Polyurethanes (PU) are very versatile polymers used in a variety of applications such as insulators for refrigerators and roof, construction materials such as ceiling and wall panels, furniture, cornices, parts of cars, etc. Polyurethanes are usually formed by reacting polyol with isocyanates. Main Researcher: Dr Salmiah Ahmad

Crayons are most often used by children on various types of paper, such as notebook paper, art paper and posterboard. They are available in a wide collection of colours ranging from primary colours to fluorescent colours. They are formulated from combinations of waxes, colourants, colour extenders and other additives. Figure 1 shows some of the […]

Palm oil contains many valuable components (phytonutrients) that are beneficial to health. These phytonutrients include the carotenes (500 – 700 ppm), tocols (600 -1000 ppm), sterols (250 -620 ppm), squalene (200-600 ppm), ubiquinones (250-300 ppm) and phospholipids (20-80 ppm) (Goh et al., 1985). Main Researcher: Dr Choo Yuen May

Crude palm oil consists of 1% phytonutrients namely the carotenes, vitamin E; tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols), squalene and sterols (Goh et al., 1985). These phytonutrients have gained considerable importance as they exhibit properties that allow them to have a promising future in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals as well as cosmetics industries. The individual carotenes, tocols and sterols […]

Palm oil methyl esters are obtained from esterification and transesterification of crude palm oil with methanol using a suitable catalyst. It has been successfully evaluated as a diesel substitute, thus palm oil methyl esters are also known as palm diesel. Main Researcher: Dr Choo Yuen May