DAY 1 The Adventure Begins

Today is our first day at NTU. We had the privilege of being mentored by Dr Nathan. 

We will be learning about nanomaterials, which are notable for their small feature size of less than 100 nanometers. They have a wide range of properties and uses, but we will be focusing on their application in energy storage. Energy storage, visualized physically, would take the form of our batteries and capacitors.

Living in a technologically forward society like Singapore, we find batteries all around us, yet its ubiquity means we tend to take batteries for granted. To have a better understanding and appreciation for batteries, we did our research on the internal workings of these 'energetic' wonders of technology. Firstly, we started with the anatomy of a battery. Housed in a plastic or metal casing, we have the electrodes (Cathode and Anode), where the electrochemical reactions occur. A separator acts as a barrier or membrane, to prevent contact between the electrodes, whilst allowing electrical charges to pass freely. With the electrodes connected through a load (like a light bulb), electrochemical reactions take place at the two electrodes, causing a flow of electrons through the load, lighting up the light bulb. 

Following are some pictures we got from the tour around the lab:

Solutions are mixed by a magnetic stir bar. The bar spins when placed on a magnetic field stirring the solution.

This table comes in handy, reminding us of the chemical hazards involved when incompatible chemicals are mixed. Safety always comes first!!

A year's supply of toilet paper

The Glovebox (A.K.A The Hug Machine)

This is the battery our mentor was working on

The ball mill - One way to produce nanomaterials is by placing the substance together with magnetic ball bearings in this machine. While in the machine, the metal balls in the container rotate and crush the substance into smaller and finer particles, producing nanoparticles.

This metallic container is used for hydrothermal synthesis, which is another method of
preparing nanoparticles.

The Oven - Used specifically for drying glassware only