ChemSearch Journal

Editorial

2023-07-27T06:54:33+00:00

No Abstract

Chemical, Geotechnical and Mineralogical Characteristics of a Clay Mineral Deposit in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

2023-07-27T07:04:31+00:00

The solid mineral sector provides a viable alternative to expand the economic base of Nigeria which has an abundant clay deposit across the country. The underutilization of clay deposits is in part either due to lack of characterization data for most sites or the absence of it. In this work, the chemical, geotechnical and mineralogical characteristics of the clay mineral deposit at Lokoja, Kogi State were evaluated. The results revealed that the deposit consists of: SiO₂ (21.75 - 38.15%), A1₂O₃ (18.49 - 21.65%), Na₂O (5.50 - 7.70%), Fe₂O₃(4.43- 7.89%), K₂O (2.3- 5.78%), CaO (0.56-1.01%), MgO(0.50- 1.00%), loss on ignition (7.40-10.00 %), and moisture content (3.40- 4.60%). The mineralogical studies revealed the presence of orthoclase, paraclesian and albite low as the feldspar minerals. The clay minerals detected were Kaolinite, Halloysite 7A, lizardite aluminian, clinochiore IIb, vertumnite, lovdarite and corrensite. Other silicate and siliceous carbonate minerals found were; wollastonite, paraspurrite and alumahydrocalcite. The three layers exhibited medium plasticity, while the middle and bottom layers had refractoriness above 1200°C, and moderate thermal shock resistance, the top layer exhibited refractoriness below 1200°C and low thermal shock resistance.

Phytochemical Screening, Mineral Content, Antioxidant Potential and Antibacterial Activity of the Leaves Extract of Alstonia boonei

2023-07-27T07:12:37+00:00

This study evaluated the phytochemical constituents, antioxidant potential, mineral content and antibacterial activity of the ethyl acetate extract of Alstonia boonei leaves. The results of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenolics, eugenols, steroids, alkaloids and reducing sugars. While the mineral content for sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper iron and zinc were found to be5.61 mg/kg, 120.63 mg/kg, 15.61 mg/kg, 2.63 mg/kg, 0.01 mg/kg, 7.15 mg/kg and 1.62 mg/kg respectively. The antioxidant potential examined using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay at 250, 200, 150, 100 and 50 μg/ml gave the IC₅₀ of 2.89 μg/ml and 2.52 μg/ml for the extract and standard, respectively. Determination of the zone of inhibition of the bacterial isolates using agar well diffusion method revealed that the isolates showed varying sensitivity towards the extract. Pseudomonas aeruginosa had the highest value at 35 mm and subtilis had the lowest sensitivity value at 26.5 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were found to be 25 mg/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 12.5 mg/ml for Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were found to be 12.5 mg/ml for Klebsiella pneumoniae, 50 mg/ml for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, 25 mg/ml for Pseudomonas aeruginosa while Bacillus subtilis was above 50mg/ml. The results provided a useful insight into the medicinal uses of the plant extract against oxidative stress and microbial infections.

Estimation of the Levels of Meperfluthrin Pesticides in the Body Organelles of Albino Rats through Inhaling Smoke Produced by Mosquito Coils

2023-07-27T07:20:07+00:00

The domestic use of mosquito coils as pesticides has been increasing over the years to repel and kill mosquitoes as well as other household insects especially in the rural areas. Unfortunately, this could lead to excessive accumulation of pesticides in the body organs due to continuous inhaling of the chemical compounds over a long period of time. And this could result in health issues that include various kinds of organelle cancers, congenital disabilities etc. For this reason, there is a need to determine the levels of Meperfluthrin pesticides from mosquito coil smoke. Stock and standard solutions of the analyte were prepared and used for the calibration of the instrument. Later on, the technique of quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) coupled with dispersive solid phase extraction (dSPE) was used for sample preparation. Then, the calibrated UV-visible spectrophotometry instrument was used for the determination of the pesticide residues in the organelle samples of albino rats; blood (SRBL), lungs (SRLU), kidney (SRKI) and liver (SRLI) after a periodical inhalation of smoke produced by mosquito coils. Similarly analysis was carried out on the organelle samples of the unexposed (blank) albino rats. Eventually, the results (Average ± Standard deviation) obtained (per 28 days) showed that the analyzed samples were accumulated with the targeted analyte; SRBL (199 ± 0.03 mg/kg), SRLU (321 ± 0.01 mg/kg), SRKI (129 ± 0.05 mg/kg) and SRLI (564 ± 0.07 mg/kg) after deducting the concentration from the blank animal organs, respectively. Therefore, these justify the continuous accumulation of the targeted pesticides over a period of time, which can result in health issues since the average determined concentration of pesticides residue (11 mg/kg per day) was above the maximum daily residue limits (MRLs) of 5 mg/kg documented by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and World Health Organization.

