Browsing by Author "Malima, N.M."

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    Effect of mixing ratios of natural inorganic additives in removing ammonia and sulfide in the liquid phase during anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse waste
    (Elsevier, 2021) Mutegoa, E.; Malima, N.M.; Hilonga, Askwar; Njau, K.N.
    In this study, the efficacy of inorganic additives in the removal of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and sulfide in the aqueous phase of slaughterhouse waste undergoing anaerobic digestion in the batch reactor was investigated. A mixture of natural inorganic additives processed from the anthill and red rock soil samples collected from Arusha, Tanzania were used as adsorbents in different ratios. These materials were chosen in regard to their abundance in the local environment, surface properties, and elemental composition. Before analysis, the materials were pulverized and calcined at 700 and 900 °C for 2 h in a furnace and then sieved to 250 μm fine particle size. XRD analysis revealed that the anthill soil sample is endowed with major mineral phases of quartz and hematite while red rock soil contains albite, pyroxene, and quartz as predominant phases. The anthill and red rock soil samples calcined at 900 °C displayed higher BET surface areas of 815.35 and 852.35 m2/g, respectively. The mixture of anthill soil and red rock soil in a ratio of 3:1 had a higher TAN removal efficiency of 92% at a contact time of 30 min compared to other ratios. On the other hand, a ratio of 1:2 showed a higher sulfide removal efficiency of 79% at a contact time of 60 min. Adsorption isotherm studies revealed that the Jovanovich model fitted better to the experimental data than the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The results demonstrated further that inorganic additives have a synergistic effect on stimulating methanogenesis as well as eliminating ammonia and sulfide during anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse waste. Our findings demonstrate that anthill and red rock soils can be exploited as affordable, ecofriendly, and efficient adsorbents for mitigation of TAN and sulfide from the liquid phase and sustenance of methanogenesis.
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    Solventless synthesis of bixbyite (Mn2O3) and hausmannite (Mn3O4) nanoparticles for ammonia nitrogen removal
    (Elsevier BV, 2024) Malima, N.M.
    Excessive accumulation of ammonia nitrogen (AN) in water resources poses serious health effects to humans, and control of its discharge in wastewater has been a primary global concern. Therefore, it has to be removed by robust, eco-friendly, and cost-effective approaches. In this study, Mn2O3 and Mn3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were facilely synthesized by solid-state thermolysis, and characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TEM techniques. XRD results revealed the formation of single-phase cubic bixbyite, Mn2O3 and, tetragonal hausmannite, Mn3O4 nanoparticles exhibiting crystallite size of 27.69 and 19.38 nm, respectively. Morphological analysis shows the formation of agglomerated nanoparticles with varying shapes. The experimental isotherm results indicated that AN sorption by Mn2O3 could be well described by Freundlich model, indicating multilayer adsorption on heterogeneous surface. Contrarily, AN adsorption by Mn3O4 was consistent with the Langmuir model, representing a monolayer physisorption process on a homogeneous surface. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model fitted well to the experimental data than the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The Langmuir sorption capacities (qm) for Mn2O3 and Mn3O4 were 23.642 mg/g and 52.779 mg/g, respectively. Thermodynamic experimental kinetic data demonstrated that AN adsorption on the two forms of manganese oxides was an exothermic and spontaneous process. Regeneration experiments inferred that both Mn2O3 and Mn3O4 adsorbents could be reused.
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    Solvent‐Less Synthesis of Compositionally Tuned Mixed Metal (Ni−Zn) Ferrites for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Water Splitting and Supercapacitance
    (Wiley, 2024) Malima, N.M.; Khan, M. D.; Masikane, S. C.; de Souza, F. M.; Choi, J.; Gupta, R. K.; Revaprasadu, N.
    Exploring efficient, abundant, economical and stable materials for sustainable energy applications, such as electrochemical water splitting and supercapacitance, is a challenging task. Mixed transition metal spinel ferrites can rationally be customized to attain these features and deliver enhanced electrochemical activity. The catalytic performance of spinels is remarkably influenced by tuning the cationic occupancy at the tetrahedral or octahedral position. Herein, a set of spinel Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 (0�x�1) nano composites were obtained via a scalable solventless thermolysis of metal acetylacetonate precursors at relatively mild temperatures. A suite of techniques such as powder p-XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and SAED were employed to confirm the formation of the Ni􀀀 Zn ferrite solid solutions. It was found that small amounts of Ni at tetrahedral sites were beneficial for charge storage and hydrogen evolution. For instance, Ni0.2Zn0.8Fe2O4 nanocomposite demonstrated superior HER activity with a much lower overpotential of 87 mV compared to the pristine NiFe2O4 (213 mV) or ZnFe2O4 (164 mV) catalysts. However, Ni-occupied tetrahedral sites were not suitable for OER, whereby the pristine ZnFe2O4 displayed high catalytic activity with an over potential of 330 mV, outperforming other electrode compositions. The study helps to identify suitable compositions and site tuning for HER, OER and super capacitors.