Bulelwa Ntsendwana

Mintek · Advanced Materials Division

Chemical pollutants found in wastewater pose a significant health risk to human health and the environment. Indeed, there are ongoing efforts to detect, sense and remove chemical pollutants from wastewater. Hence, this work aimed to fabricate an electrochemical sensor using Fe-MOF-based g-C3N4 nanocomposites which was applied in the analysis of 2,4...

Due to water shortage and increased water pollution, various methods are being explored to improve water quality by treating contaminants. Sonophotocatalysis is a combination of two individual water treatment processes i.e., photocatalysis and sonocatalysis. With advantages including shorter reaction times and enhanced activity, this technique show...

Millions of people worldwide are affected by diabetes, a chronic disease that continuously grows due to abnormal glucose concentration levels present in the blood. Monitoring blood glucose concentrations is therefore an essential diabetes indicator to aid in the management of the disease. Enzymatic electrochemical glucose sensors presently account...

This review covers recent advances on production techniques, unique properties and novel applications of nitrogen-doped graphene oxide (NGO). The focal point is placed on the evaluation of diverse methods of production for NGO and reduced nitrogen-doped graphene oxide (NrGO) nanosheets using GO and graphite as carbon precursors. Variation in chemic...

In this study, we investigate the ability of barium titanate/silver nanoparticles (BaTiO3/AgNPs) composites deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass using tape-casting method to produce piezoelectric thin film (FTO/BaTiO3/AgNPs) for piezocatalytic, photocatalytic, and piezo-photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) and ciprofloxa...

Metal-organic framework-based nanocomposites have recently received much attention in electrochemical sensors. Herein, copper-metal organic framework/nitrogen-doped graphene oxide (Cu-MOF/NGO) nanocomposites were synthesized using a solvothermal approach. The materials were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, high-resoluti...

In this study, a highly porous bismuth phosphotungstate (BiPOM) was prepared and incorporated onto TiO2 via hydrothermal method and evaluated towards its effect on photoelectrochemical properties of TiO2 photoanode for use in dye sensitize solar cells (DSSCs). The pristine and nanocomposite materials were characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman, BET, TGA...

The development in nanoscience has led to cleaner and safer semiconductor materials that can be used for degrading toxic and resistant pollutants in water. Ecological and environmentally friendliness’s are added features that the semiconductor photocatalyst should possess and these are incorporated via green synthetic approaches. Hence, in this stu...

In this review, the state-of-the-art of screen, inkjet and three-dimensional (3D) printing electrode technologies of diverse types, manufacturing processes, and applications are critically reviewed for the first time. Emerging printing electrode-based technologies for advanced fabrication of printed electrode materials have given rise to the develo...

This work reports on the effect of zinc(II)-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate metal organic frameworks (Zn-BTC MOFs) towards enhancing the power conversion efficiency of titanium dioxide (TiO2) based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Zn-BTC MOFs and TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via a modified hydrothermal method. This was followed by the additi...

Environmental pollution is regarded as a major concern and photocatalysis has been used successfully to combat discharges of recalcitrant pollutants. In this study, meso tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), tungsten (VI) oxide and reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite materials were prepared by in situ method and calcined at different temperatures. The catal...

Z-scheme zinc molybdate/bismuth iron tungstate/reduced graphene oxide (ZnMoO4/BiFeWO6/rGO, ZM/BFW/rGO) ternary composite photocatalyst was prepared with rGO acting as an electron transmission mediator. The physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized using a range of techniques such as SEM, TEM, EDS, FTIR, Raman, BET, TGA and UV-V...

The quest for eco-friendly synthetic routes for the development of multifunctional nanoparticles for biomedical applications has reinforced the use of plant extracts as replacement solvents. Amongst the various nanoparticles, ZnO nanoparticles have emerged as a preferred candidate for various biological applications. In this study, ZnO nanoparticle...

Available online 6 February 2019 Keywords: Magnesium hydride Hydrogen ball milling Ferrovanadium Carbon additives Kinetics Cycle stability Hydrogen storage nanocomposites prepared by high energy reactive ball milling of magnesium and vanadium alloys in hydrogen (HRBM) are characterised by exceptionally fast hydrogenation rates and a significantly d...

The synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles using plant extracts has become one of the alternative routes researchers use for the synthesis of nanomaterials. This is due to the high costs that are associated with nanoparticle preparation and the harsh solvents normally used as reducing agents. In this study, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized from a...

This study examined the photocatalytic degradation of an azo dye brilliant black (BB) using non-metal/metal co-doped TiO2. N,Pt co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts were prepared by a modified sol-gel method using amine-terminated polyamidoamine dendrimer generation 0 (PG0) as a template and source of nitrogen. Structural, morphological, and textural prope...

We report the application of exfoliated graphite (EG) as an electrode material in the electrochemical degradation of p-nitrophenol in water. Bulk electrolysis (degradation) of p-nitrophenol was carried out at a potential of 2.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in the presence of 0.1 M Na2SO4 supporting electrolyte, while UV-Vis spectrophotometry was used to monitor...

In the quest for harnessing more power from the sun for water treatment by photoelectrochemical degradation, we prepared a novel photoanode of exfoliated graphite (EG)–ZnO nanocomposite. The nanocompositewas characterised by X-ray diffractometry, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analyser, thermal gravimetric analy...

A composite electrode made up of exfoliated graphite (EG) and diamond was prepared for the electrochemical oxidation of trichloroethylene (TCE). The SEM images of the EG-diamond material showed that diamond powders were dispersed on the surface of EG materials. The N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm of EG-diamond material resulted in a poor adsorpti...

A composite electrode made up of exfoliated graphite (EG) and diamond was prepared for the electrochemical oxidation of trichloroethylene (TCE). The SEM images of the EG–diamond material showed that diamond powders were dispersed on the surface of EG materials. The N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm of EG–diamond material resulted in a poor adsorpti...

In the quest for more efficient photoanodes in the photoelectrochemical oxidation processes for organic pollutant degradation and mineralisation in water treatment, we present the synthesis, characterisation and photoelectrochemical application of expanded graphite-TiO2 composite (EG-TiO2) prepared using the sol-gel method with organically modified...

Graphene’s nano-dimensional nature and excellent electron transfer properties underlie its electrocatalytic behavior towards certain substances. . In this light, we have used graphene in the electrochemical detection of bisphenol A. Graphene sheets were produced via soft chemistry route involving graphite oxidation and chemical reduction. X-ray dif...

Graphene's nano-dimensional nature and excellent electron transfer properties underlie its electrocatalytic behavior towards certain substances. In this light, we have used graphene in the electrochemical detection of bisphenol A. Graphene sheets were produced via soft chemistry route involving graphite oxidation and chemical reduction. X-ray diffr...