'I won't be squeezed into someone else's frame': Stories of supervisor selection
- Authors: Harrison, Liz , McKenna, Sioux , Searle, Ruth
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187395 , vital:44629 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC15100"
- Description: Using a collection of stories from a group of women who belong to a PhD support group, this article tracks the issue of choosing a supervisor. These women are all academics and therefore had some claim to an "insider" status but as novice researchers they were also "outsiders". Their discussions around how and why they chose their supervisors highlight issues often underplayed or ignored in textbooks on postgraduate supervision. In particular, this article examines issues of knowledge, embodied subjectivity and power by following three questions that arise from the data : whose knowing is important; who should I be, and whose PhD is it?
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
'We pledge to improve the health of our entire community'
- Authors: Grant, Carolyn , Nawal, Dipty , Guntur, Sai Mala , Kumar, Manish , Chaudhuri, Indrajit , Galavotti, Christine , Mahapatra, Tanmay , Ranjan, Kunal , Kumar, Gangesh , Mohanty, Sunil , Alam, Mohammed Aftab , Das, Aritra , Jiwani, Safia
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/281179 , vital:55699 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203265"
- Description: Background: Motivation is critical to health worker performance and work quality. In Bihar, India, frontline health workers provide essential health services for the state’s poorest citizens. Yet, there is a shortfall of motivated and skilled providers and a lack of coordination between two cadres of frontline health workers and their supervisors. CARE India developed an approach aimed at improving health workers’ performance by shifting work culture and strengthening teamwork and motivation. The intervention—“Team-Based Goals and Incentives”—supported health workers to work as teams towards collective goals and rewarded success with public recognition and non-financial incentives. Methods: Thirty months after initiating the intervention, 885 health workers and 98 supervisors completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire in 38 intervention and 38 control health sub-centers in one district. The questionnaire included measures of social cohesion, teamwork attitudes, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, teamwork behaviors, equitable service delivery, taking initiative, and supervisory support. We conducted bivariate analyses to examine the impact of the intervention on these psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. Results: Results show statistically significant differences across several measures between intervention and control frontline health workers, including improved teamwork (mean = 8.8 vs. 7.3), empowerment (8.5 vs. 7.4), job satisfaction (7.1 vs. 5.99) and equitable service delivery (6.7 vs. 4.99). While fewer significant differences were found for supervisors, they reported improved teamwork (8.4 vs. 5.3), and frontline health workers reported improved fulfillment of supervisory duties by their supervisors (8.9 vs. 7.6). Both frontline health workers and supervisors found public recognition and enhanced teamwork more motivating than the non-financial incentives. Conclusions: The Team-Based Goals and Incentives model reinforces intrinsic motivation and supports improvements in the teamwork, motivation, and performance of health workers. It offers an approach to practitioners and governments for improving the work environment in a resource-constrained setting and where there are multiple cadres of health workers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
'We throw away our books': Students’ reading practices and identities
- Authors: O'Shea, Cathy , McKenna, Sioux , Thomson, Carol
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187128 , vital:44570 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018.11.001"
- Description: The aim of this research was to understand university students’ self-reported reading practices. The students attended the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, a historically black institution in a rural and under-resourced setting. A framework of New Literacy Studies (NLS) was used to understand students’ self-reported reading practices and the links between these and their identities. Tools provided by Gee, 2005, Gee, 2011 were applied to conduct a CDA of focus group discussions. In the ‘We Blacks’ Discourse, interviewees ‘othered’ the idea of reading as not being culturally valued. It was closely allied to the ‘Resistance to Reading’ Discourse, as participants explained that they tended to disregard books and did not enjoy leisure reading. The ‘Better Than Us’ discourse was drawn upon to suggest that reading was associated with attitudes of superiority. These discourses tended to homogenise class and other differences between black students and indicated the ways in which their experiences made adopting academic identities difficult. The analysis suggests that the racism of the past continues to impact students’ reading identities. The article concludes that the effects of these and related discourses require a response across the education sector, and transformative pedagogies might be needed in higher education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
(Ferrocenylpyrazolyl) zinc (II) benzoates as catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone
- Authors: Obuah, Collins , Lochee, Yemanlall , Jordaan, Johan H L , Otto, Daniel P , Nyokong, Tebello , Darkwa, James
