Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle for the Adsorptive Remediation of Petrochemical Effluents

The zinc oxide nanoparticle was synthesized via precipitation method. It was characterized using SEM-EDX, FTIR and TEM for morphology, elemental, functional groups and internal structure respectively. The physicochemical behaviour of a refinery effluent was assessed. The untreated raw refinery effluent from the point of discharge contained very high concentrations of pollutants for all the parameters, ranging between, pH (6.52-6.82), Turbidity (10-12 NTU), conductivity (266-289μs/cm), COD (116-138 mg/l), BOD (14-18.5 mg/l), DO (7.5-15.6 mg/l), TDS (436-486 mg/l), TSS (127-133 mg/l), Oil and grease (14.8-16.3 mg/l), sulphate (113-125 mg/l) and chloride (240-280 mg/l). The effluent was treated with ZnO nanoparticle and reduced the pollutants to the normal permissible limit set by WHO, FEPA and NESREA standard for portable water. The treated effluent sample showed values ranging between, pH (6.55-6.6), Turbidity (4.2-4.5 NTU), conductivity (245-246 μs/cm), COD (39-40 mg/l), BOD (10 mg/l), DO (5.6-10.4 mg/l), TDS (151-183 mg/l), TSS (24-28 mg/l), Oil and grease (7.3-9.5 mg/l), sulphate (100 mg/l) and chloride (200 mg/l). The heavy metals profile that was investigated are Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr of which were found above the WHO and FEPA permissible limit, however, on the contact with the adsorbent therefore reduced the metals to the permissible limit. It can be ascertain that ZnO nanoparticle can be used as an effective adsorbent for the treatment of petrochemical effluent

Bio-oxidation of a low grade chalcopyrite ore by mixed culture of acidophilic bacteria

A study on the extent of biooxidation of a low grade Chalcopyrite ore using a mixed acidophilic bacterial consortium predominantly of the Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain has been carried out.  The influence of additive and pH on the bio-oxidation of the ore has been examined. The results of the investigations showed that bio-oxidation was enhanced by the addition of nutrient broth at lower pH. The enhancement in biooxidation of a chalcopyrite ore was 54% and 19% with and without addition of broth in 10 days incubation time, respectively. The study showed that at a lower pH (≤ 4.0), the biooxidation of the ore was higher in presence of broth. Consequently, in presence of nutrient broth, the concentration of Fe and Cu leached were 1200 mg/L and 350 mg/L; and without nutrient broth yielded 580 mg/L and 220 mg/L, respectively within 10 days of incubation and decreases afterwards

Comparative Dissolution of Natural Goethite Samples in HCl and HNO3

The dissolution of goethite samples in mineral acids from to extreme parts of Nigeria (Osogbo and Kaduna) have been investigated. The rate of dissolution was found to be slightly faster in HCl than HNO3. The higher rate of dissolution in HCl could be attributed to the complexing ability of Cl- in addition to the H+ effect while lowering effect by NO3- was attributed to adsorption of NO3 on to the goethite surface. Mononuclear complexes, especially bidentate of oxyanion are found to accelerate dissolution as opposed to binuclear complexes. A binuclear bidentate surface complex formation between NO3- and Fe3+ was therefore proposed to account for the inhibition observed. The possible formation of Fe\u2014Cl reduces both the surface positive charge and the repulsion between the oxide surface and protons in solution. This produced accelerated proton dissolution. The effect of temperature on the initial dissolution rate fit into Arrhenius equation, with Kaduna goethite exhibiting higher rate than Osogbo type in both acids. The activation energies for Kaduna goethite sample are 66.11 and 82.43 kJmol-1 in 0.1M HCl and 0.1M HNO3 respectively while for Osogbo goethite sample are 54.60 and 76.32 kJmol-1 in 0.1M HCl and 0.1M HNO3 respectively. The frequency factors of 8.4 x 10-4 & 11.17 x10-4 and 5.0 x 10-5 and 3.09 x 10-3 for Kaduna and Osogbo goethite samples were obtained. @JASE

Comparative Analysis of Pre and Post-migration Livelihood Outcomes of Households with Absentee Heads in Osun State, Nigeria

Migration is often linked with a deleterious impact on rural area production and development. Although, the change of location for better opportunities also affect the lives and livelihoods of the migrant households’ in the rural communities. The study was a comparative analysis of the pre and post-migration living outcomes of absentee households’ heads in Osun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure involving the simple random sampling was used to select 120 absentee household heads. Data collected with interview schedule was subjected to descriptive statistics, t-test and correlation analyses. Findings showed that more men (76.7%) migrated, leaving women to become the interim household heads. It was found that migrants have a higher average monthly income level (₦44,400). Prior to migration, most families were in the lower financial well-being category (83.3%), while only 55% remained in that category after migration. This follows the result of the t-test which revealed that a significant difference (t=0.00; p<0.05) exists between the well-being of migrant’s household before and after migration. Thus, it was concluded that unless the rural push factors are removed, rural-urban migration will continue at an increasing rate because benefits and opportunities acquired in the process influence the well-being of the rural households. The study recommends that enabling environment, facilities and opportunities should be created in the rural communities to transform livelihoods and improve the wellbeing of the people via interventions by national and international agencies

