Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out to study the stability of nanoformulations used for the decontamination of mycotoxins. The TGA patterns of the nanoformulations from montmorillonite clay and Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) extracts were assessed with temperature ranging from ambient (20°C) to 1000°C. The various nanoformulations studied included unmodified montmorillonite clay (Mont), montmorillonite washed with sodium chloride (Mont-Na), montmorillonite mixed with lemongrass essential oil (Mont-LGEO), and montmorillonite mixed with an equal quantity of lemongrass powder (Mont-LGP). There was no significant difference in the median of the various nanoformulations within 4 weeks at
p
<
0.05
using the Kruskal–Wallis nonparametric test. For the TGA, the first degradation for montmorillonite clay and the nanoformulations occurred at a temperature between 80 and 101°C and was attributed to the loss of lattice water outside the coordination sphere with a range of 3.5–6.5% weight loss. The second degradation occurred within the temperature of 338 to 344°C, and the third, at a temperature between 640 and 668°C for Mont and the formulations of Mont-Na, Mont-LGEO, and Mont-LGP. There were strong similarities in the degradation patterns of Mont and Mont-Na with the minimum difference being the relatively higher weight loss of the sodium-exchanged cation for Mont-Na at the third degradation step. Hence, the order of stability from the most resistant to the least resistant to degradation is as follows: Mont-LGEO ≥ Mont-Na ≥ Mont ≥ Mont-LGP.
/kg), respectively. The mean concentration of Pb was far above (four times higher than) the normal crustal average for soils while the other heavy metals were below the normal background level. The concentration of Pb is also the highest at the distance closest to the factory which indicate that Pb is the major heavy metal impacted on soils by the company which elevate the normal background level and thereby contaminate the soils and make it unfit for agricultural purposes as plant take up the leached metals and ultimately find its way into animals and human body through the food chain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.