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189515 , vital:44853 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2015.02.007"
- Description: The reaction of Zn(OAc)2 and C6H5COOH or 3,5-NO2-C6H3COOH with 3-ferrocenylpyrazolyl-methylenepyridine (L1), 3-ferrocenyl-5-methylpyrazolyl-methylenepyridine (L2), 3-ferrocenylpyrazolyl-ethylamine (L3) and 3-ferrocenyl-5-pyrazolyl-ethylamine (L4) afford the corresponding complexes [Zn(C6H5COO)2(L1)] (1), [Zn(C6H5COO)2(L2)] (2), [Zn(3,5-NO2-C6H3COO)2(L1)] (3), [Zn(3,5-NO2-C6H3 COO)2(L2)] (4), [Zn(C6H5COO)2(L3)] (5), [Zn(C6H5COO)2(L4)] (6), [Zn(3,5-NO2-C6H3COO)2(L3)] (7) and [Zn(3,5-NO2-C6H3COO)2(L4)] (8). These complexes behave as catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of e-caprolactone to produce polymers with molecular weight that range from 1480 to 7080 g mol1 and exhibited moderate to broad PDIs. Evidence of these complexes acting as catalysts was obtained from both the polymerization data and kinetic studies. The polymerization data show that variation of the [CL]/[C] from 100 to 800 produced PCL with relatively the same molecular weight indicative of a catalyst behavior. The appearance of induction period in kinetic plots strengthens the fact that these complexes are catalysts rather than initiators. MALDI-TOF MS and 1 H NMR data show di-hydroxy end groups, which support the coordination mechanism rather than insertion mechanism. To understand the broad PDIs obtained for some of the polymer, the electronic properties of the zinc complexes were investigated using cyclic voltammetry. The results show that the zinc complexes containing amine based ligands are highly electrophilic therefore making them unstable, hence the broad PDIs observed for zinc complexes containing amine based ligands. Among the eight complexes investigated, complex 7 is the most active catalyst with kp value of 1.18 107 h1 mol1 at 110 C.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
4-Azidoaniline-based electropolymer as a building block for functionalisation of conductive surfaces
- Authors: Coates, Megan , Elamari, Hichem , Girard, Christian , Griveau, Sophie , Nyokong, Tebello , Bedioui, Fethi
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/244404 , vital:51254 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2012.01.001"
- Description: We propose in this work to compare three approaches using 4-azidoaniline combined with “click” chemistry and electrochemistry to anchor ferrocene moieties at glassy carbon surfaces. The immobilisation of a newly synthesised molecule, 4-(4-ferrocenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)aniline, through direct electropolymerisation or via in situ diazotization followed by electrografting is studied by analysing the samples by XPS and electrochemistry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
4-Bis (4-aminophenoxy) phenoxy derivitized phthalocyanine conjugated to metallic nanoparticles
- Authors: Nwaji, Njemuwa , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188965 , vital:44802 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C7NJ02718D"
- Description: In this study, the photophysical, nonlinear absorption and nonlinear optical limiting properties of 4-(2,4-bis(4-aminophenoxy)phenoxy) phthalocyinato zinc(II) phthalocyanine (6) conjugated to metallic nanoparticles have been investigated using open aperture Z-scan techniques using 532 nm nanosecond pulses. The nonlinear optical response demonstrated that the studied complex and the nanoconjugates exhibit higher excited state absorption cross-section compared to ground state absorption. Enhanced optical limiting performance was observed when complex 6 was conjugated to nanoparticles with 6CB-AuNPs (CB = covalent bond) showing the highest optical limiting threshold of 0.36 J cm−2.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
5-Fu inclusion complex capped gold nanoparticles for breast cancer therapy
- Authors: Lakkakula, Jaya R , Krause, Rui W M , Divakaran, Deepika , Barage, Sagar , Srivastava, Rohit
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191713 , vital:45150 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117262"
- Description: We have attempted to prolong the circulation time and increase the solubility of 5-Fluorouracil by complexing it with cyclodextrin and then further conjugating onto the gold nanoparticle to form 5Fu ICAu. The 1H NMR and molecular docking studies suggested that 5-Fu was included within the 2HP-β-CD cavity and H-5 proton probably serves as the binding site for stabilization of the inclusion complex. The 5Fu-ICAu showed higher cell inhibition rate when studied on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect by allowing the selective accumulation of nanoparticles at tumor site. This unique system can serve as a novel nanocarrier for delivery of hydrophobic drugs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
A 3, 5-DistyrylBODIPY Dye Functionalized with Boronic Acid Groups for Direct Electrochemical Glucose Sensing
- Authors: Ndebele, Nobuhle , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187556 , vital:44671 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201800651"