Adsorption Studies of Methylene Blue using Activated Carbon Derived from Sweet Detar Seed Shell

2023-07-27T07:25:24+00:00

Adsorption capacity of sweet detar seed shell activated carbon (SDAC) was evaluated using batch adsorption technique. The SDAC was characterized by pH at point of zero charge (pHPZC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). In batch optimization studies, the maximum adsorption capacity obtained at the optimum levels of different parameters were; 9.78 mg/g at 60 minutes, 8.61 mg/g at 0.1g adsorbent dose, 97.61 mg/g at 75µm particle size, 500 mg/g at 247.45 mg/g initial dye concentration, 10.99 mg/g at pH12 and 9.85 mg/g at temperature of 303 K. The adsorption data were found to closely fit to Freundlich isotherm model. The adsorption mechanism was found to be best described by the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Thermodynamic investigations indicates that the adsorption was spontaneous, exothermic, and decreased in the system randomness at adsorbent – adsorbate interfaces due to the negative values of enthalpy change (ΔH = -75.72 kJ/mol), entropy change (ΔS = -0.22 kJ/K) and Gibbs free energy change of adsorption; ΔG = -8.58 kJ/mol, 7.47 kJ/mol, 6.36 kJ/mol, 5.25 kJ/mol and 4.15 kJ/mol at 303, 308, 313, 318 and 323 K respectively. Desorption studies for adsorbent regeneration revealed that hydrochloric acid offered the highest recovery and reusability test revealed the good adsorbent performance after five successive adsorption cycles. Therefore, this study confirmed that activated sweet detar seed shell adsorbent could be used as an alternative low cost adsorbent for the removal of toxic dyes such as methylene blue dye.

Evaluation of Some Physico-chemical and Mineralogical Properties of Clay Mineral Deposits in Ihievbe, Owan East Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria

2023-07-27T07:31:41+00:00

The chemical, physical and mineralogical composition of clay mineral deposits at Ihievbe in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria were evaluated using standard methods. The chemical assay revealed the predominance of silica (41.85-42.82%), alumina (20.17-20.42%), iron oxide (11.33-13.75%), sodium oxide (5.09-12.04%), loss on ignition (3.93-4.67%) and moisture(1.07%).This indicates that the deposit consist largely of aluminosilicate minerals. The mineralogical studies revealed the presence of montmorillonite, kaolinite, halloysite, muscovite, palygoskite as clay minerals present. Other minerals present were kyanite, naotocite, quartz, goethite and ramsdelite. The evaluated physical properties showed that the clay minerals had moderate swelling characteristics, medium plasticity, good thermal stability and refractoriness above 1200^oC. However, the apparent porosity and air permeability values were slightly above permissible limits for refractory clays. Thus the clay mineral deposits assayed possess characteristics to enable them to be employed in high temperature operations.