POVERTY-EDUCATION NEXUS: IMPLICATIONS FOR PROMOTION OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN NIGERIA

The achievement of women empowerment is measured by the extent to which women and girls are able to act freely, exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society (USAID, 2012). Out of all the indices of human capital development, education is crucial and seems capable of propelling other indices such as training, employment, health and services. However the impact of poverty in accessing and utilizing education cannot be overemphasized. Poverty-education nexus impacts promotion of women development both at the family and societal levels. Education is a process of imparting knowledge, skills and information and represents an integral of personal upbringing. It is force of acquiring understanding and redesigning human environment with the view of achieving and sustaining a better quality of life. It is therefore an infrastructure provided for citizenry in order to enable them to acquire, sharpens their skills and earn better living conditions. However, as important as this ingredient is, women are still backward in education in virtually all developing countries. In Nigeria, majority of women lack access to education and are often restricted in terms of other rights including resources control (CBN, 2012; NBS, 2010; Uzoma, 2013). The study therefore attempted to confirm (or otherwise) the roles of education in women empowerment in Nigeria and proffer plausible measures to spur women education as well as national development as a whole. The study examined impact of poverty-education nexus in the promotion of women development in Nigeria. It specifically highlighted the issues and challenges in women empowerment and brought into fore the benefits inherent in educating women. The study adopted qualitative research approach and made extensive use of empirical but secondary information and statistics to justify most of the claims in the work. Information obtained were analysed following thematic content analysis intermediated by author’s reasoning and experience. Plagiarism test conducted revealed up to 9.7% level of plagiarism confirming the work as original. Information obtained through secondary data search were analyzed by interpretations of social meaning of observation through mapping and aggregation into logical segments. In addition, other basic tools of descriptive statistics and pictorial information such as graph/charts and frequencies distribution where applicable. The study shows that the sub-Saharan Africa adult literacy rate for women is the lowest (45.7%) compared with higher rates (of 98.9%) for other regions of the world. The study revealed that women are disadvantageously placed in terms of access to education and that disparity in male-female literacy may continue beyond 2015. The study posits that it is exigent to continuing raising awareness that women education and women’s empowerment is not only important for social development but is indispensable for economic development. The authors therefore believed that the barriers that impede women development would require government’s commitments such that acquired education can be transformed to meaningful economic activities through job opportunities

Determination of Sulphur (IV) Oxide in Ilorin City, Nigeria, During Dry Season

Ambient concentrations of sulphur (IV) oxide (SO2) have been determined in the city of Ilorin, Nigeria between mid February and mid Novembers 2003. SO2 levels were found to vary significantly with the traffic density and human activities. There was a significant difference (P = 0.05) between the SO2 concentrations at two sites (high and low traffic volume areas); however, there was no significant difference (P= 0.05) between high traffic/medium population density and medium traffic/high population density areas. The regression analysis indicated a strong correlation (r= 0.94) between the concentration of SO2 pattern and the hourly average traffic volume in all the sites. Average level found for the city was 59.3 \ub1 1.9ppb, which falls within the limits of the United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for air quality standards. Atmospheric pollution being one of the most dominant problems associated with urbanization, urban areas are associated with high density of industries and transport networks, among other infrastructure, which generate a wide range of air pollutants .@JASE

Treatment of a Nigerian Kaolin ore for Improved Industrial Application

A study was carried out on leaching of Nigerian kaolin ore by Oxalic acid (C2H2O4.2H2O). The raw kaolin ore from Share, North central Nigeria was characterised by EDXRF (X-ray fluorescence) and major constituents were SiO2, Al2O3, and minor amounts of K2O, Na2O, CaO, TiO2, along with colour-imparting Fe2O3 and MnO that need to be remove to upgrade the kaolin suitability for industrial usages. The effects of parameters such as C2H2O4 concentration, temperature, and particle size were investigated. Under the standard leaching conditions of −75+63 μm particle size, 75 °C and 0.15 mol/L C2H2O4, about 78.5%  of kaolin ore was reacted within 120 minutes. Comparison of the EDX analysis of the raw and leached kaolin showed removal efficiency of 97.1% for the iron at optimal leaching conditions. Energy of activation of 17.65 kJ/mol was obtained in the study supports the proposed diffusion control mechanism for the dissolution process

Direct reaction measurements with a 132Sn radioactive ion beam

The (d,p) neutron transfer and (d,d) elastic scattering reactions were measured in inverse kinematics using a radioactive ion beam of 132Sn at 630 MeV. The elastic scattering data were taken in a region where Rutherford scattering dominated the reaction, and nuclear effects account for less than 8% of the cross section. The magnitude of the nuclear effects was found to be independent of the optical potential used, allowing the transfer data to be normalized in a reliable manner. The neutron-transfer reaction populated a previously unmeasured state at 1363 keV, which is most likely the single-particle 3p1/2 state expected above the N=82 shell closure. The data were analyzed using finite range adiabatic wave calculations and the results compared with the previous analysis using the distorted wave Born approximation. Angular distributions for the ground and first excited states are consistent with the previous tentative spin and parity assignments. Spectroscopic factors extracted from the differential cross sections are similar to those found for the one neutron states beyond the benchmark doubly-magic nucleus 208Pb.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

The magic nature of 132Sn explored through the single-particle states of 133Sn

Atomic nuclei have a shell structure where nuclei with 'magic numbers' of neutrons and protons are analogous to the noble gases in atomic physics. Only ten nuclei with the standard magic numbers of both neutrons and protons have so far been observed. The nuclear shell model is founded on the precept that neutrons and protons can move as independent particles in orbitals with discrete quantum numbers, subject to a mean field generated by all the other nucleons. Knowledge of the properties of single-particle states outside nuclear shell closures in exotic nuclei is important for a fundamental understanding of nuclear structure and nucleosynthesis (for example the r-process, which is responsible for the production of about half of the heavy elements). However, as a result of their short lifetimes, there is a paucity of knowledge about the nature of single-particle states outside exotic doubly magic nuclei. Here we measure the single-particle character of the levels in 133Sn that lie outside the double shell closure present at the short-lived nucleus 132Sn. We use an inverse kinematics technique that involves the transfer of a single nucleon to the nucleus. The purity of the measured single-particle states clearly illustrates the magic nature of 132Sn.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures and 4 table