- Description: The synthesis and characterization of a novel BODIPY dye functionalized with bis-boronic acid groups to enable direct glucose sensing through selective recognition of carbohydrates is reported. Styrylation with boronic acid groups at the 3,5-positions of the BODIPY core results in an extension of the π-conjugation system of the dye and in a red-shift of the main absorption band from 500 to 637 nm. The functionalized BODIPY dye was adsorbed on a glassy carbon electrode using the drop and dry method. Modified and bare electrodes were characterized using cyclic voltammetry and scanning electrochemical microscopy, while glucose detection was carried out by using differential pulse voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The detection limit was determined to be 1.42 μM. The dye was found to be selective and sensitive towards glucose, since likely interferences have only minor effects on the glucose detection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A Bernsteinian analysis of the integration of natural resource management in the curriculum of a rural disadvantaged school
- Authors: Nsubuga, Yvonne
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386415 , vital:68139 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122771"
- Description: Knowledge integration is one of the key principles that underpin curriculum reform in post-apartheid South Africa. One form of teacher support that has been adopted in South Africa is to provide schools throughout the country with samples of pedagogic texts such as curriculum documents and examination exemplars to act as guidelines to teachers as they implement this new curriculum requirement. In the isolated and under-resourced rural schools of South Africa, these texts are the main form of curriculum guidance to teachers. Hence the knowledge integration principles and messages conveyed within these texts are of crucial importance. One contributory factor to the lack of information on knowledge integration at rural underresourced schools is the lack of simple and effective research tools by which to analyse and compare the extent of knowledge integration within pedagogic texts and classroom practices. This article reports on a Bernstein informed analysis that was carried out on three different Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts in order to assess the extent to which they integrate natural resource management (NRM). The study involved the construction of two indicator frameworks as the research tools with which the analysis was conducted. Results from the analysis showed that although the official Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts contained very high levels of NRM integration, this was not the case for the Grade 10 Life Sciences text that was produced at the school level. The study provides useful insight into curriculum recontextualisation at a rural under-resourced school through the lens of NRM integration within the Grade 10 Life Sciences pedagogic texts. Such insight has the potential to contribute to better curriculum design and implementation strategies to service schools. This will hopefully help to narrow the gap that currently exists between the official and enacted curricula.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A capability approach
- Authors: Chikunda, Charles
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/387120 , vital:68208 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122266"
- Description: In this article, I use the capability approach to explore the role that the science, mathematics and technical subjects (SMTs) teacher education curriculum can play as a ‘gender conversion factor’. This comes amidst evidence that a major hindrance to the participation of girls in these disciplines is a lack of gender responsiveness in the pedagogy applied in schools. Seven teacher educators, who were purposively sampled at a Technical Teachers’ College in Zimbabwe, were the research participants. I adopted a case study design in which I used in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and document analysis to generate data. Data was analysed deductively using predetermined themes based on an analytical tool anchored on Sen’s two, but quite distinct, aspects of freedom, that is, the opportunity aspect and the process aspect of freedom. The findings reveal that there is a limited awareness of gender issues among teacher educators, and that these issues are not being transformed into curriculum practice. All in all, it is evident that curriculum practices of SMTs teacher educators are riddled with gender blindness and so trainee teachers graduate from college without the necessary agency to deal with personal, social and environmental conversion factors that can play a role in girls converting the curriculum into functionings (beings and doings) and wider freedoms and valued beings and doings (capabilities).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
A career in photophysicochemical and electrochemical properties of phthalocyanine: A Linstead Career Award paper
- Authors: Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186045 , vital:44458 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424620300037"
- Description: This manuscript highlights the author’s contributions to phthalocyanine chemistry, especially the applications based on their electrochemistry and photophysicochemistry. In particular, the use of phthalocyanines as electrocatalysts and photocatalysts is presented. For photocatalysis, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy and pollution control using green technologies are highlighted. For electrocatalysis the phthalocyanines are employed for the detection of pollutants and environmentally important molecules. Phthalocyanines are combined with nanomaterials for improved photocatalysis and electrocatalysis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A Century of South African Theatre
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229623 , vital:49694 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2020.1716515"
