Hi everyone! This past week has been incredibly busy, but I’ve had so much fun. Because this was the last week, we tried to fit in as much as possible (within reason). We have all been rushing, trying to finish lab work and posters.
Lab Work
Titanium dioxide slide.
I focused on making and experimenting with samples this week. Unfortunately, I was unable to receive spectra from the zinc oxide, aluminum oxide, and iron oxide samples. Each is a slurry dried onto a microscope slide and heated in the vacuum oven. First, I remade the aluminum oxide sample and doubled the amount of slurry, then remade the titanium dioxide slide due to cracking and separation. NMR tubes are preferred for samples because they are easily aligned in the holder. With slides, there is one angle that reflects the laser into the following lenses and spectrometer.
First (right) and second (left) aluminum oxide samples.
When both revised samples didn’t work, I went back and began using NMR tubes again. This time, titanium dioxide was mixed with sulfuric acid to break down the pigment and make it smoother, then diluted with water. The new titanium dioxide spectrum was much less intense than before, suggesting an alignment issue. Backtracking, I used cyclohexane and checked each portion of the spectrometer for misalignment to fix anything out of place. My next steps would be to try each powder with the same, or a similar, process, but I ran out of time. I would also experiment more with each to improve the signal.
My friend Taarika standing in front of our posters!
For my presentation, I finished my poster on Thursday. I spent most of the day correcting mistakes, improving the design, and figuring out how to save it as a smaller file. I hoped to have more spectra before submitting the final draft, but I needed more time to improve my samples. That day, we printed our posters to be 36×48 inches and picked them up before leaving the lab. The group set up posters in the Flemming lobby, the building across from Professor Baldelli’s lab. I presented to professors, college students, and a few parents as well. I presented on the use of Raman spectroscopy to identify pigments. I’m not sure the text is legible, but I’m proud of this poster! Afterward, we went to the ice cream shop on campus and went to the Waffle Bus to celebrate. Overall, the presentation was nerve-wracking, but enjoyable!
My poster!
Adventures
Last Sunday, everyone went to the museum district. It was the only trip where we had everyone from Welch there! We each split into groups. A few went to the Museum of Natural Science, and a few went to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH). At first, I thought I could go to two museums that day, but the MFAH was much larger than I thought. I could’ve spent the whole day in there! When we left to grab dinner, we only got through two of four buildings. I could’ve spent the whole day in there, it was awesome! That night, we got dinner at SALA and ice cream. I’m noticing a trend, so much ice cream!
Today, everyone but Noah and I moved out of the dorms and went to Flemming for the closing ceremony. Each intern gave a 5-minute presentation, or elevator talk, about our lab work and ate lunch. I wasn’t able to see everyone’s posters on Friday, so it was cool to see what other interns learned and did!
I am so thankful for my time here, getting to meet new people, work with the laser, and getting experience in a lab. I also learned more about being on my own and experiencing college, although I’m excited to see my family and go home. I’m sad to be leaving and miss my new friends, but I wouldn’t trade this for anything!
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