Syntheses and investigation of the effects of position and nature of substituent on the spectral, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties of new cobalt phthalocyanine complexes
- Authors: Akinbulu, Isaac A , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/261677 , vital:53434 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2010.01.004"
- Description: The syntheses of new cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) complexes, tetra-substituted with diethylaminoethanethio at the peripheral (complex 3a) and non-peripheral (complex 3b) positions, and with benzylmercapto at the non-peripheral position (complex 5), are reported. The effects of the nature and position of substituent on the spectral, electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties of these complexes are investigated. Solution electrochemistry of complex 3a showed three distinctly resolved redox processes attributed to CoIIIPc−2/CoIIPc−2 (E½ = +0.64 V versus Ag|AgCl), CoIIPc−2/CoIPc−2 (E½ = −0.24 V versus Ag|AgCl) and CoIPc−2/CoIPc−3 (E½ = −1.26 V versus Ag|AgCl) species. No ring oxidation was observed in complex 3a. Complex 3b showed both ring-based oxidation, attributed to CoIIIPc−1/CoIIIPc−2 species (Ep = +0.86 V versus Ag|AgCl), and ring-based reduction associated with CoIPc−2/CoIPc−3 species (E½ = −1.46 V versus Ag|AgCl), with the normal metal-based redox processes in CoPc complexes: CoIIIPc−2/CoIIPc−2 (Ep = +0.41 V versus Ag|AgCl) and CoIIPc−2/CoIPc−2 (E½ = −0.38 V versus Ag|AgCl). Solution electrochemistry of complex 5 showed the same type and number of species observed in complex 3a: CoIIIPc−2/CoIIPc−2 (Ep = +0.59 V versus Ag|AgCl), CoIIPc−2/CoIPc−2 (E½ = −0.26 V versus Ag|AgCl) and CoIPc−2/CoIPc−3 (E½ = −1.39 V versus Ag|AgCl) species. These processes were confirmed using spectroelectrochemistry.
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Assessment of spatial variation in carbon utilization by benthic and pelagic invertebrates in a temperate South African estuary using stable isotope signatures
- Authors: Richoux, Nicole B , Froneman, P William
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/457923 , vital:75695 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2006.09.007 "
- Description: Stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) were used to evaluate the spatial variations in carbon flow from primary producers to consumers at two sites in the temperate and permanently open Kariega Estuary on the southeastern coast of South Africa during October 2005 and February 2006. One site was located opposite a salt marsh while the second was upstream of the marsh. Except for significantly enriched δ13C values of Zostera capensis and surface sediments near the salt marsh, the δ13C and δ15N signatures of the producers were similar between sites. The invertebrates were clustered into groups roughly corresponding to the predominant feeding modes. The suspension feeders showed δ13C values closest to the seston, whereas the deposit feeders, detritivores and scavengers/predators had more enriched δ13C values reflecting primary carbon sources that were likely a combination of seston, Spartina maritima and Z. capensis at the upstream site, with an increased influence of benthic algae and Z. capensis at the salt marsh site. The δ15N signatures of the consumers showed a stepwise continuum rather than distinct levels of fractionation, indicating highly complex trophic linkages and significant dietary overlap among the species. Consumers exhibited significantly enriched δ13C values at the salt marsh site, an effect that was attributed to enriched Z. capensis detritus in this region in addition to increased phytoplankton biomass in their diets compared with invertebrates living upstream. The data reinforce the concept that between-site variations in the stable isotope ratios of consumers can result not only from dietary shifts, but also from alterations in the isotope ratios of primary producers.
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Preliminary survey of indigenous, non-indigenous and cryptogenic benthic invertebrates in Burrard Inlet, Vancover, British Columbia
- Authors: Richoux, Nicole B , Froneman, P William
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/457981 , vital:75705 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2006.09.007"
- Description: In a preliminary investigation into the presence of non-indigenous invertebrates in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, British Columbia, qualitative sampling on rocky shores, pilings and floating docks was conducted in July and August 2004. Twenty-nine sites were established, 34 samples were analysed, and 103 different taxa were identified. Data were also obtained on habitat characteristics including substrate type, salinity and temperature. Identification of polychaetes, mussels from four sites, all amphipods, isopods and patellogastropods have been confirmed by taxonomic specialists.
