Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell 2010

Submitted by Simon Garcia / Kenyon College on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 16:37
Description

In this laboratory experiment, students construct a solar cell from a combination of synthetic and natural materials. It touches on a variety of chemical principles (kinetics, photochemistry, electrochemistry, intermolecular forces, material properties); however, the primary aim is the experience of turning materials into components and then assembling them into a working device. This experiment is unique in that it emphasizes each material's function, and how its properties affect this function. Students can seal these solar cells and take them home afterward.

Teaching General Chemistry: A Materials Science Companion

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 18:15
Description

This book was originally written (full disclosure: I am one of the co-authors) for college teachers as a resource text to encourage and support the incorporation of more solid state and materials chemistry into the general chemistry curriculum.  The Companion, as I refer to it, is filled with background material, demonstrations, laboratory experiments, and end-of-chapter problems that will aid the non-specialist in enriching their teaching with examples from the world of solid state materials.  Although intended for a general chemistry audience, several of the chapters present fairly sophis

Powder Diffraction Crystallography Instructional Materials

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:03
Description
Brian Toby (Argonne National Labs) has assebled an excellent series of tutorials on using the Rietveld analysis technique for powder diffraction data. Tutorials range from an "Introduction to Crystallography" and "Getting Started with Rietveld" to using the "Le Bail Intensity Extraction" Method to "Advanced Rietveld Techniques."

Introduction to the Synthesis and Properties of Nanoparticles

Submitted by Brian Johnson / St. John's University/College of St. Benedict on Fri, 04/30/2010 - 09:59
Description

This activity leads students through the synthesis of compound nanoparticles and examines how key physical properties such as band gap vary with particle size.  Prior to doing this, students should have some exposure to the structure of solids, band theory, and band gap as a periodic property (see, for example, Lisensky, et al. J Chem.

IUCr Teaching Resources

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Thu, 08/13/2009 - 07:26
Description

In the past, I've always found the IUCr crystallographic pamphlets to be useful when teaching diffraction. They've reorganized their website to make their educational resources easier to find. On this link, you can find the IUCr teaching pamphlets, a short description of how to grow crystals,  and other crystallography web resources.

 Teaching Pamphlet Topics

Sol-Gel Silica: Nanoarchitectures of Being and Nothingness

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 16:59
Description

In this lab experiment, students use sol-gel chemistry to prepare silica gel monoliths from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS).  Carrying out the hydrolysis and condensation under acid-catalyzed vs.

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