Dynamic Mechanical and Morphological Characterization of Treated Prosopis africana Wood fiber Reinforced Polyvinyl Chloride Composites

2023-07-27T07:40:17+00:00

In this work, the effect of Prosopis africana (PA) on the viscoelastic properties of PVC composites was examined using the dynamic mechanical analysis technique and scanning electron microscopy to ascertain the interaction of the PVC and the PA fibre. In order to improve adhesion between the hydrophilic natural fiber and the hydrophobic plastic matrix, the PA fiber was treated with a sodium hydroxide solution. The amount of fiber loading ranged from 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 to 24, but the bulk of this work considered 12% wt composition because it correlates to higher mechanical properties. This work was carried out to further investigate the dynamic mechanical and morphological properties of the composite sample with the optimum properties (12% wt composition). When compared to unreinforced polyvinyl chloride, the dynamic mechanical characteristics such as storage modulus and damping all significantly improved: Storage modulus (4.0 GPa) compared to (1.8 GPa) of unreinforced PVC while the loss modulus decreased; indicating an improvement of PVC. Scanning electron micrograph of treated PA reinforced PVC composites showed fairly uniformly filled PVC (at 12 % wt) with less voids and fiber agglomeration. This indicates that the dynamic mechanical and morphological properties of PVC could be enhanced by the incorporation of treated PA fibres.

Levels of Selected Heavy Metals and Physicochemical Parameters in Soils and Watermelon Samples from Mainok Farmland, Kaga L.G.A, Borno State, Nigeria

2023-07-27T07:47:24+00:00

The study was conducted to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, Mn, Fe, Zn and Co); and Ions (NO₃ ^- , NO₂^- , PO₄^-3 , SO₄ ^-2 , K⁺ , Na⁺ , Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺); in seed, pulp, leaves, stem and root of watermelon varieties (sugar baby and crimson sweet) and soil at different depth (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm from Mainok in Kaga local government area. All parameters were analyzed using standard analytical tools (Atomic Absorption and UV visible smart spectrophotometer). The result also showed that iron has the highest concentration in all the samples analysed, while lead showed the least concentration in watermelon pulp from Minok agricultural location in all the samples analyzed. The levels of the heavy metals were found to increase significantly (p<0. 05) to depth of 30 cm. The concentrations of all the parameters analyzed were below the threshold limits set by W.H.O. Thus, the soil of Mainok, Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State may not impact pose immediate health hazard to the general populace via consumption of watermelons from the study area.

Triazole Derivatives as Corrosion Inhibitors on Iron (110) Surface: A Theoretical Study

2023-07-27T08:07:01+00:00

Corrosion inhibition potentials of triazole derivatives: 7-chloro-3-(2R,3S)-3-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-hydroxy-4-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl) butane-2-yl] Quinozolin-1-one (TRC), 3-paranitro benzylidene amino-1,2,,4-triazolephosphate (TRP) and, 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-1-3-bis(1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ol) (TRD) propan-2-ol have been studied theoretically by Quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics simulation. The values of Quantum chemical parameters E_HOMO, E_LUMO, energy gap (∆E) , the energy of back donation ( ∆E _b-d), dipole moment (µ), electronegativity (Χ), global hardness (ƞ), ionization potential (I), electron affinity (A), number of electron transfer (∆N), and interaction energy were determined. The Quantum chemical parameters calculated revealed that TRC molecule is relatively more nucleophilic in nature and potentially a better inhibitor. The Fukui indices values shows that the hetero atoms (N, O, and P) of the studied compounds are responsible for their inhibitive characteristics. Calculated binding energy and adsorption energies obtained from the Quenched molecular dynamics simulations, the relatively low values obtained were less 100 kcal/mol as such the molecules being weakly adsorbed onto iron (110) surface by Van der Waals forces of attraction and duly obeys physical adsorption mechanism in the order TRC >TRD > TRP. Bond length analyses were performed before and after adsorption, and the results demonstrated that the adsorption process on the Fe (1 1 0) surface had an impact on the bond length of specific bonds in the inhibitory molecules.

