UKM News Official Portal

By Kuah Guan Oo 

BANGI, 26  August 2010 – With the massive worldwide use of computers and the inevitable printers, wax ester is in great demand for use in the making of toner, the ink in the printers. 

But most of the wax ester currently in use in the making of the toner comes from the wax honeycombs of bees which mean that they are not only limited but also rather expensive.  

And if a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) scientist can have his way, he can give these bees a respite from their hard labour by mass-producing the special wax ester from palm oil.  

Prof Dr Mohd Ambar Yarmo of the School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology of UKM was researching the uses of oleic acid derived from palm oil, particularly as a bio-lubricant when he discovered the special wax ester. 

A specialist in chemical catalysis, surface sciences and analytical chemistry, he was looking for more industrial uses of palm oil when one of the results was special wax ester. 

“Converting fatty alcohol to wax ester is not something new but when it can be done with palm oil in a simple and cheap process, there is a new commercial possibility,” he said. 

Prof Ambar who had graduated with a B.Sc (Hons) from UKM in 1979 and his Ph.D (Wales) in 1983 is a professor of Chemistry in UKM’s Faculty of Science and Technology since 2006. He is also head of its Oleochemical Programme.  

He said what he and his team of researchers had done was to obtain fatty alcohol from palm oil which they then converted into special wax ester with ordinary chemicals without using any expensive instruments. 

“This meant that special wax ester can be commercially produced and if the wax toner can be used in toner, it would definitely bring the prices of toner down,” he added. 

Prof Ambar was now waiting for the patent to come through before talking to private companies to produce special wax ester for the toner market.  

Other uses of this wax ester include car and other polishes.

Prof Dr Mohd Ambar Yarmo can be contacted at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  , 03-89213872 (office).