- Description: In many ways, this is an updated repackaging of Loren Kruger's seminal work of 20 years ago, Plays, Pageants and the Drama of South Africa (1999). The material has been extensively revised and reworked using similar categories as the first book, including: pageantry and representations of nationhood, neo-colonial theatre, urbanization and its consequences; the rise of Afrikaans theatre; theatres of resistance; black consciousness; and contemporary theatre. Some of these sections have been extended (such as a longer discussion of HIE Dhlomo) and there is also a completely new section which has not been published elsewhere on current theatre trends (cleverly titled “The Constitution of South African Theatre at the Present Time”).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
A chiral hemiporphyrazine derivative
- Authors: Wu, Yanping , Gai, Lizhi , Xiao, Xuqiong , Lu, Hua , Li, Zhifang , Mack, John , Harris, Jessica , Nyokong, Tebello , Shen, Zhen
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/240404 , vital:50831 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.201600754"
- Description: The synthesis of an optically active hemiporphyrazine with chiral binaphthyl substituents (1) is reported, providing the first example of the incorporation of an intrinsically chiral moiety into the macrocyclic core of a hemiporphyrazine analogue. A negative circular dichroism (CD) signal is observed in the 325–450 nm region of the CD spectrum of (S,S)-1, while mainly positive bands are observed in the 220–325 nm region. Mirror symmetry is observed across the entire wavelength range of the CD spectra of (R,R)-1 and (S,S)-1. An irreversible one-electron oxidation wave with an onset potential at 1.07 V is observed by cyclic voltammetry, along with a reversible one-electron reduction wave at −0.85 V. Density functional calculations reproduce the experimentally observed data and trends, and provide further insight into the nature of the electronic transitions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A colorimetric probe for dopamine based on gold nanoparticles-electrospun nanofibre composite
- Authors: Ngomane, Nokuthula , Torto, Nelson , Krause, Rui W M , Vilakazi, Sibulelo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/195407 , vital:45562 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2015.08.036"
- Description: An easily prepared solid state colorimetric probe for detecting the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) was developed. The probe, in the form of an electrospun Nylon−6 (N6) nanofibre with embedded un−functionalized gold nanoparticles (UF−AuNPs) produces a clear colour change in the presence of a DA that is detectable by the naked eye. Characterisation of the nanofibre using UV/vis spectroscopy and electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the formation of the AuNPs in the polymer solution, and that the AuNPs were completely encapsulated within the composite nanofibres before exposure to the analytes. The probe exhibited very high sensitivity towards DA resulting in colour change of the composite fibres from purple to navy blue/black even under low concentrations of DA. The probe was also selective to DA since the colour remained unchanged in the presence of commonly encountered interfering species such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, catechol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. Moreover, the colour change was observed rapid, occurring either immediately on contact with higher concentrations (5 x10−4 M) or within about 3−5 min for the lower concentrations (e.g. 5 x10−7 M). Since this probe does not require the use of any instruments, and is both rapid and stable over time, it can be applied in the field by an inexperienced person.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A comparative photophysicochemical study of mono substituted phthalocyanines grafted onto silica nanoparticles
- Authors: Fashina, Adebayo , Antunes, Edith M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/193844 , vital:45399 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424614500138"
- Description: In this study, we report on the covalent linking of carboxylic acid functionalized silica nanoparticles with zinc phthalocyanine mono-substituted non-peripherally and peripherally with either a 4-amino phenoxy (1, peripheral and 2, non-peripheral) or an amino group (3 peripheral). The grafting is achieved via the formation of an amide bond between the carboxylic acid of the silica nanoparticles and the amino group of the phthalocyanine complexes. The hybrid nanoparticles retained the amorphous nature of silica nanoparticles after conjugation. A slight decrease in fluorescence and a general improvement in triplet quantum yields compared to free Pcs were observed. Triplet lifetimes for 2-SiNPs and 3-SiNPs also improved when compared to the free phthalocyanine. The changes in singlet oxygen quantum yields upon conjugation were minimal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
A comparative photophysicochemical study of phthalocyanines encapsulated in core–shell silica nanoparticles
- Authors: Fashina, Adedayo , Amuhaya, Edith , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189708 , vital:44924 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2014.08.062"
