Electronic Absorption Spectroscopy of Aquated Transition Metal Ions

Submitted by Zachary Tonzetich / University of Texas at San Antonio on Thu, 01/23/2014 - 12:07
Description

I developed this laboratory experiment for our instrumental analysis class. The course is taken by junior and senior chemistry majors, who for the most part have had one inorganic chemistry course and some physical chemistry. The laboratory is operationally very simple and has students record the UV-vis spectra of transition metal sulfate salts in water using volumetric technique. They record the molar absorptivities for each peak and use this data to determine the number of waters of hydration for each salt by comparing with literature absorptivity values.

The Atomic Building

Submitted by Aman Sra / University of Texas at Dallas on Mon, 01/13/2014 - 13:01
Description

Description: This is an in class activity I use for first year general chemistry students to understand the relationship between quantum numbers and the structure of the atom.

 

Crystal Field Theory: Analysis of the Iron Sites in Gillespite

Submitted by Zachary Tonzetich / University of Texas at San Antonio on Fri, 01/03/2014 - 17:36
Description

This in-class activity explores the electronic structure and spectroscopy of the square-planar iron(II) sites in the mineral gillespite through a crystal field theory approach. This activity is designed for an advanced inorganic chemistry course where group theory and more advanced topics in ligand field theory are taught. The activity is based on the work detailed in the paper: Burn, R. G.; Clark, M. G.; Stone, A. J. Inorg.

A Schaaking development of colloidal hybrid nanoparticles

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 10:52
Description

This literature discussion was created at the NSF-TUES sponsored workshop at Penn State, June 2013.  It is based on the article from Ray Schaak’s group (Buck, Matthew R.; Bondi, James F.; Schaak, Raymond E. “A total-synthesis framework for the construction of high-order colloidal hybrid nanoparticles” Nature Chemistry, 2012 4, 37-44, DOI: 10.1038/NCHEM.1195), which Ray presented at the workshop.

Tuning the band gap of CZT(S,Se) nanocrystals by anion substitution

Submitted by Benny Chan / The College of New Jersey on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 09:45
Description

The paper from the Prieto group, Riha, S. C.; Parkinson, B. A.; Prieto, A. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 15272-15275, is proposed to be an excellent literature article for achieving several learning goals in the understanding of fundamental solid state and materials chemistry. The learning object was developed as a part of the 2013 VIPEr workshop and has not been tested in the classroom. We have developed a set of discussion questions that can be used as a guide for the students.

Concept mapping the primary literature: "Compositionally Tunable Cu2ZnSn(S1-x,Sex)4 nanocrystals"

Submitted by Benny Chan / The College of New Jersey on Thu, 06/27/2013 - 09:26
Description

Concept maps are a visual way to organize and represent information. In this literature discussion, we introduce a novel technique for teaching literature analysis to students where concept maps are used for establishing relationships between the key ideas, theories, procedures, and methods of a proposed literature article. Using the article “Compositionally Tunable Cu2ZnSn(S1-xSex)4 Nanocrystals: Probing the Effect of Se-Inclusion in Mixed Chalcogenide Thin Films” (Riha, S.C.; Parkinson, B.A.; Prieto, A.L. J. Am. Chem.

Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Spinel Nanoparticles

Submitted by Anne Bentley / Lewis & Clark College on Wed, 06/26/2013 - 22:15
Description

This learning object centers around an article published fairly early on in the history of nanoscience (Sun, et al. “Monodisperse MFe2O4 (M = Fe, Co, Mn) Nanoparticles” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 273-279.

Literature summary through student presentation - free choice of topic.

Submitted by Cameron Gren / University of North Alabama on Wed, 06/26/2013 - 07:59
Description

(1) Student choses and reads a journal article of his/her choice that is related to a topic we have discussed during the semester. (i.e. atomic structure, MO theory, group theory, solid state structure, band theory, coordination chemistry, organometallics, catalysis). Suggested journals include, but are not limited to JACS, Inorg. Chem., Organometallics, Angew. Chem., JOMC, Chem. Comm.)

(2) Student answers the following questions regarding their chosen article:

    (a) Describe, in 1 or 2 sentences the goal of this work. 

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and its applications to LFT

Submitted by Karen McFarlane Holman / Willamette University on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 09:43
Description

This series of (not five) slides introduces X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), specifically XANES (X-ray absorption near-edge structure).  There is background in basic theory, the general technique including synchrotron radiation sources, and two specific examples from the literature that apply XANES spectra to (1) oxidation state and effective nuclear charge of sulfur in various compounds such as sulfates, and (2) measurement of energy levels in MO diagrams of coordination compounds (i.e., LFT).  Point (2) is analogous to showing PES peaks alongside MO diagrams for diatomics.

Trends in Measured Redox Potentials and Computed Molecular Orbital Energies of Derivatized Buckminsterfullerenes

Submitted by Robert Q. Topper / Cooper Union on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 01:55
Description

In this project students are asked to reproduce published calculations of molecular orbital energies of a series of derivatized fullerenes and correlate them with published reduction and oxidation potentials obtained from cyclic voltammetry. The particular subset of the derivatives to be studied are chosen by the student and this choice is part of the learning activity. The students then carry out additional calculations using other theoretical models to see whether they improve the correlation between computed and experimental properties.

Subscribe to Electronic structure