Measuring the Henry's Law Constant for Carbon Dioxide and Water with UV-visible Absorption Spectroscopy.

The Henry's law constant defines the solubility of a gas in a liquid solution. In this study, a new method for measuring the Henry's law constant is described. This new colorimetric method is suited for gases which react with water to form acidic or basic solutions when they dissolve, and makes use of measuring the concentration of two forms of a colorimetric pH indicator. By measuring the concentration of the protonated and deprotonated forms of the indicator with UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, the concentration of the hydronium in solution was determined. After determining the hydronium concentration, the equilibrium expression for the dissolved gas reacting with water was solved to determine the concentration of the dissolved gas. The concentration of the dissolved gas and the measured partial pressure of the dissolved gas at equilibrium were then used to calculate the Henry's law constant for the gas. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated by measuring the Henry's law constant for carbon dioxide in water over a range of pressures (0.680 - 5.10 atm). The results obtained with this method are comparable to the value for the Henry's law constant that have been previously reported via more traditional methods, and yielded values for the Henry's law constant for carbon dioxide that ranged from 3.45 × 10-2 to 3.99 × 10-2 M atm-1.

Supplemental Learning in the Laboratory: An Innovative Approach for Evaluating Knowledge and Method Transfer.

The Multi-Rule Quality Control System (MRQCS) is a tool currently employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate and compare laboratory performance. We have applied the MRQCS to a comparison of instructor and computer-led pre-laboratory lectures for a supplemental learning experiment. Students in general chemistry and analytical chemistry from both two- and four-year institutions performed two laboratory experiments as part of their normal laboratory curriculum. The first laboratory experiment was a foundational learning experiment in which all the students were introduced to Beer-Lambert's Law and spectrophotometric light absorbance measurements. The foundational learning experiment was instructor-led only, and participant performance was evaluated against a mean characterized value. The second laboratory experiment was a supplemental learning experiment in which students were asked to build upon the methodology they learned in the foundational learning experiment and apply it to a different analyte. The instruction type was varied randomly into two delivery modes, participants receiving either instructor-led or computer-led pre-laboratory instruction. The MRQCS was applied and determined that no statistical difference was found to exist in the QC (quality control) passing rates between the participants in the instructor-led instruction and the participants in the computer-led instruction. These findings demonstrate the successful application of the MRQCS to evaluate knowledge and technology transfer.

Single-nanocrystal spectroscopy of white-light-emitting CdSe nanocrystals.

We report the observation of broad-spectrum fluorescence from single CdSe nanocrystals. Individual semiconductor nanocrystals typically have a narrower emission spectrum than that of an ensemble. However, our experiments show that the ensemble white-light emission observed in ultrasmall CdSe nanocrystals is the result of many single CdSe nanocrystals, each emitting over the entire visible spectrum. These results indicate that each white-light-emitting CdSe nanocrystal contains all the trap states that give rise to the observed white-light emission.

On Ultrasmall Nanocrystals.

Ultrasmall nanocrystals are a growing sub-class of traditional nanocrystals that exhibit new properties at diameters typically below 2 nm. In this review, we define what constitutes an ultrasmall nanoparticle while distinguishing between ultrasmall and magic-size nanoparticles. After a brief overview of ultrasmall nanoparticles, including ultrasmall gold clusters, our recent work is presented covering the optical properties, structure, and application of ultrasmall CdSe nanocrystals. This unique material has potential application in solid state lighting due to its balanced white emission. This section is followed by a discussion on the blurring boundary between what can be considered a nanoparticle and a molecule.

Structure and ultrafast dynamics of white-light-emitting CdSe nanocrystals.

White-light emission from ultrasmall CdSe nanocrystals offers an alternative approach to the realization of solid-state lighting as an appealing technology for consumers. Unfortunately, their extremely small size limits the feasibility of traditional methods for nanocrystal characterization. This paper reports the first images of their structure, which were obtained using aberration-corrected atomic number contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (Z-STEM). With subangstrom resolution, Z-STEM is one of the few available methods that can be used to directly image the nanocrystal's structure. The initial images suggest that they are crystalline and approximately four lattice planes in diameter. In addition to the structure, for the first time, the exciton dynamics were measured at different wavelengths of the white-light spectrum using ultrafast fluorescence upconversion spectroscopy. The data suggest that a myriad of trap states are responsible for the broad-spectrum emission. It is hoped that the information presented here will provide a foundation for the future development and improvement of white-light-emitting nanocrystals.

Pinned emission from ultrasmall cadmium selenide nanocrystals.

We report pinning of the emission spectrum in ultrasmall CdSe nanocrystals with a diameter of 1.7 nm and smaller. It was observed that the first emission feature ceased to blueshift once the band edge absorption reached 420 nm, though the band edge absorption continued to blueshift with decreasing nanocrystal diameter.

Effects of surface passivation on the exciton dynamics of CdSe nanocrystals as observed by ultrafast fluorescence upconversion spectroscopy.

The exciton dynamics of CdSe nanocrystals are intimately linked to the surface morphology. Photo-oxidation of the selenium surfaces of the nanocrystal leads to an increase in radiative decay efficiency from both the band edge and deep trap emission states. The addition of the primary amine hexadecylamine curtails nonradiative excitonic decay attributed to the dangling surface selenium orbitals by passivation of those trap sites by the methylene protons on the amine, leading to enhanced band edge emission and the absence of deep trap emission. Furthermore, CdSeZnSe core/shell nanocrystals are not immune from contributions from surface states because of the alignment of the band structures of the core and shell materials.