M.J. Moloto

M.J. Moloto
University of Limpopo | ul · Department of Water and Sanitation

PhD (Chemistry)
Currently looking for collaborators inside and outside South Africa for various recycling chemical and natural waste.

About

121
Publications
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Publications

Publications (121)
Article
Full-text available
The study presents a breakthrough of a balanced charge separation for heterojunction CuWO4-TiO2 cocatalyst to efficiently enhance visible light photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). A solvothermal-synthesized nanopyramid-like CuWO4 semiconductor was assembled before sol–gel treatment with TiO2 precursors to generate CuWO4-TiO2 nanocomp...
Article
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Membrane fabrication via phase inversion depends on various influential parameters which may result in enhanced membrane performance. In this study, metal oxide nanoparticles i.e. Fe3O4/ZnO were modified with glycine and diethylene glycol and then embedded onto polyethersulfone (PES) membranes to form PES/Fe3O4/ZnO membranes. These membranes were u...
Article
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Bacterial pathogens remain major contributors to illnesses as they have developed several resistance mechanisms against standard treatments. Innovative porphyrin-quantum dots conjugated materials have great potential in addressing the limitations in the current disinfection methods. The antimicrobial activity of metal-free and In(III) derivative of...
Article
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Zinc sulphide nanoparticles capped with hexadecylamine (ZnS-HDA) have been synthesized through thermal decomposition of (Z)-2- (pyrrolidin-2-ylidene)thiourea zinc(II) complex. The effects of temperature, time and concentration of the precursor on the properties of ZnS-HDA capped nanoparticles were investigated. The values of the optical band edges...
Article
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Heavy metals present in wastewater and water scarcity are a global challenge worldwide. The elimination of heavy metals in wastewater is necessary to protect the ecosystem and human health. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury are among many other toxic heavy metals present in wastewater. There are several conventional methods that have...
Article
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Incorporation of nanomaterials into polymers and their blend provide additional advantages to their use and structural support. Metals such as Ag, Cu, Ti, and Fe are often reported in their metallic or their oxide forms for applications in microbiological, water treatment, and biomedical fields. The integration of metal oxide nanoparticles into pol...
Article
Generally, salt precursors have been investigated for the production of nanoparticles with semiconducting properties such as metal chalcogenides and others. They have demonstrated excellent features for the ease of converting them to nanoparticles. Thermal decomposition and solvothermal processes are often followed to produce particles with stabili...
Article
Nickel sulfides nanocrystals may be regarded as promising of materials in different research areas such as catalysts, solar cells, and electrode-materials. (Z)-2-(pyrrolidin-2-ylidene) thiourea ligand and (Z)-2-(pyrrolidin-2-ylidene) thiourea based nickel (II) complex have been prepared and utilized as single source molecular precursor for the synt...
Article
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Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) is extensively studied as a strategic method to inactivate pathogenic microbes in wastewater for addressing the limitations associated with chlorination, ozonation, and ultraviolet irradiation as disinfection methods, which generally promote the development of resistant genes and harmful by-products su...
Article
The fabrication of polymer fibre blends has gained much attention for the development of innovative nanomaterials. Polymer fibre blends are nanomaterials with different functionalities and properties such as a sizeable surface-to-area ratio, high porosity, flexibility, and stability. The focus of this study was to produce zein/PVA fibre blends usin...
Article
Silver oxide nanoparticles were synthesized at room temperature using a green synthetic method and water as a solvent. Starch was used as a capping and reducing agent because it is cheap, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. The effect of precursor and capping agent concentrations were investigated. The nanoparticles have been characterized usin...
Article
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Indium selenide is currently receiving tremendous attention in device application and studies related to two dimensional nanostructured technologies. Non-layered γ-In2Se3, which is a stable phase at room temperature, was successfully synthesized in oleylamine after 10 min at 240 °C from InCl3 and elemental selenium. Prolonged reaction time resulted...
