After talking to some of the others in the lab where I am working, I have begun to realize that a part of working in labs, and with research, is having machines break down. Multiple times, different machines that I, or the others in the lab, were planning to use would be down for maintenance or other issues. This usually caused some change in plans, or schedule, as the only option was to wait for the machine to be back up.
In the last couple of weeks my work has slowed down quite a bit because of this exact situation. I have been waiting on the Inductively Coupled Plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) as the machine has been down for a while. It is used to determine the amount of selenium in the solution, and is the main method used to deduce whether the LDH is working when tested. I have been able to work on some other things, but the next steps in the process are dependent on how the LDH is working, so I wait. However, I have been able to work on other syntheses that do not require the ICP, which is very nice.
To end on a positive note, the sunsets here in Phoenix can be quite beautiful, so I will share a few photos here.
Patience & lovely photos!
Thank you! Patience really is a necessary part of the process
I did an experiment the first week that had to be basically thrown out because the machine needed a new part. I understand the struggle!