Abstract: Research on semiconducting metal oxide (MO) nanostructures is a fascinating field that has received massive interest due to their significant physical and chemical properties which can be useful in the development of highly efficient nanodevices. Incorporating impurities such as metal elements into the MO matrix offers tailored properties for various applications. Doped MO nanostructures exhibit modified structural, optical, electrical and morphological properties rendering th...
Abstract: Green nanotechnology is an innovative research field with emphasis on the development of methods that minimize the use of health hazardous substances for environmental remediation. This study reports on the biosynthesis of nanostructured multilayer graphene (MLG) and zinc oxide (ZnO) from natural extracts for environmental applications. ZnO nanoparticles are fabricated for the first-time using Ageratum Houstonianum leaf extract as an effective chelating agent. Besides this, a ...
Abstract: Continuous discharge of textile wastes such as dyes into the water bodies deteriorates the quality of water. Therefore, the removal of these materials from the wastewater should be a priority due to their carcinogenic properties, which pose a health hazard to both human beings and aquatic life. The use of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for example heterogeneous photocatalysis has been broadly studied due to their efficacy in the removal of such organic contaminants. Engin...
Abstract: The development of transparent conducting oxide materials has gained an increased interest in the scientific community for developing efficient low cost optoelectronic devices. The effect of Cd precursor on structural and optical properties of sol-gel synthesized Zn0.9Cd0.1O nanostructured films has been studied by using XRD, AFM, optical absorption and emission spectroscopic techniques. X-ray diffraction confirms the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure of the deposited films and ...
Abstract: Doping is an effective material re-engineering technique, which provides a possibility of improving properties of materials for different applications. Herein, a Zr-doped TiO2 thin film was deposited applying the chemical spray pyrolysis method and the influence of varying zirconium dopant concentrations on the properties of the film was studied. Morphological studies showed that the Zr–TiO2 films were homogeneous with smaller grain sizes compared to the undoped TiO2 films. As-de...
Abstract: Agricultural residue-based fibrous (ARF) materials have been identified to be a commercially viable solution for energy-efficient building insulation application. ARFs have various advantages over synthetic fibers including environmentally friendly, light weight, low cost, and competent mechanical properties. Meanwhile, in many African countries including Botswana, the expertise to manufacture building insulators by using ARFs is scarce and consequently building insulation material...
Abstract: Tin (Sn) is a promising substitute for lead (Pb) in organic–inorganic hybrid halide perovskite-photovoltaic devices, but it is prone to delivering low power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) due to the poor quality of Sn-perovskite films. In this work, anilinium hypophosphite (AHP) co-additive is used to fabricate high-quality FASnI3 (FA+: formamidinium) perovskite films with suppressed phase-segregation and prolonged charge carrier lifetime. Perovskite films containing 0.05 M AHP a...
Particulate-filled polymer composites are becoming quite attractive because of their low cost and wide application. Nowadays shells of arthropods and mollusks are widely used as reinforced materials due to their availability and impact mechanical properties. This study focused on theproduction and evaluation of impact strength of snail shell reinforced epoxy composite and as well given concrete information and recommendation on usage with respect to appropriate filler concentration an...
Organic solvent-free impregnation method was used to synthesize titanium-iron oxides (TIOs) nanomaterial. The physical properties of synthesized TIOs materials were characterized by XRD, SEM–EDX, BET, UV–Vis, and FTIR analytical techniques. The appearance of iron oxide (IO) on SEM image, XRD, and EDX spectra, the redshift on UV–Vis spectra of TIO compared to titanium oxide (TO), and intensity reduction in FTIR spectra proves the good impregnation of IO in TO lattice. The passing of t...
Non-renewable energy sources produced from natural coal and oil may result in climate change and global warming as greenhouse gases are to the environment. This is why the main utilization of energy sources on renewable and alternate green energy to deliver power. Thus, a microbial fuel cell device is one of the cost-effective and environmentally friendly energy conversion devices that uses renewable organic wastes as fuel source and converts this stored chemical energy in to useful b...
Solid State Sciences 9 (2007) 303, doi:10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2007.02.003, Abstract:: (Ba,Ti)-precursor complexes, important for the production of advanced BaTiO3 perovskitetype materials, undergo structural transformations and complex reactions during their thermal decomposition. Based on XRD phase analysis, combined with Rietveld refinement of crystal structure data, and on IR analysis, the intermediate formation of calcite-type BaCO3 is evidenced, which can be explained by the stabi...
Solid State Sciences 9 (2007) 21, doi:10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2006.09.004, Abstract:: The thermal decomposition of Ba,Ti-precursor complexes, containing organic ligands and suitable for the single-source preparation of nanocrystalline BaTiO3, leads firstly to the segregation of specific Ba-rich and Ti-rich phases. Quantitative electron energy lossspectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction data indicated that the (i) Ba-rich phase is a BaOstabilised variant of the calcite-type high tempera...
Journal of Alloys and Compounds 506 (2010) 678–682, doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2010.07.041, Abstract:: The electrical and optical properties of Ge-doped BaSnO3 ceramics sintered at various temperatures have been investigated to determine their semiconductor behavior. The electrical conductivity of Ge-doped BaSnO3 samples increases with increase in temperature, confirming that the samples exhibit a semiconductor behavior. A maximum conductivity value of 6.31 × 10−9 S/cm was observed for the sa...
Journal of Solid State Chemistry 287 (2020) 12138. DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2020.121380 Abstract: Nanocrystalline Li0.5Fe2.5O4 was prepared by a starch-based soft-chemistry synthesis. Calcining of the (LiFe)-gel between 350 and 1000 °C results in Li0.5Fe2.5O4 powders with crystallite sizes from 13 to 141 nm and specific surface areas between 35 and 7.1 m2 g-1. XRD investigations reveal the formation of ordered Li0.5Fe2.5O4. Sintering between 1050 and 1250 °C leads to ceramics with relative den...
RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 71491, DOI: 10.1039/c5ra12312g, Abstract:: BaTiO3-MgFe2O4 composites (30 wt.% MgFe2O4) with a small addition of BaGeO3 as a sintering additive were synthesized by a one-pot Pechini-like sol-gel process. Nano-crystalline composite powders with a crystallite size of about 10 nm were obtained after reaction at 700 °C for 1 h. Magnetic investigations suggest that the nano-powder is in its superparamagnetic state at room temperature. The addition of BaGeO3 leads to an improved...