Article
The colloidal synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) and Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) nanoparticles and their application as counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In particular, the effect of three substrates namely; vitreous carbon (VC), indium tin oxide (ITO), and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) on the electrocatalytic properties as well as the o...
Article
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In the present study, the copper oxide and copper nanoparticles were prepared by thermal decomposition of solid phase copper acetate at various time (1-3 h) and temperature (200-500 ºC). The method is simple, less expensive, avoid toxic solvent as well as avoid use of passivating agents. The FT-IR spectrum of the copper acetate monohydrate (calcine...
Article
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The resistance of microorganisms towards antibiotics remains a big challenge in medicine. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) received attention recently for their characteristic nanosized features and their ability to display antimicrobial activities. This work reports the synthesis of AgNPs using the Citrus sinensis peels extract in their aqueous, mild,...
Article
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A one-step colloidal synthesis of hierarchical nanoflowers of WS2 is reported. The nanoflowers were used to fabricate a chemical sensor for the detection of ammonia vapors at room temperature. The gas sensing performance of the WS2 nanoflowers was measured using an in-house custom-made gas chamber. SEM analysis revealed that the nanoflowers were ma...
Article
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In this study, chitosan (CS)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (CS/PVA) blend nanofibers with varying weight ratios and silver (Ag)/copper (Cu)/CS/PVA composite fibers have been prepared successfully by the electrospinning process. The tip-to-collector distance was kept at 15 cm, and the applied voltage was varied from 15 to 25 kV. The effects of the weigh...
Article
Herein we report the use of Rudorffite-type Cs3Bi2Br9 nanoparticles as a photocatalyst in the degradation of rhodamine B and methylene blue dyes. The synthesis of Cs3Bi2Br9 nanoparticles through the hot-injection method was optimized to a time of 1 min at the temperature of 210 °C. The lead-free nanoparticles were indexed to Cs3Bi2Br9 in a single h...
Article
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Antimicrobial activity of copper chalcogenides nanoparticles was investigated by synthesizing copper selenide, copper sulfide, and copper oxide via the hot-injection method. Since reaction time has a profound effect on the nanocrystals size and shapes, the effect of reaction time was also investigated during the synthesis of the copper chalcogenide...
Article
We report on the synthesis of the less explored AuSe and investigate the influence capping agents; oleylamine (OLA), 1-dodecanethiol (IDDT), and oleic acid (OA) have on its structure and surface. TEM showed long belt-like structures for both OLA and OA-capped materials and nanorods for 1DDT-AuSe. XRD diffractograms and Raman spectra showed the pres...
Article
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The use of herbal plants in recent years have increased tremendously owing to their user-friendliness, accessibility, and affordability. In this study, the plant species Combretum molle and Acacia mearnsii were phytochemical screened for the existence of active organic compounds, the content of total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidants using diffe...
Article
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The effect of the functional groups of capping agents was investigated in the synthesis of copper selenide, copper sulphide and copper oxide nanoparticles using oleylamine (OLA) and trioctylphosphine (TOP). These capping molecules have demonstrated their ability to act as reducing agents, surfactants, solvents and enhancement of colloidal stabiliza...
Article
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Nickel selenide (Ni x Se y) systems have received much attention in recent years as potential low cost counter electrodes (CEs) in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Their electrocatalytic activities are comparable to that of the conventional platinum CE. Despite their achievements, the effect of stoichiometry on their catalytic performance as CEs...
Article
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To study the effect of time on the colloidal synthesis of Cu3N nanoparticles, copper(II) nitrate was thermally decomposed at 260 °C for up to 60 min in octadecylamine as a stabilizing ligand. Thermolysis of the nitrate followed four steps which included; nucleation, growth, ripening and decomposition. At 5 min, partially developed nanocubes were fo...
Preprint
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Oleylamine capped WS2 nanostructures were successfully formed at 320 °C via a relatively simple colloidal route. SEM and TEM analyses showed that the 3D nanoflowers that were initially formed disintegrated into 2D nanosheets after prolonged incubation. XPS and XRD analyses confirmed oxidation of WS2 into WO3. Sensors based on these oleylamine cappe...
