Master's student's research published in respected journal

The outstanding research by a Master's student at the NWU Mafikeng Campus was recently published in a well-respected academic journal. Ms Ntsoaki Mphuthi, from the Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology (under the supervision of Prof Eno Ebenso), passed her Master's degree with a distinction and published the findings from her work in the journal, Scientific Reports [6:26938 |Pages 1-20.

DOI: 10.1038/srep26938] (Nature Publishers). The published manuscript is titled, "Electrocatalytic oxidation of Epinephrine and Norepinephrine at metal oxide doped phthalocyanine/ MWCNT composite sensor".

Her research was conducted in the Department of Chemistry with support from the Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MaSIM) focus area, NRF/Sasol -Inzalo Foundation bursaries. The result of her research was the development of a sensitive and selective sensor that is able to detect neurotransmitters in the human body. Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that communicate information from the brain to the body. It is equally expected that the sensor will be used successfully to assay neurotransmitters in urine samples in the presence of other interfering species such as ascorbic and uric acids. The sensor will assist medical practitioners in monitoring neurotransmitters and the early detection of diseases which can be treated immediately.

Scientific Reports (Nature Publishers: Impact Factor; 5.578) is an open access, international, peer-reviewed multidisciplinary science and technology journal and is dedicated to publishing research from all areas of science and technology. The journal has a broad coverage of Medical sciences, Dental sciences, Physiotherapy, Biological sciences, Pharmaceutical sciences, Earth and environmental sciences and Physical sciences.

Prof Eno Ebenso, Acting Vice-Rector, Research and Planning at the NWU Mafikeng Campus, thanked the Department of Chemistry and especially Dr Lebo Seru for providing a conducive environment for the research to be done. "This is testimony to the fact that quality scientific work is being done at the Mafikeng Campus. The Campus prides itself on its increased research intensity which is evidenced by our research outputs".