Comparative photosensitised transformation of polychlorophenols with different sulphonated metallophthalocyanine complexes in aqueous medium
- Authors: Ozoemena, Kenneth , Kuznetsova, Nina , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/291520 , vital:56883 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1381-1169(01)00243-6"
- Description: The relative efficiencies for the oxidation of trichlorophenol (TCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP), sensitised by sulphonated phthalocyanine complexes containing Zn, Al, Sn and Si as central metals, were studied in aqueous solutions. For the first time, sulphonated silicon and tin phthalocyanines were synthesised and their activity towards photosensitisation of singlet oxygen and photo-oxidation of polychlorophenols was examined. The efficiency of the sensitised photo-oxidative degradation of polychlorophenols depends not only on singlet oxygen quantum yield of sensitiser, but also on its stability. The influence of substrate structure and the pH of the solution on the photo-oxidation efficiency, as well as on the sensitiser photodegradation were studied. It was found that the contribution of the Type II (singlet oxygen-mediated) mechanism to the relative efficiency of the photosensitised photo-oxidation of the phenol, decreased from phenol to p-chlorophenol, TCP and PCP, whereas Type I radical pathway increased. The results obtained for PCP give evidence that electron transfer from the excited sensitiser to the substrate in its unionised form is responsible for enhanced sensitiser photodegradation.
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- Date Issued: 2001
Managing regrowth of an indigenous savanna tree species (Terminalia sericea) for fuelwood: The influence of stump dimensions and post-harvest coppice pruning
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181672 , vital:43757 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(00)00086-6"
- Description: Most African savannas are subjected to harvesting of wood, especially for fuelwood, charcoal and construction timber. A key attribute of the resilience and productivity of savannas is the ability of damaged trees to regrow from the remaining stump. Survival of the cut stem and growth rate of the resultant coppice shoots is influenced by several factors, including size of the tree, cutting height and the root/shoot ratio after felling. Some of these can be manipulated to maximise subsequent regrowth, but this is little understood for most African savanna species. This study investigated the influence of original tree size, height of cut and post-harvest pruning on regrowth of Terminalia sericea. Regrowth was monitored as the number of coppice shoots, the mean coppice shoot length and the cumulative coppice shoot length per cut stump over four growing seasons. There was a positive relationship between cutting height and number of coppice shoots, but height of cut did not significantly affect mean or cumulative coppice shoot length. Larger stems produced more coppice and had greater mean and cumulative coppice shoot lengths than smaller stems. Post-harvest pruning increased the mean shoot length, but not the cumulative shoot length. After four growing seasons mean shoot length for the single shoot pruning treatment (one shoot left) was 54% greater than for the no prune treatment, whilst the double shoot pruning (two shoots left) was 40% greater. Extrapolated harvest intervals for fuelwood poles were 3–4 years for large stems, 4–5 years for medium-sized stems, and 4–9 years for small stems.
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- Date Issued: 2001
Syntheses and photochemical properties of octasubstituted phthalocyaninato zinc complexes
- Authors: Maree, Suzanne , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/304841 , vital:58495 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jpp.388"
- Description: In this work a selection of octasubstituted phthalocyaninato zinc complexes were synthesized and their photochemistry studied. The substituents included cholesterol (3a), estrone (3b), naphthol (3c) and phenoxy groups substituted with CH3 (3d), C(CH3)3 (at two positions, 3e), C(CH3)3 (3f), NO2 (3g), NH2 (3h), COH (3i), COOH (3j), and H (3k). In general, complexes containing electron-donating groups attached to the phenoxy ring (e.g. 3e and 3f) were found to be photochemically unstable with photobleaching quantum yields of the order of 10−3. In the presence of electron-withdrawing groups (3g, 3i, and 3j) the photobleaching quantum yields were of the order of 10−6 to 10−5. Singlet oxygen quantum yields (ΦΔ) ranged from 0.01 to 0.73. The lowest ΦΔ was observed for the highly aggregated complex 3c. All the complexes showed aggregation at high concentrations. Electrochemical reduction using a thin-layer spectroelectrochemistry cell showed that the complexes become more monomeric following reduction.
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- Date Issued: 2001