myUnisa | FAQs
UNISA Logo
Home | Vision and Mission | Staff Members | Advisory Board Members | Postgraduate Students | Research | Innovation | Virtual lab tour | Engaged Scholarship | News | Contact us
Zikode.png

Dr M Zikode

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow | College of Science, Engineering and Technology
School of Science | Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability

Campus: Science Campus
Building: NB Pityana
Office: A1-070

  • Doctor of Philosophy (UKZN 2025)

  • Catalysis
  • Sustainable chemistry, and materials design, with a long-term goal of developing catalytic technologies that enable environmentally benign chemical manufacturing

  • Organic Synthesis
  • Inorganic Synthesis
  • Catalysis

  1. Mnqobi Zikode, Stephen O. Ojwach, Structural studies of N, O donor (imino)/(amino)pyridine mononuclear zinc(II) complexes as catalysts in the ring-opening polymerization reactions of rac-lactide. Mol. Struct., 1365, 2026, 145970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2026.145970.
  2. Mnqobi Zikode, Asanda Ngwenya, Tabea Becker, Sonja Herres-Pawlis, and Stephen O. Ojwach, Structural and kinetics studies of N^O-, O^N^O- and N^N- Schiff-base Mn complexes as highly active catalysts in the ring-opening polymerization of rac-lactide. J. Inorg. Chem., 2025, 28, e202500126. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejic.202500126.
  3. Mnqobi Zikode, Martin Fuchs, Tim Langletz, Lisa Burkart, Sonja Herres-Pawlis, and Stephen O. Ojwach, Mononuclear and Multinuclear OˆNˆO-donor Zn(II)Complexes as Robust Catalysts for the Production and Depolymerization of Poly(Lactide). Chemcatchem, 2025, 17, e2024400771. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202400771.
  4. Mnqobi Zikode, Stephen O. Ojwach, Matthew P. Akerman, Structurally Rigid Bis(pyrazo1y1)pyridine Zn(II) and Cu(II) Complexes: Molecular Structures and Kinetic Studies in Ring-Opening Polymerization of c—Caprolactone, Organomet. Chem. 2017, 31, e3556. https://doi.org/10.1002/aoc.3556.
  5. Mnqobi Zikode, Stephen O. Ojwach and Matthew P. Akerman, Bis(pyrazo1y1methy1)pyridine Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes: Molecular Structures, Kinetics and Mechanistic Studies of Polymerization Reactions of c— Caprolactone, Mol. Catal. A: Chem., 2016, 413, 24-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcata.2015.12.008.

  • Research Fellow – RWTH Aachen University (Germany) – 2023
  • Member of golden key society – 2015
  • Completed MSc with cum-laude – 2014

  • Synthesis of complexes based on earth abundant metals with Schiff-base ligands
  • Application of earth abundant complexes as sustainable catalysts for the ring opening polymerization of lactones
  • Application of earth abundant complexes as sustainable catalysts for the chemical recycling (depolymerization) of polylactides
  • Closing a loop in the bioplastic circular economies