The subject of pharmaceutical research has traditionally focused on drugs with systemic effects. However, contemporary approaches aspire to achieve targeted drug delivery, with the aim of combatting infections with a precise immune response. Active substances are encapsulated in nanoparticles, transported through the body, and selectively released…

A major challenge when designing new experiments for the general chemistry laboratory is introducing students to the necessary techniques while keeping the experiment engaging and accessible. This work presents a new multiweek activity designed to introduce students to advanced instrumentation in the form of high-performance liquid chromatography…

An integrated laboratory experience in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is designed for undergraduate and graduate students in chemistry, materials science, and other related fields. Focusing on ubiquitous Si, Cu, and their common oxides, students are guided to characterize a series of standard materials by XPS to understand the fundamentals…

Student engagement in evidence-based argumentation plays a central role in science education. These skills can be developed when identifying organic molecules from the spectroscopic data. Molecular structural analysis fosters deep procedural knowledge, as it involves (i) flexibly applying a set of procedures to extract information from spectra,…

As the 21st century progresses, we are increasingly reminded of the importance of and need for green chemistry, which also leads to the corresponding need for green chemistry education. The UC Berkeley Department of Chemistry developed a green chemistry laboratory curriculum-the "General Chemistry Green Curriculum" ("GC[superscript…

Owing to the critical role of stereochemistry in biotechnology, medicine, and industry, it must be well represented in undergraduate lab curricula. To achieve these stereochemical laboratory requirements without sacrificing existing lab techniques, we modified two standard laboratory experiments to include chiral GC analysis as follows. (1) The…

Herein we describe an accessible and safe at-home experiment to separate lycopene from tomatoes via liquid-liquid extraction. As a qualitative experiment, it is a canonically elementary instance for high school students to digest the conception of miscibility, immiscibility, and density difference of the two solvents. This experiment was performed…

We are all users of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the electrochemical energy storage devices that revolutionized our life, making the diffusion of portable and wearable devices possible and now driving the switch from a combustion engine to electric vehicles in the transportation sector. These positive trends are however leading to two whiplash…

Laboratory chemical synthesis research typically lacks the preplanned hazard responses found in production-scale industrial laboratories. Chemical safety management is a known challenge in education-based facilities, which is concerning for academic and national laboratory environments working with inexperienced student researchers. At the…

Stereoselective reduction of ketones to alcohols using baker's yeast is a classic experiment in the undergraduate laboratory. Here we illustrate the reduction of racemic ethyl 2-fluoro-3-oxobutanoate to the corresponding alcohol using a set of four commercially available ketoreductases (KREDs). The reaction sets two stereocenters with four…

A simple demonstration adaptable to classroom conditions is presented, which involves the preparation of raffle tickets using filter paper and the solution of selected fluorophores. With an appropriate dilution, the text written on the tickets is not visible to the naked eye; however, it becomes readable once put under a UV lamp. Besides being a…

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous materials composed of metal ions and organic ligands. These materials have garnered significant attention due to their wide-ranging applications, such as the capture of hazardous molecules, catalysis, production of value-added compounds, and detection of ions or molecules in water. Despite their immense…

The variation in the transference number of H[superscript +] (aq) is investigated for different HCl solution concentrations. The method for scribing graduations on electromigration tubes is modified to decrease the error in experimental measurements, and metallic copper is used as the anode to reduce the toxicity and environmental impact of the…

Teacher educators have focused on designing learning environments 'for' rather than 'with' teacher candidates. However, a co-design collaboration with teacher candidates has been recently suggested as a critical feature for effective teacher education programs. In this study, a co-design team, including preservice science teachers (PSTs) as…

Photochemical reactions are initiated by the absorption of light, triggering the chemical reactions and resulting in the formation of products. These reactions are generally performed using a freely available renewable source of energy-solar energy. Solar simulators mimic both the ultraviolet and visible regions of sunlight and hence can serve as…