VIPEr

Bonding models: Extended systems

Topics Covered:

Acid-base chemistry

Electron transfer

Extended structure

Physical methods / analytical techniques

Physical properties

First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry

Synthesis and reactivity

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Course Level:

27 Jun 2019

Porphyrin-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks

Submitted by Amanda Bowman, Colorado College

Evaluation Methods:

Students completed this activity in small groups, then turned in individual worksheets. Student learning and performance were assessed through 1) in-class group discussion after they had worked on the activity in small groups, and 2) grading the individual worksheets. Participation was most important in the small-group portion.

Evaluation Results:

In general, students really enjoyed this exercise and felt that it was helpful for visualizing metal-organic frameworks (particularly the extended 3D structure). They also generally felt that it was helpful in visualizing the bonding sites of metal vertices, particularly for thinking about how that influences potential reactivity. We used Mercury as a visualization software for this discussion, and the majority of students felt very comfortable using Mercury and looking at cifs on their own after this activity.

The biggest challenge for students seemed to be in relating the 3D structure in the cif to the images and chemicals formulas in the article. They also tended to need some hints about question 5 – to think about what information Mössbauer can provide about oxidation state of the metal, or that you can tell whether or not there are two distinct iron environments. In our class, we do brief units on X-ray crystallography including how to use and interpret cifs, and Mössbauer spectroscopy before this literature discussion. If those topics are not already addressed in a particular class it might be helpful to add them in or directly address those topics for the students as an introduction to the literature discussion.

Description:

This literature discussion explores the physical structures, electronic structures, and spectroscopic characterization of several porphyrin-based metal-organic frameworks through discussion of “Iron and Porphyrin Metal−Organic Frameworks: Insight into Structural Diversity, Stability, and Porosity,” Fateeva et al. Cryst. Growth Des. 2015, 15, 1819-1826, http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1021/cg501855k. The activity gives students experience visualizing and interpreting MOF structures, and gives students exposure to some of the methods used to characterize MOFs.

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Physical methods / analytical techniques

Topics Covered:

Chemical literature

Coordination chemistry

Diffraction

Electronic structure

Extended structure

Course Level:

Learning Goals:

Students will be able to:

Interpret and describe the bonding and structural characteristics of MOFs
Apply knowledge of ligand field strength to electronic structure of MOFs
Analyze X-ray crystallographic data to gain information about structural characteristics of MOFs
Interpret Mössbauer spectra to gain information about electronic structure of MOFs

Subdiscipline:

Energy Nuggets: MOF’s for CO<sub>2</sub> Sequestration

Related activities:

Implementation Notes:

This literature discussion was designed for use in an advanced (upper-level) inorganic chemistry course, but could be used in a foundational inorganic course if students have already been introduced to d-splitting diagrams and are given some coverage of Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. When covering MOFs in class, students frequently expressed that visualizing and understanding the bonding sites and extended 3D structures was very challenging. So, this literature discussion was developed specifically to address that. Students completed this activity in small groups. It is very helpful to advise students ahead of time to bring laptops (or instructor should have some available) and to have the cifs from the paper downloaded and ready to go. We used Mercury as a visualization software for this activity. This activity can easily be completed in one class period. It is also helpful if students have been provided with the article ahead of time and encouraged to look it over – otherwise the most time-consuming part of this activity was allowing time for students to examine the MOF structure images in the paper before being able to discuss and answer the questions with their groups.

Note on visualization of MOFs using Mercury: To answer the discussion questions, we used the ‘stick’ or the ‘ball and stick’ style. We also used the default packing scheme (0.4x0.4x0.4) and the 1x1x1 packing scheme. The packing scheme can be changed by selecting Packing/Slicing… in the Calculate menu. I also had students view the 3x3x3 packing scheme – while this is not necessary to answer the discussion questions, it was interesting for students to be able to visualize the extended structure of the MOFs.