Article
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Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), cellulose acetate (CA), PAN-TiO2, and CA-TiO2 nanofibers were prepared using the electrospinning technique under varying the loading of the TiO2 nanoparticles. The latter TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared using the sol-gel method by varying the calcination temperatures. The absorption and emission spectra illustrated the for...
Article
Herein we report on a novel one-step synthesis of copper-rich Cu3N, Cu2S and Cu9S5 nanoparticles by using the surfactant dodecanethiol as a sulfur source to substitute the nitrogen in Cu3N using the Pearson acid-base concept. The Cu3N nanoparticles are indexed to a cubic anti-ReO3 phase, whilst the Cu2S nanoparticles are indexed to the alpha low cu...
Article
Uncapped nanocrystalline cuprous nitride (Cu3N) decomposes spontaneously to CuO at room temperature due to the presence of water and oxygen in the atmosphere. Long-chain capping molecules have been successfully used to cap and protect the core nanocrystals from complete oxidation. Moreover, the use of co-surfactants has been shown to alter the morp...
Poster
Electrospinning is amongst other nanofabrication techniques, which is receiving enormous attention nowadays due to its consistent removal of contaminant without fabrication of any harmful derivatives, particularly in decontaminated water purification processes. Zein is a protein obtained from maize, it is an amphiphillic and an amorphous polymer. I...
Article
In this contribution, we explore a spray deposition technique to prepare thin films based on nanocomposites of graphene oxide (GO) or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with CuInGaSe2 quantum dots (QD) synthesized by a microwave-assisted method. Small nanocrystals in the tetragonal phase and emitting light at 650 nm were obtained. Water-based solutions o...
Article
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Nanoparticles in biomedicine, requires a detailed understanding of the biocompatibility and toxicity of nano-particles in human beings. The biological and physicochemical properties of nanoparticles bring new challenges with regards to management of potential adverse health effects following exposure. This work reports on the synthetic optimization...
Article
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Present work reports synthesis of L-cysteine capped CdSe nanoparticles at different temperatures via an aqueous medium, non-toxic and green colloidal route. Cadmium chloride (CdCl2·5H2O) and sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) were used as cadmium and selenium sources respectively. The prepared nanoparticles are characterized by UV-visible absorption and pho...
Article
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Agro-wastes such as sugar cane bagasse can be explored for use in different aspects. Its applicability as a source of cellulose has attracted much interests especially in biomedical field among various applications. In the current work chemically purified cellulose (CPC) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were effectively extracted from sugarcane ba...
Article
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Objective: The objective of the study was to encapsulate ibuprofen (IBU) into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) for enhanced dissolution and achieving a sustained and controlled release of the drug from the nanocarrier. Methods: IBU loaded nanoparticles were prepared by emulsification solvent evaporation technique and characterized by Fourier Transf...
Article
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Reusable photocatalytic polyacrylonitrile membrane-supported cadmium sulphide/titanium dioxide hybrid nanoparticles (CdS/TiO 2 -PAN) were prepared using a dry-wet phase inversion technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed that the photocatalytic membranes had a porous sublayer, a compact top layer, and that, some of the nanopar...
Article
Full-text available
The waste generated from antibiotics as influents or effluents in important waters from the rivers over their increased usage is quickly leading to societal health problems. To avoid increased accumulation of these antibiotics and their waste matter, new methods and materials are required to solve the problems before escalation. This paper aimed at...
Article
Bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)zinc(II) complex was used as a precursor to deposit ZnO films on glass substrates at 350, 400, and 450 °C using aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) technique. The optical properties of the films were investigated by UV–vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). The results show that temperature of...
Article
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Quantum dots have already proven features that can be considered to improve their properties for biological applications. Metal selenide nanoparticles possess semiconducting behaviors that can vary with their structural and optical properties evolving from their synthesis. The copper selenide nanoparticles have been synthesized by aqueous medium th...
