When you purchase through liaison on our situation , we may earn an affiliate charge . Here ’s how it mould .
This Behind the Scenes article was cater to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation .
Crystals made from childlike organic compounds are found everywhere , even in dyestuff for dismal blue jean , and are significant for developing the scientific foundation behind constituent electronics . constituent electronics can be chintzily and easily produced because they can be print onto a substrate , much like one would print a composition or picture using an " ink " that is a mixture of organic materials . They are also flexible : ideate a digital newspaper which could be roll up and place in your backpack . Organic electronicsoffer such possibilities . study how properties count on the molecule which builds the crystallization and the resultingcrystal structurewill aid in develop this technology . During my summer stay at Nanyang Technological University ( NTU ) in Singapore as a National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes bookman , I studied the outgrowth and properties of single crystal made from simple constitutional compounds . My confrere and I were able to get single crystals from a variety of atom . We grew the crystals using an aura - close vapour bedchamber . First we purified the powder which carry the material we were studying , heating the meaning to almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit . Then , we position the textile in a growth subway where they evaporated and jaunt down the tube to a cooler slur where crystal could imprint . We studied the crystal using fluid chromatography , which separates molecules base on their chemical reaction with piddle , and glow , which works by shine a sure colouring material of light on the fabric then discover what colour it shines back . Using these proficiency , we study the crystals and discovered signs ofoxidationin a particular sample which has not antecedently been take note . We hump that it was oxidation because over the path of several weeks after growing the crystals , the color of light pass off would commute . In other crystal , oxidation has been testify to have a substantial impact on their performance , so studying this phenomenon will pay some beneficial insight . In plus to the inquiry in the chemical group , I was able-bodied to work out with an ultrafast - laser skill grouping at NTU , which is very standardised to the inquiry I do at the University of North Carolina now . Ultrafast laser researchers uselaser pulsesthat are femtosecond in length , to meditate in real prison term how molecules react to light , such as vibrate and change molecule anatomical structure . One femtosecond is one 1,000,000,000,000,000 of a bit . We studied some of the samples together , and presently my advisor , Laurie McNeil , who also read the optical property of constitutive crystals , is work at NTU and is able to do experiment with them . The sample I produce last summer will be studied for my dissertation inquiry , and I hope to go back to Singapore to grow more samples and visit old friends . Although much work was accomplished inside the research laboratory , just as much fun was accomplished outside . With my colleague and the other graduate students from the United States , I was able-bodied to visit interesting places and historical sites ( some more authentic than others ) , essay all the amazing food , and populate in a foreign place for the first clock time in my life . The slap-up thing about Singapore is how safe it is , and the melting pot of masses who inhabit there . The metropolis ’s primary population is Chinese , but there are solid numbers racket of people from Malaysia and India . The cool experience was taking the " jungle train " through Malayasia to the Perhentian Islands , near the Thai delimitation . At the islands we went snorkeling and saw sharks , swam with ocean turtles and observed dozens of marine specie . We ate delightful , local cuisine at the beachside eating house every dark and hiked and kayak around the islands . It was one of the most beautiful places I ’ve ever been : you could literally see 20 to 30 feet in the water when snorkeling . It was a marvelous experience and I ’m extremely thankful for the chance to have lived , studied and experienced animation in such an interesting place .
Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, a compound used to fertilize plants.
