MOHD ZOBIR HUSSEIN, Professor

E-mail : mzobir@science.upm.edu.my
Phone : 603-8946 7547
 
Education Background
B.Sc. (1979) University Kebangsaan Malaysia
Ph.D. (1989) University of Reading, UK.

Research Interest
THE CHEMISTRY OF NANOCOMPOSITE, NANOSTRUCTURED AND NANOPOROUS MATERIALS
Our group work on nanomaterials, especially hybrid nanocomposites, nanostructured and nanoporous materials, particularly in the designing and synthesis, as well as modification and charaterisations of hybrid nanocomposites, clays, zeolites, metal oxides, carbon materials and their applications.

This project provides understanding of the important fundamental considerations necessary for the designing and formation of new hybrid nanomaterials. The host-guest type of materials can be used to store beneficial agent in the nanolayered interlamellae, transports it to the target and ultimately controlled release. These opening avenues to a new class of nanomaterials with physical and chemical properties that can be tailor made.
 
 
Hybrid Nanocomposite Materials
Our efforts have been targeted to learn to control materials properties at the atomic scale using wet chemistry method, especially in the area of inorganic hybrid materials containing beneficial agents such as organic or biological materials to syntheses host-guest-type of hybrid nanocomposite materials with length scale of 1-1000 nm, as well as processing and characterization of porous materials produced by self-assembly methods. This is because the hybrid materials of this type exhibited physico-chemical properties different from their counterparts and the properties can be tailor-made by choosing the right combination of the host-guest species.
Acetobacter xylirum as a shape-directing agent for the formation of nano-micro sized zinc oxide  
We have been successfully designed and synthesised various organic molecules inside inorganic layered solid structures, especially anionic clays for various purposes and applications. For example, NAA was hosted in anionic clay matrices of Zn-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) and the resulting material was exploited to better control the release property of NAA in aqueous media at various pHs. This is particularly useful for drug delivery with controlled release capability. Such an application is now extended to 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid and similar promising results were obtained.

Work on the formation of organic inorganic hybrid nanocomposites was also extended to several organic dyes such as Naphthol Blue Black, Evan's Blue, anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate, Congo Red and Acid Fuchsin; surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulphate and dioctyl sulphosuccinate, and other moieties such as 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonate, indole-2-carboxylate and tungstate. As a result of these works, an expansion of basal spacing of the resulting nanocomposites compared to the host, layered double hydroxides were observed. This together with FTIR study confirmed the formation of the hybrid organic-inorganic nanocomposite materials.

Intercalation of anionic surfactant of branched-chain, dioctyl sulphosuccinate (DSS) into Zn-Al LDH to form nanocomposite material was also investigated. Such a property can be exploited as a route for the formation of carbon nanoparticles in 2D layered structure. In addition, work on biomaterials or the so-called bioterials hybrid nanocomposites is on progress.  
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Mohd Zobir Hussein, Asmah Hj Yahaya, Mohd Shamsul, Hairi Mohd Salleh, Taufiq Yap and Jacqueline Kiu, Acid fuchsin-interleaved Mg-Al-layered double hydroxide for the formation of an organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposite, Materials Letters, Volume 58 (2004) page 329-332.

Mohd Zobir Hussein, Asmah Hj Yahaya and Lai Mee Ping, Dye-interleaved nanocomposite: Evan's Blue in the lamella of Mg-Al-layered double hydroxide, Dyes and Pigments , Volume 63 (2004) page 135-140.

Mohd Zobir Hussein and Chan Woei Long, Synthesis of organo-mineral nanohybrid material: indole-2-carboxylate in the lamella of Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide, Materials Chemistry and Physics , Volume 85 (2004) page 427-431.

Mohd Zobir Hussein, Junainah Bt Mohd. Amin, Zulkarnain Zainal and Asmah Hj Yahaya, Self-assembled nanocomposite of organic-inorganic hybrid: 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate in Zn-Al hydrotalcite-like layers, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Volume 2 (2), page 1-4 (2002).

Mohd Zobir Hussein, Zulkarnain Zainal, Asmah Hj Yahaya and Dickens Wong Vui Foo, Conventional and Microwave-assisted Aging of Organic-Inorganic Nanohybrid Material: a -Naphthaleneacetate in the lamella of Zn-Al-Layered Double Hydroxide, Journal of Materials Synthesis and Processing , Volume 10 , page 89-95 (2002).

Mohd Zobir Hussein, Zulkarnain Zainal, Asmah Hj Yahaya and Dickens Wong Vui Foo, Controlled release of a plant growth regulator, a -naphthaleneacetate from the lamella of Zn-Al-layered double hydroxide nanocomposite, Journal of Controlled Release , Volume 82(2-3), page 417-427 (2002).

Mohd Zobir Hussien, Azira binti Abd. Aziz, Zulkarnain Zainal and Asmah Hj. Yahya, Synthesis of layered organic-inorganic nanohybrid material: an organic dye, naphthol blue black in the magnesium-aluminium layered double hydroxide inorganic lamella, Materials Science and Engineering B, Volume 88 , page 98-102 (2002).

Mohd Zobir Hussein and Tan Kim Hwa, Synthesis and Properties of Layered Organic-inorganic Hybrid Material: Zn-Al Layered Double Hydroxide-dioctyl Sulfosuccinate Nanocomposite, Journal of Nanoparticle Research , Volume 2, page 293-298 (2000).