Last hello everyone!

This last week, I got my poster printed, practiced presenting and got feedback. Tomorrow is the big day – research symposium! I am excited yet nervous, however, I’m glad to know many of the guests there understand I’m an undergraduate and may not have all the knowledge.

The first thing I’ve learned throughout this program is that everyone here is a cheerleader for each other. The community throughout this program (Dr. Zafar and the other interns) are undeniable, and I believe that helped me push through tough assignments and force myself into uncomfortable situations. In my admission essay to Rice, I wrote that community is the first step to success, and I believe that’s reflected throughout this program.

Next, I learned that research is not always “ground-breaking”. I was hoping to make innovative observations, yet that did not exactly happen – which is okay. I’m happy with my results and being able to have lots of data.

Another thing I learned is research cannot be valuable without being able to communicate it effectively. As I’ve practiced presenting, I try to simplify things as much as possible each time while keeping the scientific explanation in the back of my head.

Last thing I learned; I want to continue to do research. Through the SERS Program here at Rice, I hope to continue research in a space science field!

I’m so happy to share my experience with the most amazing people during this REU. I’ve enjoyed the weekly meetings with the other REU interns, OURI workshops, and support from Dr. Zafar.

I hope I get to come back and share my experience as an REU student and inspire other students.

Thank you all so much, and I hope to stay in touch!

Second-to-last hello everyone!

This week was filled with great work, some highlights below:

Monday – I worked on my poster all day on desktops in the lab and library since I left my laptop charger at home. My progress did not save on my laptop so I’m glad I supplemented the work on my OneDrive during this time! It was a very rough draft.

Tuesday – This day started with an optional OURI meeting about resumes presented by the CCD at Rice. The tips and information were extremely valuable and easy to implement into my resume/CV. Then we had our weekly meeting with Dr. Zafar which focused on poster feedback. I plan on implementing the most common critiques from the note cards. I synthesized copper nanocubes for the rest of the day since I ran out for doping.

Wednesday – I headed straight to the lab to synthesize my final catalyst experiment which was doping the copper nanocubes with palladium and gold. I also completed the elevator pitch assignment, which I found difficult in the sense I had to be very general with my problem and solution, as my exact experiments didn’t really solve the main problem.

Thursday – I spray coated the catalyst onto the carbon paper, then ran a flow cell test with the synthesized catalyst. My electrolyzer was leaking so I’ll have to reassemble and rerun the test. I found it hard to get work done since it was very rainy and gloomy outside, it made me miss relaxing in my PJs and sleeping in.

Friday – I started off the morning at a meeting with Dr. Zafar and presented my PowerPoint presentation. I received some great feedback that I’ll need for presenting my poster. For the rest of the day, I edited and revamped my poster and sent it to my mentor. I will be continuing to work on it during the weekend to have it approved by my mentor. I went to the last social event at the RMC, which was nice to see some of the other R-STEM students. I have been feeling very down lately so it was nice to be in a group where I felt like I belonged.

Overall, this week was productive. I’ve enjoyed any chance I get to hang out with the other interns and discuss the good, bad, and in-betweens.

Until next time,

Chloe

Hello world!

Already done with week 8 of this program, time is going by too fast!

Monday – Today I worked heavily on revising my abstract. I’ve never written one, so I found the feedback by Dr. Zafar to be very guiding and helpful. Although the abstract is essentially a summary, there’s a specific format it takes and professionalism that goes into it. I made sure to include the necessary scientific details for my draft to make sense. I also worked on integrating NMR data from my previous experiments into presentable results, which I need more practice on.

Tuesday – I went to the OURI Poster Presentation which I found very helpful in designing and selecting the important information for my poster. Seeing the research and motivations come together and apply in the real world excites me. Then, I went to the weekly meeting where I watched some of my peers present their research so far. I found each presentation to be specific, yet easy to apply in my life. I enjoyed learning about what the other REU interns are doing! When I headed back to the lab, I continued working on revising my abstract and forming my “story.”

Wednesday – This day, I felt really unwell from sickness physically and mentally. I didn’t go to the lab, and I wanted to work on my assignments but felt disappointed because I laid in bed all day to recover. I plan on making up these hours during the next days/week.

Thursday – I started this early morning with a transfer meeting (with the OAA), then I finalized my abstract and sent it to my mentor for approval and any last-minute edits. I also went over and reviewed the NMR integration with my mentor since I thought I remembered how to do it, but my results said otherwise. I started organizing my poster layout that best fits my data and story.

Friday – I was able to submit my abstract with my mentor’s approval and continued to make progress on my poster.

