UWCScholar

This repository serves as a digital archive for the preservation of research outputs from the University of the Western Cape

Communities in UWCScholar

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 5 of 11

Recent Submissions

Regulating li kinetics at the lif/li2o sei constructed by single-source synchronous strategy to enhance li anodes stability in lithium-sulfur batteries
(Elsevier B.V., 2026) Zhang, Han; Wang, Yaqi; Linkov, Vladimir
During charge and discharge, enhancing the Li+ transport capability of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) while simultaneously blocking electronic conduction is an effective strategy for suppressing lithium dendrite growth and mitigating volume expansion at the Li-metal anode interface. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations of Gibbs free energies were used to identify 2-fluoro-3-nitropyridine (FNP), a fluorine- and oxygen-containing additive, which facilitates the formation of a LiF/Li2O-rich SEI. Upon reacting with metallic lithium, FNP facilitates the formation of an SEI layer composed of interlaced LiF crystallites, which provide high ionic conductivity, and Li2O crystallites, which offer superior electronic insulation. This architecture enables the fabrication of a highly stable Li-metal anode, denoted as LiF/Li2O-Li. The formation mechanism was verified via in situ Raman spectroscopy, while in situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed significantly suppressed volume expansion. After 500 cycles, the LiF/Li2O-Li anode thickness increased from 55 μm to 105 μm (an expansion factor of 1.9), whereas the pristine Li anode expanded from 89 μm to 198 μm (a factor of 2.2). Symmetric Li||Li cells utilizing this anode exhibited stable cycling for 600 h at a current density of 1 mA cm−2 and areal capacity of 1 mA h cm−2 respectively. Furthermore, lithium-sulfur cells employing the LiF/Li2O-Li anode demonstrated excellent stability with a capacity decay rate of only 0.201% per cycle over 120 cycles at 0.2C, maintaining superior performance even under high sulfur loading and lean electrolyte conditions.
An assessment of the rights and influence of debtholders in corporate decision-making in light of shareholder primacy
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Mc Davids, Kaashif; Wandrag, Riekie
Within the realm of corporate governance, there is a widely-held belief that the board of directors of a company serve at the pleasure of shareholders, for the simple reason that shareholders “own” the company in question.1 While this notion of ownership has to a certain extent been discredited,23 the underlying principle remains sound – shareholders are contributors of capital, who have taken a risk through their investment in a company, and accordingly repayment of their faith shown should be at the forefront of a board of directors’ decision-making.4 This is, in essence, the premise of the “shareholder primacy” model of corporate governance, in terms of which a company’s shareholders are placed front and centre of decisions taken by a company’s board of directors with the ultimate goal of maximisation of the shareholders’ wealth.
Biliteracy practices in a primary science classroom: insights from a bilingual learning materials project
(AOSIS (pty) Ltd, 2026) Tyler, Robyn
Background: At the beginning of the roll-out of Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) in South Africa, biliteracies in an African language and English still present an ideological frontier to be crossed. While the negative consequences of monolingual English instruction from Grade 4 have been well documented, there is little research on biliteracy practices in content subjects at this level. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore biliteracies in learning materials and classroom practices and their impact on learner achievement. Setting: The project was carried out in one Grade 4 science classroom in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. The teacher and 42 learners were the focal participants. Methods: The article draws from an ethnographically informed participatory intervention study during 2023. A sample was taken from 168 photographs taken from the Grade 4 science classroom of bilingual texts. The texts were analysed using discourse analysis and Sebba’s framework for multilingual text analysis in order to answer the research questions. Results: Children read bilingual materials in different language varieties; children wrote in more than one language and in a meshed register; and bilingual writing in a bilingual assessment produced higher achievement than that of children who wrote a monolingual English test. Conclusion: The variety of biliteracies in which the teacher and children engaged point towards the need for both separate biliteracy and translanguaging literacies in developing children’s writing. Contribution: The study contributes to the scholarship on biliteracies in the context of MTbBE and Southern schooling more broadly.
A deep learning framework for monotonic and physics-compliant CO2 trapping index forecasting
(Elsevier Ltd, 2026) Afolayan, Blessing Ayotomiwa; Opuwari, Mimonitu; Amaechi, Paschal Ogechukwu
The permanence and security of geological CO2 storage, a critical climate change mitigation strategy, hinges on a thorough understanding of subsurface trapping mechanisms. Predicting trapping efficiency traditionally relies on computationally-intensive numerical simulations, especially for complex, heterogeneous reservoirs. While data-driven deep learning models offer accelerated computation, they often act as “black boxes” with poor interpretability and no inherent adherence to physical laws. To address this, we present a physics-incorporated Deep Operator Network (DeepONet) for predicting two key density-driven trapping indexes: the Residual Trapping Index (RTI) and Solubility Trapping Index (STI). Our architecture enforces physical realism by encoding the laws of mass conservation and temporal monotonicity directly into a composite loss function and through architecturally guaranteed constraints, supported by advanced regularisation techniques. The model was trained and tested on a comprehensive dataset of over 11,000 samples compiled from global studies. Results demonstrated high predictive precision, with mean absolute errors of 0.0042 (RTI) and 0.0022 (STI), and R2 scores of 0.994 and 0.982, respectively. Crucially, the model maintained a 0% violation rate of the fundamental physical constraint (RTI+STI≤1) and preserved the expected monotonic behaviour of trapping over time. The close clustering of predicted and actual values, along with residuals centred around zero, confirms the model's robustness, reliability, and strong generalisation capability for predicting CO2 trapping across diverse geological conditions.
The construction of Afrikaans masculinity in Afrikaans magazines (2005–2015): enactment of power and status
(Routledge, 2026) Louw, Susann
This article examines the construction of Afrikaans masculinity through a multimodal analysis of representations in Afrikaans magazines from 2005 to 2015. Understanding gender, and therefore masculinity, as a fluid social construct, the study considers how media representations shape evolving gender roles in response to political, social and economic shifts. The study is grounded in critical masculinity studies and draws on Connell’s relational model of masculinities, alongside inclusive and caring masculinity frameworks, to analyse how power and status are imbricated in representations of Afrikaans masculinity. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, the research shows that Afrikaans masculinity is linked to power, authority and material success, while also entangled with violence, both as perpetrated and experienced. Some portrayals reinforce traditional ideals, such as the value placed on the traditional ‘boer’ (farmer) and conservative gender roles. Others reflect a departure from historical masculinities and indicate the influence of broader global discourses. Family support and religious beliefs are often portrayed as essential to success. By investigating these representations, the study contributes to understanding how media discourses shape perceptions of gender in Afrikaans communities. Although representations of Afrikaans masculinity show signs of expansion, they largely reproduce global hierarchies of power and status, with change occurring selectively and within culturally specific parameters.