- Description: This work presents the synthesis and characterization of a new zinc phthalocyanine complex tetrasubstituted with 3-carboxyphenoxy in the peripheral position. The photophysical properties of the new complex are compared with those of phthalocyanines tetra substituted with 3-carboxyphenoxy or 4- carboxyphenoxy at non-peripheral positions. Three phthalocyanine complexes were encapsulated within silica matrix to form a core shell and the hybrid nanoparticles particles obtained were spherical and mono dispersed. When encapsulated within the silica shell nanoparticles, phthalocyanines showed improved triplet quantum yields and singlet oxygen quantum yields than surface grafted derivatives. The improvements observed could be attributed to the protection provided for the phthalocyanine complexes by the silica matrix.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A comparative physicochemical study of unsymmetrical indium phthalocyanines in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles or quantum dots
- Authors: Osifeko, Olawale L , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188743 , vital:44781 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00958972.2016.1152628"
- Description: Asymmetric indium phthalocyanine (3, containing an NH2 group) was conjugated (via an amide bond) to magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) functionalized with carboxylic acid or glutathione-capped CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO quantum dots to form 3-MNPs or 3-QDs. Techniques such as time-resolved fluorescence measurements, transmission electron microscopy, XPS, elemental analysis, FTIR, NMR (1H, 13C, and cozy), electronic spectroscopy, as well as mass spectroscopy were employed to characterize 3 and its nanoconjugates. The phthalocyanine conjugated to quantum dot (3-QDs) possesses the lowest Фpd higher Ф∆ and ФT as well as longer triplet lifetimes compares to 3-MNPs and free phthalocyanine.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
A comparative study of the effect of different stabilizers on the critical quality attributes of self-assembling nano co-crystals
- Authors: Witika, Bwalya A , Smith, Vincent J , Walker, Roderick B
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/183224 , vital:43931 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12020182"
- Description: Lamivudine (3TC) and zidovudine (AZT) are antiviral agents used orally to manage HIV/AIDS infection. A pseudo one-solvent bottom-up approach was used to develop and produce nano co-crystals of 3TC and AZT. Equimolar amounts of 3TC dissolved in de-ionized water and AZT in methanol were rapidly injected into a pre-cooled vessel and sonicated at 4 °C. The resultant suspensions were characterized using a Zetasizer. The particle size, polydispersity index and Zeta potential were elucidated. Further characterization was undertaken using powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy scanning electron microscopy. Different surfactants were assessed for their ability to stabilize the nano co-crystals and for their ability to produce nano co-crystals with specific and desirable critical quality attributes (CQA) including particle size (PS) less than 1000 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) less than 0.500 and Zeta potential (ZP) less than −30 mV. All surfactants produced co-crystals in the nanometer range. The PDI and PS are concentration-dependent for all nano co-crystals manufactured while only ZP was within specification when sodium dodecyl sulfate was used in the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A comparative study of the photophysicochemical and photodynamic activity properties of meso-4-methylthiophenyl functionalized Sn (IV) tetraarylporphyrins and triarylcorroles
- Authors: Dingiswayo, Somila , Babu, Balaji , Prinsloo, Earl , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186157 , vital:44469 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424620500273"
- Description: Tin(IV) complexes of a 4-methylthiophenyl functionalized porphyrin (1-Sn) and its corrole analogue (2-Sn) were synthesized so that their photophysicochemical properties and photodynamic activities against MCF-7 breast cancer cells could be compared. Singlet oxygen luminescence studies revealed that 1-Sn and 2-Sn have comparable ΦΔΦΔ values in DMF of 0.59 and 0.60, respectively, while the IC5050 values after irradiation of MCF-7 cells for 30 min with a Thorlabs 625 nm LED (432 J · cm−2)−2) were determined to be 12.4 and 8.9 μμM. The results demonstrate that the cellular uptake of 2-Sn and its molar absorptivity at the irradiation wavelength play a crucial role during in vitro cytotoxicity studies.
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- Date Issued: 2020
A comparative study of the singlet oxygen generation capability of a zinc phthalocyanine linked to graphene quantum dots through π-π stacking and covalent conjugation when embedded in asymmetric polymer membranes
- Authors: Mafukidze, Donovan M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187461 , vital:44655 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2018.11.096"
- Description: Following the establishment of graphene quantum dots as potential phthalocyanine supports in photoactive membrane preparation for phthalocyanines lacking linkage functional groups, the practical efficiency of p-p stacking versus covalent linkage was investigated. Synthesized materials were characterized using FT-IR, Raman, powder X-ray diffraction, and UVeVis spectroscopies and also by transmission electron and scanning electron microscopies. Phthalocyanine loadings onto graphene quantum dots of 0.40 mg/mg and 0.14 mg/mg (Pc mass/conjugate mass) for the p-p stacked and covalent linked conjugates respectively were observed. Covalent linkage to graphene quantum dots proved to be functionally superior to p-p linkage, where singlet oxygen quantum yield value of the phthalocyanine in the membrane for the covalent linked conjugate was approximately twice that of the p-p stacked membrane.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019