Chemistry is not my forte (It’s one of only two Cs I’ve gotten) so there’s definitely times in the lab where I’ve felt completely out of my element. I’ve learned a great deal both on my own, trying to give myself a crash course of sorts, and in the lab from all the grad students (specially my mentor) and even from some of the other interns that are actually studying chemistry. I can honestly say I’m incredibly happy to be in the lab.
Since my last post I’ve begun to learn about characterization techniques such as XRD and have applied them to the nanoparticles I’ve synthesized. I also had the chance to look at some of my NPs under a Scanning Electron Microscope which is pictured above. I’m also starting to get to the main parts of my project; I’ve begun synthesis of Boehmite and will begin adsorption experiments soon. My mentor says the next weeks will begin to move faster which is both terrifying and exiting.
