6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Structural and gas sensing properties of Co3O4 prepared by the Hydrorthemal method.

8 Jul 2026, 16:20
1h 20m
Great Hall ( University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Poster Session 2

Speaker

Prince Mkwae (University of Zululand)

Description

Cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanostructures were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis method using various solvents solutions. Physical and chemical properties of the as-synthesized nanostructures were examined using various characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and UV-Vis spectroscopy to name the few. X-ray diffraction revealed that the nanostructures were of high purity and corresponds to cobalt oxide (Co3O4) while the scanning electron microscopy revealed that the nanostructures have different morphologies for different solvent: nanorods (distilled water as solvent), and nanoparticles (acetone, isopropyl, and methanol as solvents). UV-Vis results proved that each solvent has its own optical bandgap as estimated using the Tauc plot. These results show that the solvent significantly influences structural (shape, size, and crystallinity) and optical properties, which is an indication that desired properties can be tailor engineered to a specific purpose such as gas sensing, and photoelectrochemical in hydrogen production.

Keywords: Gas sensors, Co3O4

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Author

Prince Mkwae (University of Zululand)

Co-authors

Cebo Ndlangamandla (University of Zululand) Sunday Ogundipe (University of Zululand) Thabo Nhlakanipho Nhlenyama (University of Zululand) Thokozani Mpanza (University of Zululand)

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