Although I wasn’t directly in the lab this week, I felt productive completing my abstract and working heavily on my poster.

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Thanks for reading!

Chloe

Greetings!

Time is flying by during this REU program, and I’m happy to be getting some results:

Monday – Tuesday: Hurricane! Being without power for a little over a day wasn’t the best, but I know some of my other peers still don’t have power. I hope they can stay as long as possible at the lab/library to enjoy the AC, or temporarily stay with other family members.

Wednesday – This day I synthesized 5% silver and 5% palladium doped copper nanocubes. I used silver nitrate, palladium nitrate dihydrate, and the stash of copper oxide nanocubes I previously made. I created my first abstract which was a little difficult for me to start. However, I found that breaking up the abstract “sections” into bullet points made it easier to start creating it. I also found out about the residential college I’ll be staying at – Lovett!

Thursday – I then sprayed the catalyst onto a Gas Diffusion Layer and ran a Flow Cell test. The results came out better than I expected, with a higher percent yield!

Friday – Today I ran a flow cell test with one of the catalysts my mentor previously made to compare percent yields, which I won’t find out until later. A highlight of my day was lunch at the Dandelion Cafe. I ordered the Dandy Bahn Mi as a combo with fries and drink. The meal was a little over $15, but in this particular case it is well worth it in my opinion! The bread wasn’t overly-toasted, and it was like a foot long which I’ve only seen Bahn Mi’s 6-8 inches. The pork was extremely flavorful, it had just the right amount of vegetables, and the jalapeno slices gave some nice heat. It was the perfect Bahn Mi for me and I 10/10 recommend for those who want to try a Bahn Mi sandwich for the first time. Since it was my first time eating there, I challenged myself to eat alone and enjoy good-loneliness. I wanted to prove to myself nobody else is watching or judging me, and to be less self-conscious.

This week was short, but sweet. I’m looking forward to making these experiments into the big picture – the poster!

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See ya!

Chloe

Greetings everyone!

This week went by quick, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m ready to have some time off and work on other things at home.

Monday: This day, I used the palladium-doped copper nanocubes catalyst to spray coat the gas diffusion layer for my next experiment. Spray coating always hurts my hand because I have to remain steady and keep my hand a certain way, but the payoff is great.

Tuesday: I went to the weekly meeting, this time a presentation by Dr. Lynn Frostman about her career path and the Syzygy company. I found the science behind this start-up to be very applicable and interesting. She mentioned how some of the reactions in their proprietary reactor core can produce CO gas, which I use in my lab to produce valuable fuels. After the meeting, a few of the other REU students and I went to the library to practice our presentations for next Tuesday. I found it to be extremely helpful. I’ve always been afraid of presentations, but the other interns gave great advice to communicate effectively and overall liked the design of my slides. My mentor also brought some of my catalysts that I synthesized under the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and took a few photos:

Wednesday: I ran a flow cell experiment with the palladium and copper nanocube catalyst, in which I won’t find out the results until later using the NMR. I was at first having issues setting up my experiment because there was an applied voltage somehow even without the wiring turned “on.” Luckily, my mentor helped me adjust it!

This week has felt like a repeat, in which I don’t mind. I’m looking forward to testing out new catalysts in the next weeks!

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Thank you,

Chloe

Greetings!

This week, my mentor Wei Ping has been out on vacation, but I’ve been able to keep in touch with a temporary mentor, Ahmad Elgazzar, to guide me through this journey.

Monday: Although I was not directly in my lab today, I worked in my cubicle space to read an article about carbon monoxide’s selectivity toward acetate using copper and palladium nanocubes as a catalyst. I made some finishing touches to my presentation draft as well. Before I “clocked-in” to my cubicle, I took my FWIS assessment at the library. The Fondren Library was the perfect place to take this assessment and made me excited to see what rigorous writing course(s) I will be assigned to!

Tuesday: Today I synthesized silver and gold-doped copper nanocubes. This process includes –

• Mixing copper nanocubes and DI water
• Separately, mixing chosen dopant and DI water
• Adding dopant mixture drop-wise to copper nanocubes
• Letting it stir for 2 hours
• Centrifuging and rinsing with more DI water
• Putting the mixture into a vacuum chamber overnight

I also had lunch with a few of the other REU interns, and toured the new O’Conner building, which has great views and not super cold and quiet!

Wednesday: I took the silver and gold-doped copper nanocubes out of the vacuum and spray coated the catalyst onto the gas diffusion layer. I read more literature about the carbon monoxide reduction reaction (CORR) and mechanism to include into my REU presentation. I found it a bit difficult to find a simple definition or mechanism for this reaction online, as most works discussed why CORR is valuable and how it can be applied.

