Current and Ongoing Research Projects

• Project 1: Social Media Videos About Chirality and Significant Figures: Increasing the General Public's Interest and Knowledge about Chemistry, 2023-present. "Chiral" means hand in Greek. Hands are what are called "nonsuperimposable mirror images." That means that hands are made out of the same stuff, but that your right and left hand are not identical- you cannot turn your right hand around to make it exactly like your left hand. Hands are chiral.

Chemists know this because they take organic chemistry and learn about Fischer projections and optical activity. Biologists know this because 19 of the 20 amino acids are chiral. Chirality is everywhere in biology. Biochemists, of course, know, too. But most other STEM majors don't know about this, and it is a increase students' interest in STEM majors. Everyone has hands!

What does it mean to measure something? Scientists know that each number in a scientific measurement has meaning. 41.60 g of NaCl is different than 41.6 g of NaCl. But how and why? The answer is significant figures. 

In this project, we organize the educational materials about chirality and signficant figures currently available, and then create educational materials (handouts, posters, videos, short presentations) that can be used to help students start to understand what chirality is and how it relates to both everyday life and chemistry and biology. This project has recently been expanded to cover all general chemistry topics.

• Project 2: Measuring the Refractive Indices of Nonideal Binary solutions: The refractive index is the ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a material. A non-ideal solution is a solution in which physical properties of the solution do not vary linearly between the pure component properties. Many industrially important solutions are binary solutions. For example, hand sanitizers are, basically, binary solutions of water and either ethanol or 2-propanol. We propose to measure the refractive indices of binary solutions over the full range of solution compositions. Our goal is to understand the structures of these solutions. 

Pictured below: Students from Project 1 during the Fall 2023 semester 

Prior Research Projects

• Frugal Science: Partial Molar Volumes of Binary Solutions Based on Simple Measurements, 2022-2023. Frugal Science addresses the topic of “how do we make science accessible to people around the world.” We report a method for measuring the partial molar volumes of binary solutions that is significantly simpler than methods previously reported, thus making these types of measurements more accessible to students in colleges and high schools in the U.S. and around the world.
  
  Partial molar volumes are used in industry to account for the fact that 50.00 mL of water added to 50.00 mL of ethanol only produces 96.40 mL of solution, a difference that is very important if you are making products like hand sanitizer or vodka. We report our results for the partial molar volumes of binary solutions and compare them to literature values.

• Using a Handheld Refractometer in Remote Environments: Estimation of the Partial Molar Volumes of Non-Ideal Solutions, 2021-2022. In a typical physical chemistry experiment, students measure the partial molar volumes of binary solutions using a pycnometer, an instrument that measures the density of a solution with a high level of accuracy. We will adapt this procedure to allow the partial molar volumes to be estimated using a handheld refractometer that measures the refractive indices of binary solutions. From refractive indices, we will estimate partial molar volumes. We will do this in a remote environment using common household chemicals and in a lab environment using more hazardous chemicals. Further, we will also attempt to estimate the partial molar volumes using a low budget pycnometer (similar to the traditional experiment. Finally, we will compare our new methods to literature values.

• At-Home General Chemistry Labs that Teach the Same Skills as Face-to-Face Labs, 2020-present. In collaboration with Dr. Tonya Atkins, developed 6 core labs, an at-home lab kit, and the associated videos so that students did labs at home. These labs teach 46 skills that are equivalent to when these skills are performed in face-to-face labs, Labs include Basic Techniques (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsFGnU6F5Pc), Calibration of a Pipette and a Graduated Cylinder (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH4JpWB99sI), Density of Saline Solutions (https://youtu.be/vE_DWe6vcUw), Decomposition of Baking Soda (https://youtu.be/slxKzfdkpIA), pH Titration of Acetic Acid with Sodium Carbonate (https://youtu.be/EVXdrGqyB9E), and Calorimetry (https://youtu.be/VG41qjaHDhM). In the process of developing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that can be completed at home.

• Integration of A Refractometer into the General Chemistry Curriculum, 2020-present. We propose to develop a lab for the General Chemistry curriculum that involves the relationship between the refractive index of solutions and the chemistry of these solutions. This lab will involve reverse engineering a refractometer, using the refractometer to measure solutions, and then suggesting improvements. As such, it will involve numerous points at which students can think critically about what they are learning in their general chemistry class.
  
  Miller, W. J. W.; Torres-Rodas, K.; Waxman, S. W.; Allen, D.; Turman, J.; Bartholomew, A. J. “Using a Handheld Refractometer in Remote Environments to Measure the Refractive Indices of a Variety of Solutions: Sucrose, Coffee, Methanol/Water, and 2-Propanol/Water,” J. Chem. Ed., 98, 2730-2734, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00012.

• Hand-Powered Centrifuge, 2018-2019. In collaboration with Prof. Karen McDonald and Dr. Somen Nandi at the UC Davis Department of Chemical Engineering, students 3D printed, evaluated, and modelled the ability of a hand-powered centrifuge to separate materials necessary to purify pharmaceutical compounds. Applications of this technology were in low-cost and/or low-power regions including on Mars.
  
  Pictured left to right: Jorge Rodriguez, Dylan Estrada, Dylan Beck, and Brandon Gregersen (not shown: UCD graduate student Matt McNulty)

• Packing of Two Differently-Sized Solid Particles, 2018-2019. In this project, students ground roasted coffee beans to obtain two different sizes of particles using a cone-and-burr grinder. A cone-and-burr grinder typically has 40 different settings. Students determined the average sizes of the particles and their volume upon mixing. The hypothesis was that differently-sized particles will have less volume when mixed than separately. A model was developed to account for the packing of these particles.

Pictured left to right: Chris Burlando and Alanna Noguchi