Kinetics, Thermodynamics and Mechanisms of Reduction of Au(III) Complex Ion by Methanol in Acidic Medium

2023-07-27T08:13:22+00:00

Kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanisms of the reduction of gold(III) complex ion, [AuCl₃(OH)]^-, by methanol (MeOH) was studied spectrophotometrically in perchloric acid medium at ionic strength (µ ) = 0.05 mol dm^–3 (NaClO₄) and T = 30.0 ± 1 °C. Stoichiometry of the reaction showed that one mole of [AuCl₃(OH)]^-was reduced by one mole of methanol. The rate of reaction was first order in oxidant concentration as well as in [CH₃OH] with a second order overall. Addition of acid within the range 5.0 x10^-4 to 1.2 x 10^-2 mol dm^-3decreased the rate of the reaction. Increasing µ from 2.0 x10^-2 to 1.2 x10^-1 mol dm^-3 (NaClO₄) had no effect on the rate of the reaction. The same trend was observed on varying dielectric constant from 78.40 to 73.59. Michaelis – Menten – type plot was linear and with negligible intercept. Entropy of activation was found to be - 196.82 JK^-1mol^-1 while activation enthalpy was also found to be 6.101 kJ mol^-1. AuI was found to be the product of [AuCl₃(OH)]- reduction while aldehyde was obtained for MeOH oxidation. FTIR spectral showed band for aldehyde formation (C=O) at 1764 cm^-1. Based on negligible intercept from Michaelis – Menten – type plot and the absence of spectroscopically determinable intermediate complex, the reaction was proposed to have proceeded through the outer – sphere pathway.

Adsorptive Removal of Ampiclox from Aqueous Solution using Treated Okobo Coal

2023-07-27T08:24:02+00:00

This research work assessed the performance of Okobo coal for sorptive treatment of binary solution containing Ampicillin (AMP) and Cloxacillin (CLO) in a brand name called Ampiclox using analytical techniques. The Okobo coal adsorbent was activated by impregnating it with 1M H₃PO₄. Batch adsorption method was adopted for the adsorption studies. The adsorbent prepared was subjected to classical and instrumental techniques. The classical techniques were Attrition, conductivity, pH, bulk density and specific surface area while the instrumental techniques were limited to FTIR, SEM and TGA. The Attrition of the adsorbent was (5.4 %), conductivity (26 μS/cm), pH (6.11), Bulk density (1.78±0.03 g/cm³ ) and specific surface area (189.4 m² /g). All these values were similar to other activated carbon adsorbents used in the literatures. The FTIR shows clear peaks after adsorption indicating the presence of new bonds which were coming from the adsorbate. Four adsorption isotherms (Henry, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin) were used to fit the data to describe the adsorption and all fitted the data with Langmuir been the best model for the experiment with R² values of 0.991 and 0.994 for AMP and CLO respectively. For the transport models plotted (Film diffusion and intraparticle diffusion model) the diffusion of the antibiotics onto the adsorbent was multi-mechanistic since the plots of the transport models deviate from origin. The statistical result of the analyses obtained indicated that there was no statistical difference between the adsorption of Ampiclox by Okobo coal adsorbent and CAC (commercial activated carbon). Therefore, it can be concluded that the adsorbent prepared was good for carrying out adsorption studies given the results presented herein for the adsorption of Ampiclox.

Photocatalytic Degradation of P-Cresol using Copper Chloride under UV – Irradiation

2023-07-27T08:30:51+00:00

Photocatalytic degradation of p-cresol was carried out using CuCl₂ under UV irradiation. The effect of photocatalyst loading, effect of photodegradation time of p-cresol and effect of pH were studied as variable parameters. The photodegradation rate constant and percentage photodegradation of p-cresol were calculated from the experimental results analysed using a UV-visible spectrometer after photoirradition with continuous stirring using set of magnetic stirrer respectively. The highest photodegradation of p-cresol was observed at 0.8g/L of CuCl₂ photocatalyst and 15.6ppm of p-cresol. Photocatalytic degradation was favorable in the pH of 7.49. The results confirm the fast degradation of p-cresol under photocatalytic regime. The percentage degradation was found to be 68.8% at concentration 15.6ppm. The average rate constant was found to be 1.9 x 10^-3 mole/min. Based on the study of parameters, degradation was higher at pH of 8 and catalyst dose of 0.6g/L. Reusability shows no significant reduction in photocatalytic performance of the catalyst in photodegrading pcresol.