Web Resources:

Iron and Porphyrin Metal−Organic Frameworks: Insight into Structural Diversity, Stability, and Porosity. Fateeva et al

8 Jun 2019

Crystallographic Resources at Otterbein University

Submitted by Kevin Hoke, Berry College

Description:

This site is another excellent resource from Dean Johnston (see also his Symmetry resource). It uses JSmol (in a web browser) to display different types of "Packing" and "Point Groups". For Packing, users can select different sizes for the atoms, display multiple unit cells, and rotate the model on the screen. Different layers can be color highlighted.

Other portions of the website include resources for incorporating crystallography into the undergraduate curriculum.

Topics Covered:

Prerequisites:

Course Level:

Corequisites:

Subdiscipline:

Symmetry Resources at Otterbein University

Related activities:

Polyhedral Model Kit Video Lab Manual (Jmol)

ChemTube3D

Implementation Notes:

I use the Packing Models as part of a homework assignment in which they are stepped through multiple models. The Packing models displayed are very straightforward to manipulate and I would not worrying about having first-year students interact with it. I have not used the Point groups portion yet, but I intend to share that with students who are learning symmetry.

As with some other JSmol-based models, atomic radii are used instead of ionic radii so the traditional color coding (yellow for sulfur, red for oxygen, gray for metal) will suggest for some models that the anions are smaller than cations. In my assignments, I have students evaluate how well that agrees with tables of ionic radii.

It can be used in any modern web browser that supports HTML5 and/or Java. I have accessed models successfully on my iPhone, though it is much easier to use on a larger screen.

Web Resources:

Crystallographic Resources at Otterbein University

Packing

8 Jun 2019

VIPEr Fellows 2019 Workshop Favorites

Submitted by Barbara Reisner, James Madison University

During our first fellows workshop, the first cohort of VIPEr fellows pulled together learning objects that they've used and liked or want to try the next time they teach their inorganic courses.

Subdiscipline:

Atomic Structure and Periodicity

Bioinorganic Chemistry

Molecular Structure and Bonding

Electrochemistry

Introductory Chemistry

Main Group Chemistry

Science Skills, Practices, and Resources

Organometallic Chemistry

First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry

Prerequisites:

No Prerequisites

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Corequisites:

Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics

Organic Chemistry

Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Course Level:

First year

2 Jun 2019

Hyperphysics

Submitted by Barbara Reisner, James Madison University

Description:

The hyperphysics website uses concept maps as a way to organize physics content knowledge: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html (condensed matter). I cam across this website while doing a review of the literature on what students know about semiconductors. There are nice explanations of many of the topics associated with semiconductors and they are organized in an unique way.

Prerequisites:

Bonding models: Extended systems

Topics Covered:

Electronic structure

Corequisites:

Learning Goals:

I haven't used this in teaching, but think it is a valuable resource for teaching bonding in the solid state.

Subdiscipline:

Course Level:

Hyperphysics: solid state physics

Web Resources:

3 Jan 2019

Venn Diagram activity- What is inorganic Chemistry?

Submitted by Sheila Smith, University of Michigan- Dearborn

Evaluation Methods:

I did not assess this piece, except by participation in the discussion

Evaluation Results:

I asked my students to write an open ended essay to answer the question (asked in that first day exercise): What is Inorganic Chemistry.

Interestingly, 2 of my 15 students drew a version of this Venn Diagram to accompany their essays.

Description:

This Learning Object came to being sort of (In-)organically on the first day of my sophomore level intro to inorganic course. As I always do, I started the course with the IC Top 10 First Day Activity. (https://www.ionicviper.org/classactivity/ic-top-10-first-day-activity). One of the pieces of that In class activity asks students- novices at Inorganic Chemistry- to sort the articles from the Most Read Articles from Inorganic Chemistry into bins of the various subdisciplines of Inorganic Chemistry. As the discussion unfolded, I just sort of started spontaneously drawing a Venn Diagram on the board.

I think Venn diagrams are an excellent logic tool, one that is too little applied these days for anything other than internet memes. This is a nice little add-on activity to the first day.

Your Venn diagram will likely look different from mine. You're right.