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Tuning the redox properties of metalloporphyrin-and metallophthalocyanine-based molecular electrodes for the highest electrocatalytic activity in the oxidation of thiols
- Authors: Bedioui, Fethi , Griveau, Sophie , Nyokong, Tebello , Appleby, A John , Caro, Claudia A , Gulppi, Miguel , Ochoa, Gonzalo , Zagal, José H
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/283988 , vital:56009 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1039/B618767F"
- Description: In this work we discuss different approaches for achieving electrodes modified with N4 macrocyclic complexes for the catalysis of the electrochemical oxidation of thiols. These approaches involve adsorption, electropolymerization and molecular anchoring using self assembled monolayers. We also discuss the parameters that determine the reactivity of these complexes. Catalytic activity is associated with the nature of the central metal, redox potentials and Hammett parameters of substituents on the ligand. Correlations between catalytic activity (log i at constant E) and the redox potential of catalysts for complexes of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni and Cu are linear with an increase of activity for more positive redox potentials. For a great variety complexes bearing the same metal center (Co) correlations between log i and Eo′ of the Co(II)/Co(I) couple have the shape of an unsymmetric volcano. This indicates that the potential of the Co(II)/Co(I) couple can be tuned using the appropiate ligand to achieve maximum catalytic activity. Maximum activity probably corresponds to a ΔG of adsorption of the thiol on the Co center equal to zero, and to a coverage of active sites by the thiol equal to 0.5.
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Actor/actant-network theory as emerging methodology for environmental education research in southern Africa
- Authors: Nhamo, Godwell
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373553 , vital:66701 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122722"
- Description: This paper deliberates on actor/actant-network theory (AANT) as methodology for policy research in environmental education (EE). Insights are drawn from work that applied AANT to research environmental policy processes surrounding the formulation and implementation of South Africa’s Plastic Bags Regulations of 2003. The paper reveals that the application of AANT methodology made it possible to trace relationships, actors, actants and actor/actant-networks surrounding the Plastic Bags Regulations as quasi-object (token). The methodology also enabled a focus on understanding and investigating tensions, debates and responses emerging from the policy process. The findings were that after the promulgation of the first draft of the Plastic Bags Regulations in May 2000, tensions emerged around the nature of regulation (whether to use the command and control approach – preferred by Organised Government – or self regulation – preferred by Organised Business and Organised Labour). From these findings, a series of conceptual frameworks were drawn up as identified around key actors and actor/actant-networks. The conceptual frameworks included among them, Organised Government, Organised Business and Organised Labour.
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Actor/actant-network theory as emerging methodology for environmental education research in southern Africa
- Authors: Nhamo, Godwell
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373537 , vital:66702 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122722"
- Description: This paper deliberates on actor/actant-network theory (AANT) as methodology for policy research in environmental education (EE). Insights are drawn from work that applied AANT to research environmental policy processes surrounding the formulation and implementation of South Africa’s Plastic Bags Regulations of 2003. The paper reveals that the application of AANT methodology made it possible to trace relationships, actors, actants and actor/actant-networks surrounding the Plastic Bags Regulations as quasi-object (token). The methodology also enabled a focus on understanding and investigating tensions, debates and responses emerging from the policy process. The findings were that after the promulgation of the first draft of the Plastic Bags Regulations in May 2000, tensions emerged around the nature of regulation (whether to use the command and control approach – preferred by Organised Government – or self regulation – preferred by Organised Business and Organised Labour). From these findings, a series of conceptual frameworks were drawn up as identified around key actors and actor/actant-networks. The conceptual frameworks included among them, Organised Government, Organised Business and Organised Labour.
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Teacher-community cooperation to promote sustainability of wetlands in Kenya
- Authors: Ndaruga, Ayub M , Irwin, Patrick R
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373860 , vital:66728 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122727"
- Description: This study was undertaken with 83 teachers from 54 primary schools in Kenya. Its purpose was to establish how teachers relate with the local community and how they harness this interaction to promote sustainability of wetlands within their locality. Data were collected using questionnaires, interviews and observation. Results of the study indicated that teachers acknowledge the value of, and threats to, their local wetlands. Some teachers reported interacting and engaging in diverse activities with members of the community to conserve the local wetlands. Forums for interaction and action mentioned by the teachers included public baraza, women’s groups, church, youth groups, local community, parents’ meetings and environmental days. Use of these forums differed. The approaches used to involve the community in awareness and action ranged from theoretical arguments to visits to wetlands, use of wetland resources, ecomanagement and political action. The responses by teachers revealed lack of engagement with the real local wetland problems. This study demonstrated existence of a potential but under-utilised opportunity that can be harnessed by environmental education programmes to champion the sustainability of wetlands.
