Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Dr. Chong has more than 15 years of experience in academic, research, consultancy and editorial works. He began his Ph.D. research by working in an ARC Linkage project (partners: AWQC, SA Water, Uni of Adelaide, Uni of South Australia) that investigated the feasibility of solar photocatalysis as an AOP for reusing the treated sewage effluents from Bolivar WWTP in South Australia. Shortly before the submission of his Ph.D. thesis, he was employed as a Research Scientist at CSIRO and worked on a number of urban water projects in Southeast Queensland that were funded by the UWSRA. He was a key researcher in the urban water team by leading on a range of urban water research activities, and later becoming a project leader for two CSIRO capability theme projects. After CSIRO, he joined Monash University Malaysia (MUM) as Senior Lecturer and later being promoted to Associate Professor and Professor. At MUM, he established a number of key and strategic research areas on 'Sustainable Water Systems' and 'Catalysis for Energy and Environment' where he leads them until today. He has attracted more than RM 20 million in research funding as both PI and CI from his research career to date. His academic and research portfolio are accoladed with various prizes, awards and fellowships from national and international learned bodies and societies, such as being awarded the prestigious Royal Society of UK Newton Advanced Fellowship, Green Talents Award, Top Research Scientist Malaysia and others. In a recent ranking study by Stanford University, he is ranked among the World's Top 2% Scientists in his fields of research for 2020 and 2021 (i.e., both for the single year and career-wise categories). Professor Chong is always open to new research ideas and collaborations, as he believes that these are the key drivers for the creation of new innovations in this modern era. To date, he has published more than 200 publications in high-impact journals, conference proceedings, book chapters, and client consultancy reports. His research is also well-accolade with numerous awards, prizes and fellowships from various learned bodies.
Research interests
Dwindling of carbon-derivative fuels, and the continuing search for alternative and renewable energy sources have led to our current research in the production of solar fuels from the oxidation of water molecule and reduction of carbon dioxide. Sunlight is present in abundance on Earth, and our research is developing novel nanostructured photoelectrodes that could capitalise and convert sunlight into various solar energy vectors in a photoelectrochemical cell. This production route is deemed cost-effective and sustainable, as it does not involve the need of fossil fuels and subsequent elimination on the emission of environmental deleterious greenhouse gases. However, the major technical bottlenecks of this production route are the low solar-to-chemical energy conversion efficiency and photostability of photoelectrodes. Our research group is actively designing novel nanostructured photoelectrodes using semiconductors, carbon materials, and polymers with further modifications using metal and non-metal doping, photosensitizers, and co-catalysts that could alleviate these technical bottlenecks. Whilst we also seek to understand the fundamentals of photophysics and photochemistry in the photoelectrodes that we designed through advanced characterisations using the state-of-the-art synchrotron facilities.
Monash teaching commitment
- CHE2162 - Material and Energy Balances
- CHE2164 - Thermodynamics 1
- CHE4172 - Nanotechnology and Materials 2
- CHE5885 - Principles and Practices for Sustainable Development
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Network
-
Understanding Flow Mechanisms of Metal Leaching from Coarse Electronic Waste and Developing Economic Flow-sheets for Electronic Waste Based Metal Extraction
Ilankoon, S., Balan, P., Binti Abd Manaf, L., Meng Nan, C. & Ta Yeong, W.
1/01/19 → 30/09/22
Project: Research
-
Exfoliation of coarse printed circuit boards using dimethylacetamide: production of copper concentrates
Kang, K. D., Ilankoon, I. M. S. K., Chong, M. N. & Wu, T. Y., Jan 2023, In: Minerals Engineering. 191, 10 p., 107963.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
-
Improving microalgae growth and carbon capture through micro-size bubbles generation in flat-panel photobioreactors: Impacts of different gas sparger designs on mixing performance
Lim, Y. A., Ilankoon, I. M. S. K., Chong, M. N. & Foo, S. C., Jan 2023, In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 171, 13 p., 113001.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
Catalysing electrowinning of copper from E-waste: A critical review
Fathima, A., Tang, J. Y. B., Giannis, A., Ilankoon, I. M. S. K. & Chong, M. N., Jul 2022, In: Chemosphere. 298, 14 p., 134340.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
Circular economy and household e-waste management in India: Integration of formal and informal sectors
Sengupta, D., Ilankoon, I. M. S. K., Dean Kang, K. & Nan Chong, M., 30 Jun 2022, In: Minerals Engineering. 184, 11 p., 107661.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
11 Citations (Scopus) -
Controlled synthesis of high-performance silver/silver orthophosphate (Ag/Ag3PO4) interfaced photoanode with porous tetrahedrons layer for photoelectrochemical water splitting
Ng, W. C., Chong, M. N., Ilankoon, I. M. S. K. & Ocon, J. D., Apr 2022, In: Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. 10, 2, 11 p., 107161.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus)
Prizes
-
Monash-Sunway Decarbonization initiative: Microalgae farming and Native Tree Planting
Foo, Su Chern (Recipient), Barclay, H. (Recipient), Meng Nan, Chong (Recipient), Chien Wei (Edward), Ooi (Recipient), Ilankoon, Saman (Recipient), Watabe, M. (Recipient), Lian, Tam Cai (Recipient) & Rahman, Sadequr (Recipient), 23 Aug 2018
Prize: Other distinction
File