Learning Goals:

The successful student should be able to:

identify the various sub-disciplines of inorganic chemistry.
apply the rules of logic diagrams to construct overlapping fields of an Venn diagram.

Prerequisites:

No Prerequisites

Corequisites:

Equipment needs:

colored chalk may be handy but not required.

Topics Covered:

Bioinorganic chemistry

Coordination chemistry

Descriptive chemistry

Materials chemistry

Organometallic chemistry

Course Level:

First year

Subdiscipline:

Bioinorganic Chemistry

f-block Chemistry

Introductory Chemistry

Main Group Chemistry

Organometallic Chemistry

IC Top 10 first day activity

Related activities:

Cool first day activities?

Introducing Inorganic Chemistry - First Day Activities

Implementation Notes:

I used this activity in conjuction with a first day activity LO (also published on VIPEr).

I shared a clean copy (this one) with the students after the class where we discussed this.

Time Required:

10-15 minutes

12 Dec 2018

Foundations Inorganic Chemistry for New Faculty

Submitted by Chip Nataro, Lafayette College

What is a foundations inorganic course? Here is a great description

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed500624t

Subdiscipline:

Atomic Structure and Periodicity

Molecular Structure and Bonding

Introductory Chemistry

Main Group Chemistry

Science Skills, Practices, and Resources

Bonding models: Discrete molecules

Topics Covered:

Acid-base chemistry

Bonding models: Extended systems

Chemical literature

Communication skills

Coordination chemistry

Descriptive chemistry

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Course Level:

15 Jun 2018

Developing methodology to evaluate nanotoxicology: Use of density.

Submitted by Tori Forbes, University of Iowa

Evaluation Methods:

I typically evaluate this activity through class participation although the answer key is posted after class to let the students evaluate their own understanding of concepts. The students do know that they will be tested on the material within the activity and usually I have a density problem on the exam.

Evaluation Results:

This activity is designed to give the students more freedom as they move from the first density calculation to the last set of calculations. Within the last set of calculations, they encounter a hexagonal unit cell so that may require some additional intervention to get them to think about how to calculate the volume of a hexagonal unit cell.

Description:

This activity is designed to relate solid-state structures to the density of materials and then provide a real world example where density is used to design a new method to explore nanotoxicity in human health. Students can learn how to calculate the density of different materials (gold, cerium oxide, and zinc oxide) using basic principles of solid state chemistry and then compare it to the centrifugation method that was developed to evaluate nanoparticle dose rate and agglomeration in solution.

Learning Goals:

A student should be able to calculate a unit cell volume from structural information, determine the mass of one unit cell, and combine these two parameters to calculate the density for both cubic and hexagonal structures. In addition, students will have an opportunity to read a scientific article and summarize the major findings, place data in a table, and explain the similarities and differences between the densities calculated in the activity and the experimental values that are reported in the literature.

Corequisites:

Subdiscipline:

Course Level:

Equipment needs:

None

Topics Covered:

Extended structure

Materials chemistry

Nanoscience

Will it Float? Density of a Bowling Ball Activity

Prerequisites:

No Prerequisites

Related activities:

Investigating the structures of close packed solids in metal sulfide nanocrystals

An ion exchange method to produce metastable wurtzite metal sulfide nanocrystals

Implementation Notes:

I have used this activity in our first semester inorganic chemistry course when we cover solid-state materials. One thing to note is that I do use 2-D projections to describe structures and we cover that in a previous activity. You could remove 2-D projections from this activity if it is not something that you previously covered.

Time Required:

This activity usually takes about 40 to 45 minutes.

Web Resources:

DeLoid et al, 2014, Nature Communications

7 Aug 2017

Redox Chemistry of a Potential Solid State Battery Cathode – Discuss!

Submitted by Sabrina G. Sobel, Hofstra University

Additional Authors:

Christina Cama, Saint Cloud State University

Evaluation Methods:

Different models for class implementation:

1. Professor-led student discussion; monitor quantity and quality of individual student input.

2. Student-led presentation and discussion (pairs work well); grading of presentation and quality of question answers.

3. Student written report answering Literature Discussion questions.

Evaluation Results:

We have not implemented this Literature Discussion in class yet.