Article
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The synthesis of polydispersed zinc sulphide and copper sulphide nanocrystals capped with polar L -alanine (Aln) and l -aspartic acid (Asp) molecules is reported. The resulting nanocrystals were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier tra...
Article
Cesium lead iodide nanocrystals (NCs) are one of the best perovskites to date. The quality of CsPbI3 tends to degrade with time and many researchers have embarked on studies for improvement of CsPbI3 stability. Herein, CsPbI3 nanoparticles were synthesized via colloidal approach by varying the capping agent and the coordinating solvent. The effect...
Article
2D materials have received much attention recently as they can potentially offer new routes to electronics and other technologies. Gold selenide is a relatively unexplored 2D material with a complex mixed-valence crystal structure similar to that of AgO. Apart from a 1960s and 1970s reports on the solid state synthesis and crystal structure respect...
Article
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Chitosan is a polymeric compound with functional groups which enable surface binding to nanoparticles and antibacterial activity. The antimicrobial activity was studied using silver nanoparticles with varied concentrations of chitosan. The nanoparticles were synthesized through a simple and environmentally friendly method at room temperature. Spher...
Article
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This work reports on the synthesis of silver sulfide nanoparticles capped with either chitosan, green tea, Combtretum molle or black wattle extracts. The nanoparticles were synthesized in an aqueous solution in the presence of capping agent as stabilizer and reducing agents. Silver nitrate and thiourea were used as silver and sulfur precursor respe...
Poster
Electrospinning is a versatile technique commonly used by many researchers to fabricate polymer nanofibers as well as nanocomposites embedded on the polymer fibers[1,2]. Electrospinning is the production of fine fibers (either nano or micro) from polymer solutions by using high voltage electric field (kV) at room temperature and atmospheric conditi...
Article
Herein, we report on the synthesis and characterization of Cu3N nanocrystals using two single-source precursors, bis (pyrrole-2-carbalpropyliminato) Cu(II) (PPC) and Cu(NO3)2.3H2O. The optical and structural properties were investigated and the suitability of the two precursors was studied in terms of producing good quality Cu3N nanocrystals withou...
Article
Full-text available
Salicyladehyde and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde were used as ligands to prepare bis(salicylidene)zinc(II) and bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)zinc(II) complexes. The bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)zinc(II) complex was used as a precursor to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles via thermal decomposition technique at different temperatures using hexa...
Article
Full-text available
Copper based chalcogenide nanoparticles have been synthesized using other methods or techniques. Very little is reported on the use of metal complexes as single-source precursors for the synthesis of copper chalcogenide nanoparticles. Diphenyldiselenide is a stable organic source of selenide which is readily cleaved by using sodium borohydride to r...
Article
Full-text available
The synthesis of copper sulfide nanocrystals from bis(N-pyrrolidinedithiocarbamato) Cu(II) single molecule precursors have been achieved. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, elemental analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the prepared complex. Nanomaterials were further confirmed by optical properties a...
Article
Full-text available
Quantum confinement of semiconductor nanoparticles is a potential feature which can be interesting for photocatalysis, and cadmium selenide is one simple type of quantum dot to use in the following photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. CdSe nanoparticles capped with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in various concentration ratios were synthesized b...
Article
Bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)silver(I) complex (Ag-HNA) was prepared through the reaction of the ligand and silver nitrate. Silver oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via thermal decomposition at different temperatures by calcinating Ag complex inside a ceramic boat. The same metal precursor was used to prepare Ag2O thin films at different tem...
Article
Full-text available
The simple synthesis of the Ag2S nanoparticles through modified homogeneous precipitation route and the preparation of Ag2S-chitosan nanocomposite is reported. The Ag2S nanoparticles and the nanocomposites were characterized with ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron micros...
Article
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Cobalt oxide nanoparticles are materials that have great potential as catalysts for the oxidation of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Cobalt oxide nanoparticles were prepared using a precipitation-oxidation method with H2O2 at 85°C and at ambient pressure. The introduction of acetate ions during the precipitation method influenced the shape of the...
