JJ12s30 @ MSE 2013: Day 4 @ MSE, 6th June 2013

On the way to NTU, Yihong and Yujia happened to be on the same bus but Yujia did not see Yihong. After Yujia met up with Minzhi at the NTU LT1, Yihong followed them silently until they discovered the stalker behind them!
WOOHOO!

In the morning, we were doing research on chemistry in the computer studio. It was very productive! We had our lunch at Canteen 2. Today, there were no flies swarming around the table--- because they were buzzing around the food... ( at the yong tau foo stall).

The first machine we saw was the AFM (Atomic Force Microscope). It uses a needle around the width of one atom to probe the surface of the nanomaterial to determine its morphology. It is VERY expensive and sensitive to movements, so it needs a cover to prevent vibrations. This machine is better than SEM as it can detect the morphology of insulators while the SEM cannot.

AFM

There is another machine which looks like those used in gyms, but it is actually used to test the elasticity of the nanomaterial.

We also saw a lot of machines used for nanomaterial research.

We went into the spectroscopy room too! This room is very special as the lighting in the room is yellowish-green (BUT NOT CHLORINE) to provide a suitable condition for the experiments conducted inside it.

Listening to Wanru's explanation

Yellow room!

A liquid nitrogen tank is used to cool down the substances as the boiling point is -78 degrees Celsius. Care must be taken to ensure the liquid nitrogen must not leak out or you might get frostbite or might asphyxiate from inhalation of the gas.

Liquid nitrogen tank

The TGA (thermal gravimetric analysis) system is used to determine the component of the sample by measuring the weight before and after thermal decomposition at a certain temperature.