Keagan Pokpas

Email: kpokpas ‘at’ uwc.ac.za

2014- 2017 (PhD Degree) – University of the Western Cape

Research Topics: Dr. Keagan Pokpas joined the University of the Western Cape, Chemistry Department in 2018 as a Nano-Electrochemistry and Sensor technology lecturer under the SARCHI chair initiative. He completed his MSc in Nanoscience with a focus in Nanochemistry in 2014, the first of its kind on the African continent, as a part of the National Nanoscience Postgraduate Teaching and Training Program (NNPTTP). He later went on to receive his PhD in Electroanalytical Chemistry from UWC in 2017 prior to completing a postdoctoral fellowship in SensorLab with a focus on paper-based microfluidics.

Dr. Pokpas’ research interest is in developing low-cost, disposable and integrated devices for early diagnostics and sensing of environmental and medical contaminants that plague the African continent. His research focus has been in the development of metal-graphene nanocomposites for stripping voltammetric applications and trace-metal analysis in environmental water samples. Due to the increased attention in paper-based diagnostics and microfluidics systems for on-site monitoring, Dr. Pokpas’ research interests have expanded to include paper-based microfluidics, paper-based energy systems, conductive ink fabrication, materials printing and anti-breast cancer drug detection. His research further covers the interrogation of rheological properties of various samples. Dr. Pokpas has served as a member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) since 2012 and a member of the South African Chemical Institute (SACI) since 2013.

Scientific production : 13 Publications

Google Scholar : https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F36LvFcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Communications : 10 invited conferences, co-author of 15+ oral presentations and publications

Supervision: 1 ongoing PhDs, 2 completed PhDs, 2 Master ongoing, 2 Master completed

5 major publications

  1. K. Pokpas, S. Zbeda, N. Jahed, N. Mohamed, P.G. Baker, E.I. Iwuoha, Electrochemically reduced graphene oxide pencil-graphite in situ plated bismuth-film electrode for the determination of trace metals by anodic stripping voltammetry, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 9 (2014) 736–759. www.electrochemsci.org.
  2. K. Pokpas, N. Jahed, O. Tovide, P.G. Baker, E.I. Iwuoha, Nafion-graphene nanocomposite in situ plated bismuth-film electrodes on pencil graphite substrates for the determination of trace heavy metals by anodic stripping voltammetry, Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 9 (2014) 5092–5115. www.electrochemsci.org.
  3. R. Tekenya, K. Pokpas, N. Jahed, E.I. Iwuoha, Enhanced Specificity and Sensitivity for the Determination of Nickel(II) by Square-wave Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry at Disposable Graphene-modified Pencil Graphite Electrodes, Anal. Lett. 0 (2018) 1–26. doi:10.1080/00032719.2018.1469139.
  4. K. Pokpas, N. Jahed, P.G. Baker, E.I. Iwuoha, Complexation-Based Detection of Nickel(II) at a Graphene-Chelate Probe in the Presence of Cobalt and Zinc by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry, Sensors. 17 (2017) 1711. doi:10.3390/S17081711.
  5.  N.E. Larm, J.B. Essner, K. Pokpas, J.A. Canon, N. Jahed, E.I. Iwuoha, G.A. Baker, Room-Temperature Turkevich Method: Formation of Gold Nanoparticles at the Speed of Mixing Using Cyclic Oxocarbon Reducing Agents, J. Phys. Chem. C. 122 (2018). doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b10536.