwhile, counter and reference electrode were printed with conventional carbon and Ag/AgCl inks, respectively. The synthesized ARHC was material characterized through surface morphology (FESEM), surface area (BET), surface functionality (FTIR and EDX), and crystallinity (XRD). For COVID19 detection test, ARHC WE was first functionalized with (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and further immobilized with spike protien (SP) antibodies. These surface modification step allowing for the selective detection of SARS-COV-2 viruses through the detection of spike protien (SP) target. This project will evaluate the signal transduction mechanism between SP target and the ARHC surfaces using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). For sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) analysis, current-voltage (I-V) test and EIS analysis were carried out across various concentrations of SP target, ranging from micromolar to picomolar. All this results will be compared with the conventional carbon SPE to see whether the performance of SPE as COVID19 biosensor can be enhanced by implementing ARHC into the SPE system. From the project findings, the hydroxyl (OH) groups formed on the ARHC surface after synthesis enable strong interactions with target biomolecules such as APTES, antibodies, and target viruses at various concentrations. The presence of these OH groups enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of ARHC toward specific biomolecules, making it a promising candidate for the development of low-cost and eco-friendly biosensors. This ARHC-SPE offers a real-time, label-free platform for detecting COVID19. In addition, it aligns with sustainable practices by utilizing agricultural waste and providing an efficient early virus detection tool, thereby helping to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
