Digestion is a fundamentally important process for an individual's life. However, the physical process of digestion is hidden inside the body, making it challenging to understand and a particularly difficult topic for students to learn in the classroom. Traditional approaches to teaching body processes include a mixture of textbook teaching and…

To optimize learning experience and improve learning performance, current virtual experimental systems usually assist students with stepwise guidance before operations and feedback after them. However, stepwise and excessive guidance can lead to student overreliance, while late feedback cannot avoid potential errors during experimental learning.…

An engaging, simple, and cost-effective laboratory experiment has been implemented at our institution to teach undergraduate chemistry students about cyclic voltammetry and electrochemistry in general. This experiment involves the application of cyclic voltammetry to analyze a sample of acetaminophen (APAP) with the objective of determining the…

For the past century, humans have been increasingly dependent on plastics, but have not developed adequate disposal practices. In this lab, students are asked whether burning plastic for energy seems like a reasonable disposal technique. To answer the chemical aspects of this question, students use bomb calorimetry to quantify the combustion…

Virtual laboratory simulations can contribute to the educational objectives related to practical classes, especially in situations of online or hybrid teaching. We present a proposal for laboratory activity involving the quantification of proteins with the biuret reaction and measurement by visible light spectrometry. The student will be able to…

Nanoscale phenomena are under increasingly intense investigation both in academia and industry. The unique physical and chemical properties stemming from their high surface area and confined space lead to properties that are distinct from atomic and bulk materials. Students need experience in nanoscience to enter this growing field of nanoscience…

A series of hands-on experiments including the synthesis and application of flexible, conductive silver-nanopaste were designed to gain knowledge of conductive soft nanomaterial and the synthesis and the application of silver nanopaste (Ag nanopaste). The aim of this laboratory experiment is to provide undergraduate/graduate students an…

A laboratory experiment to study the effect of soil amendments in the bioremediation of polluted soils is described. Students extracted and measured 0.01 M CaCl[subscript 2]-soluble Cd, EDTA-soluble Cd, and DTPA-soluble Cd concentrations in contaminated soils, treated with a liming material (mussel shell), and/or with an organic amendment (pine…

Microplastics (MPs) are small plastic particles (<5 mm in size) that are ubiquitous in the environment and have even been detected in bottled water. In this laboratory experiment, suited for instrumental or environmental chemistry classes, students detect and quantify MPs in bottled water by filtering and staining them with Nile red dye prior…

In the past decade, C-H functionalization has been a very active topic of research in both academia and industry. When a H atom is replaced by an aryl (or heteroaryl) group, the transformation is termed "direct arylation". This approach to the formation of key (hetero)aryl-(hetero)aryl bonds is complementary to traditional methods, such…

Undergraduate students in an environmental chemistry laboratory course were taught QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe), a sample preparation procedure that is commonly used in pesticide laboratories involving an acetonitrile salt-out extraction of fresh produce samples followed by solid-phase dispersive cleanup using a…

We present the use of an oxygen tolerant controlled radical polymerization (photoinduced electron/energy transfer-reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization, PET-RAFT) as a simple method for preparing controlled radical polymers in an undergraduate laboratory. Unlike conventional techniques, PET-RAFT polymerizations require no…

Exciting developments in the field of Green Chemistry spur the continuous innovation of experiments in the teaching laboratory. Beyond learning practical techniques, students can critically assess experiments using relevant metrics to propose further improvements and identify the most important interconnected impacts of these alternative products…

Dendrite growth affects material systems across applications as diverse as lithium batteries, organic light emitting diodes, turbine blades, and biological sensors. Their unique crystal structure and ability to physically see growth make for a unique undergraduate laboratory experience. This experiment uses dendrite growth to explore the physical…

A simple, cheap, and easy to make ionisation chamber to investigate the decay of Radon-220. Requires no expensive meters, experiment is carried out using thoriated gas mantles to produce the Radon-220, and the chambers are used with low cost digital multimeters. An opportunity for 16-18 students to carry out a hands-on experiment with an ionising…