Dr ET Mombeshora

Tel:                +27 (0) 12-420-3812
Email:           [email protected]
Office:           NS1 Building, Room 3-28

Position:      Lecturer

Academic qualification: PhD (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Teaching

Undergraduate: General Chemistry, Physical Chemistry

Modules: CMY127, CMY282

Research interests

Nanoscience: Innovating functional nanomaterials, particularly carbon-based materials (graphene, reduced graphene oxide, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, etc) for energy conversion and storage applications (third-generation solar cells, supercapacitors, batteries, etc) and environmental remediation (developing sustainable materials, providing solutions for industrial and mining waste effluents). Key focus areas include:

• Physicochemical and electronic property tailoring toward sustainable and functional nanoscale materials and composites.
• Using Nanotechnology to manipulate properties in carbon-based material engineering and advance energy systems sustainably (cost-effective, clean, renewable, biologically derived, etc).

Selected publications

For all publications, please click here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yj4QfDoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Journal articles

Nanomaterial property tailoring

1. Understanding solvothermal reductive reactions of graphene oxide in boron and ammonia solutions, Mombeshora E.T., Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 34 (2023) 521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-13021-01499-13396
2. Some perspectives on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube synthesis from acetonitrile and N,N’-dimethylformamide mixtures, Mombeshora E.T., Doyle B..P, Carleschi E., Ndungu P.G., Jarvis A.L.L., Nyamori V.O., Materials Chemistry and Physics, 199 (2017), 435-453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2017.07.044
3. Effect of graphite/sodium nitrate ratio and reaction time on the physicochemical properties of graphene oxide, Mombeshora E.T., Ndungu P.G., Nyamori V.O., New Carbon Materials, 32 (2017), 174-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-5805(17)60114-8

Energy storage

4. Lithium-ion batteries: Recent progress in improving the cycling and rate performances of transition metal oxide anodes by incorporating graphene-based materials, Edigar Muchuweni E., Mombeshora E.T., Muiva C.M., Sathiaraj T.S., Journal of Energy Storage, 73 (2023), 109013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.109013
5. Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide-polyaniline composite materials: Hydrothermal treatment, characterisation and supercapacitive properties, Mombeshora E.T., Muchuweni E., Davies M.L., Martincigh B.S., Nyamori V.O., New Journal of Chemistry, 47(2023), 3502-3515. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NJ05112E
6. Metal-organic chemical vapour deposition of anatase titania on multiwalled carbon nanotubes for electrochemical capacitors, Mombeshora E.T., Muchuweni E., Davies M.L., Nyamori V.O., Martincigh B.S., Energy Science & Engineering, 10 (2022), 3493-3506. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.1234
7. Surface modifications of carbon nanotubes towards tailored electrochemical characteristics, Mugadza K. Mombeshora E.T.; Stark A., Ndungu P.G., Nyamori V.O., Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 32 (2021), 27923-27936. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-07174-w
8. The physicochemical properties and capacitive functionality of pyrrolic- and pyridinic-nitrogen, and boron-doped reduced graphene oxide, Mombeshora E.T., Ndungu P. G., Nyamori V.O., Electrochimica Acta, 258 (2017), 467-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2017.11.084

Solar Cells

9. Multiwalled carbon nanotube-titania nanocomposites: understanding nano-structural parameters and functionality in dye-sensitised solar cells, Mombeshora E.T., Simoyi R., Vincent O. Nyamori V.O. and Ndungu P.G., South African Journal of Chemistry, 68 (2015), 153-164. http://journals.sabinet.co.za/sajchem
10. Towards high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells by utilizing reduced graphene oxide-based composites as potential alternatives to conventional electrodes: A review, Muchuweni E., Mombeshora E.T., Muiva C.M., Sathiaraj T.S., Yildiz A., Pugliese D., Next Materials, 6 (2025) 100477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nxmate.2024.100477
11. The prospects of biologically derived materials in perovskite solar cells, Mombeshora E.T., Muchuweni E., Doolin A.J., Davies M.L., Martincigh B.S., Nyamori V.O., Applied Materials Today, 40 (2024), 102406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2024.102406

Environmental Remediation

12. Pristine graphene oxide treatment of wastewater from a typical sub-tropical mine in Chegutu, Zimbabwe, Kalitsilo F.R., Hashemi H., Mombeshora E.T., International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-025-06372-x
13. Trace metal speciation trends in Mazowe dam, Zimbabwe, a typical sub-tropical dam ecosystem impacted by gold mining and agriculture, Mandizha N.T., Mombeshora E.T., Kugara J., Zaranyika M.F., Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 46 (2024), 348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-02117-w
14. Elemental composition and speciation trends in Upper Mazowe River, a typical sub-tropical river ecosystem impacted by gold mining and agriculture in Zimbabwe, Mandizha N.T., Kugara J., Mombeshora E.T., Zaranyika M.F., Environmental Advances, 14 (2023), 100443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envadv.2023.100443

Book chapters

1. Electrochemical capacitors: basic concepts and emerging nanomaterials for electrodes, Mombeshora E.T., Muchuweni E., Davies M.L., Nyamori V.O., Martincigh B.S., “Chapter 4: Electrochemical capacitors: Basic concepts and emerging nanomaterials for electrodes”, in the Handbook of Emerging Materials for Sustainable Energy, Naveen V. Kulkarni, Boris I. Kharissov (Eds.), Elsevier, 2024, 83-118. ISBN: 978-0-323-96125-7.
2. Photovoltaics: background and novel carbon-based materials for third-generation solar cells, Muchuweni E., Mombeshora E.T., Martincigh B.S., Nyamori V.O., “Chapter 9: Photovoltaics: background and novel carbon-based materials for third-generation solar cells” in the Handbook of Emerging Materials for Sustainable Energy, Naveen V. Kulkarni, Boris I. Kharissov (Eds.), Elsevier, 2024, 197-235. ISBN: 978-0-323-96125-7.

Conference Proceeding

1. Sustainable solar energy storage for rural Africa, Charles R.G., Davies M.L., Douglas P., Atiemo S.M., Bates M., Clews A., Mabbett I., Martincigh B.S., Mombeshora E.T., Morgan J.R., Nyamori V.O., Worsley D.A., Proceedings of SEEP2017, (2017), Bled, Slovenia.

Patent

Electroconductive composite, Martincigh B.S., Nyamori V.O., Ollengo M.A., Moodley V., Mombeshora E.T, Patent Numbers: RSA (2019/06826); US (11,127,510); Japan (6989615); China (ZL201880032854.4); EPO (3596738); Korea (10-2520213)

Description:  An electroconductive composite comprises a matrix of nanocrystalline cellulose and graphene oxide. The matrix is, in at least a region thereof, unipolar by having, in that region, either p-type charge carrier conductivity or n-type charge carrier conductivity, depending on the mass concentration of nanocrystalline cellulose in that portion of the matrix.

Collaborations

1. SPECIFIC IKC, Materials Science and Engineering, Swansea University, UK
2. Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, Sweden
3. School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
4. Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe