Glassware Is Back To Basics. Tips for Base bath

If I were Dr. Seuss,  I will describe our occupation like this:

We are experimental chemists 
We do synthesis
We measure the properties of the products
And we clean up the flask in the final acts

Yes, cleaning up the flask is a vital part of your experiment. We use base bath every day. But, because it is an everyday thing, and all members of the research group use it, there are some issues you need to know.

(i)    How to make base bath
First, take extra precautions. Wear thick black gloves, rubber apron, eye protection, and a face shield. Mix approximately 200–300g of solid KOH, 4 L of isopropyl alcohol, and 1L of deionized water.
(ii) How often would you replace once a semester
When you see dirt in the base bath, you need to replace the bath. Otherwise, renew the base bath once per semester.
(iii) Put the clean glassware in the base bath
Basebath is the place where clean glassware becomes super clean. Rinse the glassware thoroughly both inside and outside and brush if necessary. If you put a flask that you used for a reaction that is new to you, you should return to the base bath to make sure that it was enough. Sometimes, transparent chemicals were stuck inside and reduced. In that case, take the glassware out and clean it using brushing, sonication, or acid solution, and put it back into the base bath.
(iv) Teamwork
Basebath is a symbol of cooperation. Even if you did not do any experiments for a week, if it is your turn, you should clean the glassware.
(v) Log note
A sign-up form is an excellent way to remind people of glass-cleaning duty.

My Google search revealed a lot of procedures like this. You should do your own Google search, too.

LMFGTFY

Good luck with your basic washing skills!

Two Solutions to Make Glass Super Clean

My hair is crazily curly, and the amount is a lot, so my poor sink drain gets stuck periodically. I buy drain cleaner on Amazon, which is acid that melts the hair.

In nanocrystal research, the synthesized products often stick to the inside wall of a flask. It is usually difficult to clean up just by rinsing or brushing. In that case, the acid would be the right solution (double meaning!!! Hola!).

Here, I introduce two acid solutions that are useful to glass washing: aqua regia and piranha solution. Both are extremely dangerous, and you need to consult with the environment, health, and safety (EHS) division of your school on how to deal with it and how to dispose of it.

Aqua regia: To dissolve metal nanocrystals, especially gold. If physical
How to make: Mix nitric acid and hydrochloric acid at a ratio of 1:3
(Further good reading in here.  Check this out)

Piranha solution: Clean up the organic molecules on the glass; after applying piranha solution, your glass should have a clean and hydrophilic surface
How to make: Mix of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide

Hotdogs in a piranha solution. You see how strong and dangerous it is.  Be super careful.

Good luck with super cleaning with acid!

Four Things You Must Know About Cleaning Glassware

You may have experienced a “glassware is not clean” incident. Some might consider circumstantial evidence to hunt for the culprit. Some might scream at a group meeting. The criminal is still at large. You will never know who did it, and the case will be closed.

It is difficult to know who did it because the culprit did NOT intentionally do it. However, it is vital to raise awareness of cleaning glassware. Here, I prepared a checklist.

This is the scene of the incident!!!!!

Glassware Washing Check List
1.    Before you put your glassware away, clean it as much as possible.
Basebath is not a magical solution that will make dirt on your glassware warp into a black hole. It just removes organic molecules. Before putting away your glassware, rinse it with solvent, rub the glass with a paper, then brush with soap or sonicate.

2. Do not rely only on chemistry
Rubbing glass with a brush with soap are the most effective for removing stains. Even if you are sooooo into chemistry, you must admit the world is much more than chemistry.

3. Outside is just as important as inside
A chemical reaction happens inside the flask, so people sometimes underrate the importance of the outside cleanliness.  In the first place, how can you know that inside is clean when the outside is dirty. Clean up everything. If you label your flask, strip off everything.

4. Check your glass in a base bath if the reaction is your first time
In a synthesis, sometimes you accidentally created something you could not see with your own eyes. You might clean up your flasks until it becomes crystal clear, but it does not assure that your flask IS clean. So, if you run a new reaction, 10 min after you put your flask into the base bath, check back if it is still clear or if you see black or colored materials that were reduced from a transparent product.

Good luck with your thorough washing!

How to Conduct Best TEM Measurement

We love TEM! (Image is from here)

Photography is a popular hobby. People take good pictures of nature, showing their beautiful souls to appreciate mother nature. They can take a good picture of their friends, which is an excellent way to make friends happy. In contrast, I, an introvert postdoc, love listen to music, read books, and watch movies. How nerdy I am! Wait! I have a similar jam: photography using electron microscopes. (Damn it! Still, it sounds nerdy.) But I truly love this technique. One of the advantages of today’s inorganic nanocrystal researches is that you can visualize it using electron microscopes. This is the advantage that biochemistry or organic research doesn’t offer at this point. Of course, electron microscopes are getting better and better, e.g., cryo-electron microscopes. We will see what we will see.

That is why electron microscope data can be the core data in your research if you do nanoscience. And, if it is the core data, the quality better is excellent. Here are some tips:

(i)    Astigmatism
Check the stigmatism when you do the measurement. During operation, stigmation cannot be avoided, but it is corrected (just like mistakes in life). Check the live FFT and then tune the condenser and objective stigmation.

TEM images of nanocrystals (top) and the corresponding FFT patterns (bottom). In the center of the FFT patterns, the white is spherically distributed.  Not so good TEM images give oval shapes due to astigmation

(ii) Know your sample
On a TEM sample, dirt can lead to contamination. Try to make pure samples on the TEM grid. Do not cherry-pick, but do not focus on junk, either. TEM only presents highly localized information, so do not be fooled.
(iii) Adjust the brightness and contrast
Adjust the brightness and contrast to show the best pictures. Images provided by the software of the TEM might not be well adjusted; thus, use the brightness and contrast to create the best presentation.

Good luck on your TEM measurement!

IT Literacy 101: Backup and Web Security

You are moving out of your town. You have to leave your important friends who were dear to you. You appreciate the way they were. You have to move on and will never return to the past.  You are going through changes.

Similar sentiment will return to you when you lose all of your data on your laptop or lab’s computer. You cannot return to the days when your data were still alive. A cliché Ph.D. tragedy entitled “My dissertation was gone with the wind one week before the submission date” still happens. Can I convince you just how important it is to back up your data regularly?

Not only back up data, but there are also several things that you should know regarding computer security in the lab. Here are some examples:

•    Back up periodically!
You have to back up your data to an external hard drive at least once a week.
•    Do not let a public computer remember your password!

SAY NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, if it is a public computer!!!!!

•    Do not leave log-in information on a public computer.
These rules are not only for you. From your account, your collaborator’s data might be accessed. Although you know that all of your friends in the lab don’t do anything harmful, it remains your responsibility if something happens.

Good luck with your IT security!