Article
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Recently, researchers have developed a great interest in the synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles due to their potential applications in various fields of science and industry, especially in catalysis, due to their high activity. Bis (2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)cadmium(II) complexes were prepared and used as precursors for the synthesis of cadm...
Article
Cyclohexylamine-N-dithiocarbamate ligand was prepared and used to synthesize Cu complex [Cu(S2CNC6H12)2]. The effect of capping molecule was studied through the thermolysis of the precursor in hexadecylamine (HDA) and tri-octylphosphine-n-oxide (TOPO) to give HDA and TOPO-capped CuS nanoparticles by varying their concentrations. The absorption spec...
Article
Full-text available
The synthesis and characterisation of lead sulphide nanoparticles using complexes as single sources of both lead and sulphur are reported. A cubic phase of galena perfectly matched all synthesized nanoparticles confirming that no secondary product was generated. The complexes prepared from thiosemicarbazide materials and lead bromide reacted differ...
Article
Silver sulphide nanoparticles were synthesised at room temperature using a green synthetic method. Silver nitrate and thiourea have been used as the sources of silver and sulphide ions, respectively. Starch was used as the capping agent while water was used as the solvent. The effect of precursor and capping agent concentrations was investigated fo...
Article
Hexadecylamine (HDA) or trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) was employed to stabilize CdS nanoparticles using single-source precursor route which resulted in the formation of rods, bipods and tripods. The complex, cadmium diethyldithiocarbamate was first dissolved trioctylphosphine (TOP) before injecting into hot HDA or TOPO solution. This in turn made...
Article
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The synthesis of lead sulfide nanoparticles has been accomplished by varying the effect of reaction conditions such as type of capping agents and temperature. 2-Methylbenzimidazole dithiocarbamate-Pb(II) complex was prepared by a modified single step method and thermolized into hexadecylamine (HDA) and/or trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) at different...
Article
Full-text available
Employing a capping agent during the synthesis of nanoparticles has been reported to play a role in controlling size and shape of the nanoparticles. Due to this reason, this study reports the synthesis of silver selenide nanoparticles using different environmentally friendly capping agents (green tea, glucose, ascorbic acid and chitosan) in order t...
Article
Full-text available
This paper addresses the possibilities of synthesizing copper indium gallium selenide nanoparticles with properties that are desired in photovoltaics. The use of oleylamine as solvent and capping agent improved the growth and dispersivity of stoichiometric CuIn0.75Ga0.25Se2 nanoparticles through conventional colloidal synthesis. Relatively small si...
Article
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The colloidal method has extensively been used to synthesize ternary and quaternary copper sulfides and selenides. The formation pathway and the crystallization mechanism of these nanostructures have also been investigated. Although tellurides form part of the chalcogenides, little has been reported on them particularly the crystallization mechanis...
Article
Full-text available
The green synthetic route for the synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles has received special attention recently due to its features, such as low cost and environmental friendliness. The (Z)-2-(pyrrolidin-2-ylidene)thiourea was used as a ligand and allowed to react with zinc acetate to form the ZnS nanoparticles through the homogeneous precipitat...
Article
[Bis(2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehydato)zinc(II)] and cadmium(II) complexes were prepared, characterized to confirm the bidentate bonding to metal centre by aldehyde ligand through the two oxygen atoms. The complexes used as precursors for the synthesis of zinc and cadmium oxide nanoparticles via thermal decomposition method using oleylamine as a dispers...
Article
Herein we report for the first time, on the synthesis and characterization of indium monoselenide nanoparticles and nanosheets and their application as chemical sensors. We investigate the effect of the different morphologies on methanol and formaldehyde sensing. The synthesized nanostructures crystallized in the same phase however the different mo...
Article
Morphology control of nanoparticles has been the subject of great interest for modifying the properties of materials. Capping agents or organically capping molecules are also known to influence the particle growth and stability giving rise to different shapes and sizes. In this work, Ag2Se nanoparticles were synthesized using HDA as capping agent i...