A 41-year-old professor of nuclear physics at Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, has led a team of eight other researchers to fabricate a radiation-shielding glass, the Africanscholar can authoritatively report.
Professor Sadiq, who is also the director of Muhammadu Buhari TETfund Centre of Excellence (MBTCE) at the Nasarawa-State based university, said that the radiation-shielding glass was made using silica that was sourced from rice husk and bismuth, as well as tin-bearing mineral ores taken from Falgore Forest in Kano State and Tilden Fulani in Bauchi State, all located in the northern part of the country.
Sadiq, who was the lead researcher in the project, explained that the project is also a collaborative research between the MBTCE, FULafia and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and other universities that and was fully funded via the TETfund National Research Fund.
He further explained that data from the collaboration is currently undergoing peer review evaluation for publication in some of the top tier scientific journals that are indexed by Web of Science.
Some of the positive impacts of the research, the scholar said, are the promotion of Nigeria’s local content and solid minerals, as well as the enhancement of the nation’s cyclic economy and valorisation.
According to him, another notable impact is the fact two Nigerians have been funded through the grant to undergo PhD training, while another has been partly funded for a master’s degree, all in nuclear physics.
His words: “When completed, Nigeria could witness the homemade production of various glasses, including the window and door glasses we use in our homes, offices and industries.
“We will soon discuss with our collaborator, NASENI on how to initiate the commercialisation phase for this novel product.”