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Cholera in KwaZulu-Natal: Probing institutional governmentality and indigenous hand-washing practices
- Authors: O'Donoghue, Rob B
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373574 , vital:66704 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122699"
- Description: The paper reviews education activities in a successful anti-cholera campaign amongst rural communities in eastern southern Africa. It is centred on probing how a modern institutional governmentality was relatively blind to an historical legacy of Nguni hand-washing practices and came to exclude use of simple tests for coliform contamination in rural health education activities. The study examines institutional processes, probing discontinuities between the health education message and the complex social ecology of cholera. In so doing, it uncovers how a post-apartheid institutional rhetoric of participation, empowerment and social transformation is playing out in communicative interventions to instil healthier practices amongst the rural poor. Institutional perspectives such as this are rooted in an institutional legacy of appropriation and control. Despite the current rhetoric of participation, instrumental orientations are being sustained as the radical critique of struggle for freedom and change gives way, through comfortable submission and intellectual conformity, to an instrumental conservatism in many post-apartheid institutional settings today. The study notes and probes a surprising resonance between the ecology of the disease and an intergenerational social capital of indigenous hand-washing practices. The evidence suggests that these patterns of hand-washing practice would have served to contain the disease in earlier times and points to this social capital as a focus for co-engaged action on environment and health concerns. The findings suggest that an opposing of institutional and indigenous knowledge is not a simple matter and that moving beyond a legacy of cultural exclusion and marginalisation remains a challenge as the first decade of post-apartheid democratic governance comes to a close.
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Estimating the potential role of commercial over-harvesting in resource viability: A case study of five useful tree species in South Africa
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Guthrie, G , Main, R
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181324 , vital:43719 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.652"
- Description: There is a growing commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a means of livelihood by rural communities throughout the developing world. This often occurs in the absence of any clear understanding of or guidelines regarding sustainable yields and ecological impacts, which may undermine the success of NTFP enterprises, especially from arid regions. This paper reports on the use of size class profiles and three quantitative indices to examine population profiles of five potentially useful tree species used as NTFPs in the semiarid lowveld of South Africa. We also contrast the population densities of the five tree species in 2003 with data from 1992. Low stem densities and population profiles indicated that three of the five species would preclude the establishment of NTFP enterprises based on their products. The other two species seem to have sufficient densities for some harvesting to take place, within an adaptive management framework. However, the longitudinal data indicated that the density of both these species had significantly declined over an eleven-year period, highlighting the need for appropriate management institutions. Additionally, the proportion of mature stems cut, and the degree of cutting per stem, had increased for all five species over the eleven years. The three quantitative indices of population stability were not correlated with one another, and hence provided a useful suite of measures sensitive to different aspects of size class profiles and their interpretation.
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Research on indigenous knowledge and its application: A case of wild food plants of Zimbabwe
- Authors: Shava, Soul
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373809 , vital:66725 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122700"
- Description: Research on indigenous knowledge should go beyond documenting and interpreting it. Rather, it should stimulate inquiry into its application in present day community development and education settings. This study intends to steer indigenous knowledge research towards practical application initiatives. The study documents wild food plants of Zimbabwe, highlights some popular wild food plants, and cites some commercially marketed wild food plants and makes recommendations on the application of indigenous knowledge of wild food plants in community and educational settings.
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Social epistemology and its politically correct words: Avoiding absolutism, relativism, consensualism, and vulgar pragmatism
- Authors: Price, Leigh
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373833 , vital:66727 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Where social epistemology has been applied in environmental education research, certain words have come to be associated with it, such as, "social," "contextualized," "strategic," "political," "pragmatic," "democratic," and "participatory." In this paper, I first suggest interpretations of these words that potentially avoid absolutism, relativism, consensualism, and vulgar pragmatism. I then identify interpretations that succumb to these problems. To support my argument, I draw on Peircean scholars, critical realist scholars, and scholars who rely on a tranche of metaphor that evoke images of connections, partnerships, webs, and rhizomes. These writers suggest a social epistemology in which in which relationships, not objects, are primary.
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Synthesis, spectral and electrochemical properties of a new family of pyrrole substituted cobalt, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc phthalocyanine complexes
- Authors: Obirai, Joe , Rodrigues, Nazaré Pereira , Bedioui, Fethi , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/304852 , vital:58496 , xlink:href="https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1142/S1088424603000641"
- Description: A new family of pyrrole substituted metallophthalocyanine complexes, namely cobalt(II), iron(II), manganese(III), nickel(II) and zinc(II) tetrakis-4-(pyrrol-1-yl)phenoxy phthalocyanines (noted as M(TPhPyrPc), where M is the metallic cation) have been synthesized and fully characterized. In particular, the UV-visible spectra of the iron and nickel complexes showed extensive aggregation even at low concentrations. The cyclic voltammetry of the cobalt, iron and manganese complexes showed three to four redox couples assigned to metal and ring based processes. Spectroelectrochemistry of the manganese derivative confirmed that the synthesized complex is MnIII(TPhPyrPc-2) and that the reduction of MnII(TPhPyrPc-2) to be centred on the ring and rather than on the metal, forming the MnII(TPhPyrPc-4) species. Also, the electrochemical polymerization of these newly synthesized pyrrole-substituted phthalocyanines has been demonstrated in the case of the cobalt complex and the electrocatalytic activity of the obtained film has been tested towards the oxidation of L-cysteine.
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