Browsing by Author "Sunday, Christopher E."
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Item Electrochemical interrogation of g3-poly(propylene thiophenoimine) dendritic star polymer in phenanthrene sensing(MDPI, 2015) Makelane, Hlamulo R.; Tovide, Oluwakemi; Sunday, Christopher E.A novel dendritic star-copolymer, generation 3 poly(propylene thiophenoimine) (G3PPT)-co-poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) star co-polymer on gold electrode (i.e., Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT) was used as a sensor system for the determination of phenanthrene (PHE). The G3PPT-co-P3HT star co-polymer was synthesized via in situ electrochemical co-polymerization of generation 3 poly (propylene thiophenoimine) and poly (3-hexylthiophene) on gold electrode. 1HNMR spectroscopy was used to determine the regioregularity of the polymer composites, whereas Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study their structural and morphological properties. Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT in the absence of PHE, exhibited reversible electrochemistry attributable to the oligo (thiophene) ‘pendants’ of the dendrimer. PHE produced an increase in the voltammetric signals (anodic currents) due to its oxidation on the dendritic material to produce catalytic current, thereby suggesting the suitability of the Au|G3PPT-co-P3HT electrode as a PHE sensor.Item Synthesis and characterisation of a polysulfone-polyvinyl alcohol hydrogelic material(ESG, 2016) Mbambisa, Gcineka; Molapo, Kerileng M.; Sunday, Christopher E.Hydrogels are flexible materials that have found a niche in membrane science owing to their ability to absorb water without dissolving. The synthesis of polyvinyl alcohol-polysulfone hydrogel in the presence of N-hydroxy succinimide is presented herein. This hydrogel is characterised using FTIR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, SEM and electrochemical techniques. The FTIR spectroscopic analysis shows that the hydrogel retains bonds that are related to both polysulfone and polyvinyl alcohol moieties. The new hydrogel displays a highly branched morphology with reduced pore size in comparison with polysulfone. The hydrogel also has a lower charge transfer resistance (Rct: 12.065 k) in comparison with the polysulfone (Rct: 23.260 k), which implies that the hydrogel is more conductive than the original polysulphone.