Description:

Lithium battery technology is an evolving field as commercial requirements for storage and use of energy demand smaller, safer, more efficient and longer-lasting batteries. Copper ferrite, CuFe2O4, is a promising candidate for application as a high energy electrode material in lithium based batteries. Mechanistic insight on the electrochemical reduction and oxidation processes was gained through the first X-ray absorption spectroscopic study of lithiation and delithiation of CuFe2O4. The results provide new mechanistic insight regarding the evolution of the local coordination environments at the iron and copper centers upon discharging and charging. Students learn about normal and inverse spinel structures, solid cathode electrochemical processes and the use of X-ray absorption spectroscopy to figure out local structure, oxidation state and coordination environment.

Prerequisites:

First Semester Inorganic Chemistry / Foundation Course in Inorganic Chemistry

Corequisites:

Course Level:

Subdiscipline:

Electrochemistry

Physical methods / analytical techniques

Learning Goals:

1. Students should become familiar with the parts and charging/discharging of a solid-state lithium battery, and relate to introductory discussions of redox chemistry.

2. Student should learn about spinel and inverse spinel structures, and be able to relate to cubic unit cell types presented in General Chemistry.

3. Students should learn how X-ray absorption spectroscopy can be used to evaluate oxidation state and local coordination environment in a solid.

Topics Covered:

Diffraction

Electron transfer

Electronic spectroscopy

Related activities:

Defining Crystalline/Amorphous Phases of Nanoparticles through X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction: The Case of Nickel Phosphide

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and its applications to LFT

The Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt Spinels

Implementation Notes:

The powerpoint presentation about X-ray absorption spectroscopy can be used to provide background for the analytical techniques used in this research. The classic spinel structure should be discussed in class. Otherwise, this can be implemented like any other Literature Discussion.

Time Required:

two half-class periods; one for background, and one for discussion

Web Resources:

Research paper

3 Jun 2017

Investigating the structures of close packed solids in metal sulfide nanocrystals

Submitted by Eric Villa, Creighton University

Additional Authors:

Barbara Reisner, James Madison University

Catherine McCusker, East Tennessee State University

Janet Schrenk, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Meng Zhou, Lawrence Technological University

Evaluation Methods:

Evaluation methods could include grading as an in-class worksheet, trading with a partner for peer grading or turned in as an out-of-class graded homework assignment.

Evaluation Results:

Currently, this activity has not been tested in a classroom. Please post how your students did!

Description:

This in-class activity is designed to assist students with the visualization of solid-state close-packed structures, using metal-sulfide nanocrystalline materials as a an example system. Students will be asked to visualize and describe both hexagonal closest packed (hcp) and cubic closest packed (ccp) structure types, and isolate the tetrahedral and octahedral holes within each structure type. Lasty, students will be asked to compare and contrast four metal-sulfide unit cells discussed in the paper below.

Powell, A.E., Hodges J.M., Schaak, R.E. Preserving Both Anion and Cation Sublattice Features during a Nanocrystal Cation-Exchange Reaction: Synthesis of a Metastable Wurtzite-Type CoS and MnSJ. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 471-474.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.5b10624

Learning Goals:

In answering these questions, a student will…

...develop stronger visualaztion skills for extended, solid state materials;
...compare the packing sequence of close packed structures;
...locate tetrahedral and octahedral holes in close packed systems;
...count the number of tetrahedral / octahedral holes relative to the lattice ions; and
…determine the number of atoms in a unit cell.

Equipment needs:

The use of software - such as the demo version of CrystalMaker (http://www.crystalmaker.co.uk) or StudioViewer (Esko - app stores) - will be really helpful. StudioViewer can be run on cell phones, tablets, or MacOS devises. CrystalMaker is available for both Mac and PC.

Instructions on using Studio Viewer to visualize structures on mobile devices are available in the learning object, Visualizing solid state structures using CrystalMaker generated COLLADA files.

Subdiscipline: