• Question: What is the best experiment you have done?

    Asked by anon-186960 to Laura on 6 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Laura Kent

      Laura Kent answered on 6 Nov 2018:

      Thats an interesting question! I have done lots of different experiments that I have thought were really cool. One of my favourite reactions through my PhD was the production of nano-rods using a hydrothermal reaction. A hydrothermal reaction is where you grow crystals in a pressure vessel known as an autoclave. Inside the vessel is a reactant material which in my case was titanium chloride (TiCl4) and water. You can heat up the vessel to 180C which causes the pressure to increase. Once cooled, a powder is left over which consist of nano materials (really really small – a sheet of paper is about 100000 nanometers thick!). You can get some really amazing shapes – even nanoflowers and nanocubes!

Comments

  • Photo: Marton

    Marton commented on :

    Sadly I haven’t done actual real-life experiments in a long time – most of my work is done on a computer. But back when I was doing my undergrad degree we had a microbiology class that lasted a number of weeks, and we made sauerkraut as part of the class.

    These (fermented) foods are made by the bacteria that live on the cabbage leaves, and it was really cool to track these tiny living things do their job week by week. We tracked how the acidity changed, how the leaves slowly started to soften, and we tried to identify the bacteria too. It was really entertaining (and delicious)!