Post-harvest technology change in cassava processing: a choice paradigm

Open Access Article; Available online: 27 Jan 2020This study employed a choice model to examine the factors influencing the choice of post-harvest technologies in cassava starch processing, using a sample of five hundred and seventy (570) processors in the forest and guinea savanna zones of Nigeria. In addition, the profitability of various post-harvest technologies in the study area was assessed using the budgetary technique while the impact of improved post-harvest technology on processors’ revenue and output was analysed using the average treatment effect model. Sex of the processor, processing experience, income, and cost of post-harvest technology, the capacity of post-harvest technology and access to credit amongst others significantly influence the choice of post-harvest technologies. Although the use of improved post-harvest technology comes with a high cost, the net income from its use was higher than the other types of post-harvest technologies, suggesting that the use of improved techniques was more beneficial and profitable. In addition, using improved post-harvest technology had a positive and significant effect on output and income. These findings shows that investment in improved post-harvest technologies by cassava starch processors and other stakeholders would increase income, thus, improving welfare

Preparation and study of the Structural, Morphological and Optical properties of pure Tin Oxide Nanoparticle doped with Cu

             في هذه الدراسة، تم تصنيع جزيئاتSnO2  النانويه النقيه والمشوبة بالنحاس بواسطة طريقه الترسيب الكيميائي . تم استخدام SnCl2.2H2O , CuCl2.2H2O  كمواد خام . تم تلدين المواد عند°C 550 لمدة 3ساعات من اجل تحسين التبلور. اظهرت نتائج حيود الاشعه السينية ان العينات تبلورت في طورمن نوع  رباعي الروتيل , SnO2  نظرا ان متوسط الحجم البلوري لSnO2 النقي 9 نانومتر ويختلف مع تغير منشطات النحاس (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%) , ، ( 8.35 ,8.36 ,8.67 , 9,7 ,8.86) نانومتر على التوالي والتركيب البلوريSnO2  لا يتغير مع ادخال النحاس , أكدت نتائج SEM للنقاوة والمخدر أن حجم الجسيمات يقع في نطاق (25-56) نانومتر داخل الحجم النانوي .كانت دراسات UV-ViS  حيث كشف التحليل الطيفي للانعكاس ان طاقه فجوة النطاق تزداد مع زيادة نسب المنشطات (4.18,4.33 ,4.21 , 4.21 4.35,4.23 ) الكترون فولت للنقي والمشوب بالنحاس ( (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%) على توالي . واظهرت نتائج AFM معدل الخشونة، SPMوحجم الحبوب للعينات النقيه والمشوبة وان معدل الخشونة نانومتر و (3.04, 25,27,16,41.8,23.6,25.2) ومعدل القطر (98.9, 72.56,92.91, 88.38, 76.79, 70.94, 71.21) نانومتر للنقي والمشوب على التوالي.                   In this study, pure SnO2 Nanoparticles doped with Cu were synthesized by a chemical precipitation method. Using SnCl2.2H2O, CuCl2.2H2O as raw materials, the materials were annealed at 550°C for 3 hours in order to improve crystallization. The XRD results showed that the samples crystallized in the tetragonal rutile type SnO2 stage. As the average SnO2 crystal size is pure 9nm and varies with the change of Cu doping (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%),( 8.35, 8.36, 8.67, 9 ,7, 8.86)nm respectively an increase in crystal size to 2.5% decreases at this rate and that the crystal of SnO2 does not change with the introduction of Cu, and SEM results of the pure and doped confirmed that the particle size is within the range (25-56)nm within the nanosize. UV-Vis studies of reflection spectroscopy revealed that energy of band gap increased with increasing doping ratios (4.33,4.18 ,4.21, 4.21 4.23,4.35) ev For pure and doped with Cu (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%) respectively. Results of AFM show roughness rate, SPM and grain size of pure samples doped with Cu where the roughness rate of SnO2 is (3.04, 25,27,16,41.8,23.6,25.2) nm and average diameter is (98.9, 72.56 ,92.91, 88.38, 76.79, 70.94, 71.21) nm for pure and doped with Copper (0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%) respectively

Determinants of intensity of biomass utilization: evidence from cassava smallholders in Nigeria

Open Access Journal; Published online: 30 April 2019he paradigm shift from value chains to value webs in the emerging bioeconomy has necessitated a review on how agricultural systems transit to value web production systems. This study examines how smallholders in the cassava system in Nigeria have been able to increase utilization of biomass in their production systems. Using a sample of 541 households, the study employed cluster analysis and ordered probit regression to examine the intensity of cassava utilization and the determinants of the intensity of utilization. The study found that over 50% of the respondents were classified as low-intensity utilization households, while ~13% were high-intensity utilization households. Land, social capital, farming experience, and asset ownership increased the probability of intensifying cassava utilization among smallholders. The study recommends strengthening assets acquisition, improving land quality and encouraging social capital development among smallholders

Alternating current conduction properties of thermally evaporated alpha-nickel phthalocyanine thin films: Effects of oxygen doping and thermal annealing

Published versio

Computational and experimental elucidation of the boosted stability and antibacterial activity of ZIF-67 upon optimized encapsulation with polyoxometalates

Water microbial purification is one of the hottest topics that threats human morbidity and mortality. It is indispensable to purify water using antimicrobial agents combined with several technologies and systems. Herein, we introduce a class of nanosized metal organic framework; Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) cages encapsulated with polyoxometalates synthesized via facile one-step co-precipitation method. We employed two types of polyoxometalates bioactive agents; phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and phosphomolybdic acid (PMA) that act as novel antibacterial purification agents. Several characterization techniques were utilized to investigate the morphological, structural, chemical, and physical properties such as FESEM, EDS, FTIR, XRD, and N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms techniques. The antibacterial assessment was evaluated using colony forming unit (CFU) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus as models of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The PTA@ZIF-67 showed higher microbial inhibition against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria by 98.8% and 84.6%, respectively. Furthermore, computational modeling using density functional theory was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of PTA when compared to PMA. The computational and experimental findings demonstrate that the fabricated POM@ZIF-67 materials exhibited outstanding bactericidal effect against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and effectively purify contaminated water

Coupling Bright and Dark Plasmonic Lattice Resonances

We demonstrate the coupling of bright and dark Surface Lattice Resonances (SLRs), which are collective Fano resonances in 2D plasmonic crystals. As a result of this coupling, a frequency stop-gap in the dispersion relation of SLRs is observed. The different field symmetries of the low and high frequency SLR bands lead to pronounced differences in their coupling to free space radiation. Standing waves of very narrow spectral width compared to localized surface plasmon resonances are formed at the high frequency band edge, while subradiant damping onsets at the low frequency band edge leading the resonance into darkness. We introduce a coupled oscillator analog to the plasmonic crystal, which serves to elucidate the physics of the coupled plasmonic resonances and to estimate very high quality factors (Q>700) for SLRs, which are the highest known for any 2D plasmonic crystal.Comment: 13 pages (in preprint), 4 figures, 1 tabl