Thursday: I ran a flow cell test with the catalyst, which ran smoothly. However, to configurate the liquid products of the experiment, I needed a specific ratio of D2O to DMSO, which ran out. Since the stock room is closed until Monday, it’ll be until then that I can see my results.

Friday: I synthesized another catalyst this time with palladium-doped copper nanocubes. Since these transition metals can make the nanocubes react faster in the experiments, this can lead to higher acetate formation – the main goal!

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my full week. I feel ready for the weekend and to relax from the lab!

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Enjoy!

Chloe

Hello everyone!

This week has been a bit shorter, but productive!

Monday – I hand-sprayed gold and copper nanocube catalysts I synthesized the prior week onto a Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL), essentially a paper made of carbon. I was nervous about the “pooling” effect and how it could hinder my results, so I sprayed as evenly as possible. Then, I used a small piece of the GDL to run a flow cell experiment, collected 5 samples at different current densities, and prepared them for NMR testing.

Tuesday – This day I went to the OURI workshop and weekly meeting, which I always enjoy. I learned plenty about mindset in research, which applied to other mental capacities as well. I was also able to analyze my results from Monday… turns out my results did not turn out as planned! From the literature, I predicted there would be a higher product amount of acetic acid, instead the amount was less than the standard silver and copper nanocubes. Luckily, my mentor suggested a few other transition metals to try from the literature as well, and maybe even mixing them as catalysts. However, I’m still going to research other metals, so I don’t get stuck hopefully.

Wednesday – Happy Juneteenth! No lab this day.

Thursday – I was unable to make it to the lab today because of unexpected costly car issues, so I plan on taking the Metro Bus soon. It was a bummer to not get to the lab since my mentor left this day for a few weeks to visit back home, but I continued to stay in contact with him and worked on readings and the presentation draft assignment.

Friday – Luckily and gratefully, I was able to have transportation to attend the field trip this morning. I had lots of fun on this trip, and very informative as to a future career I may want to have. Dr. Cushing, Mr. John, and the bus driver were kind and professional. The chemistry science behind water treatment and disinfecting I found to be interesting and very applicable. It makes it hard for me to choose between a water plant and NASA if they don’t have any chemistry jobs! Once we got back to campus, I worked on the presentation draft and more readings.

Overall, I’d rate my week 6/10. However, I don’t want to let my personal life get in the way of my research, so I will be looking for other ways to destress!

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Thank you for reading!

Chloe

Hello everyone!

This third week started off slower for me but picked up in pace later. Some highlights are:

Monday – I wasn’t in the lab today, as I was working on the Project Description assignment with the help of my mentor, Wei Ping, and continued to read the DoE proposal by Dr. Haotian Wang. He was also working diligently on his thesis proposal presentation, so the day worked out for both of us.

Tuesday – Tuesdays are always a day I look forward to. I enjoy meeting with Dr. Zafar and Dr. Clay, they have been supportive and thorough throughout the program! I found the OURI inclusive workshop to be intriguing, and the entrepreneurship presentation by Dr. Peña to be engaging. This day, I was able to meet up with some of the other REU interns to have lunch together and catch up. I got back to the SST building and watched my mentor practice his thesis presentation. The presentation gave me a lot of information on why I’m doing the experiments I’m doing, what impact this lab has on the environment, and what exact experiments I will be conducting. Overall, I really enjoyed tuning in on the presentation! Once in the lab, we ran a “Dummy Test” to go over the procedures of assembling the flow cell, prepping the anolyte and catholyte, then running the voltage and gas chromatography machine.

Wednesday – This was the first time I did an entire lab experiment run by myself. It took about 4 hours, but I was proud of myself for being able to complete the experiment and refer to the pictures and notes I took. Since in this experiment I used a catalyst that was applied unevenly and old, I had to retry the next day with my own automatically sprayed catalyst. My mentor also presented his thesis to the committee, and I was glad to hear that he passed!

Thursday – I ran a second lab experiment by myself to compare the results from Wednesday’s run. This time, it only took around 3 hours! I was happy to see I’m starting to engrave the routine and look forward to trying new varied experiments. The Wang Group also had a meeting today, there I met another undergraduate student named Brianna who was extremely welcoming. We were able to discuss how big the lab group is and what each subgroup focuses on, as well as how interesting the on-campus housing is at Rice University.

Friday – Right now I’m in the process of testing my hypothesis by first synthesizing a different copper doped catalyst using gold(III) acetate. Although I’m hoping for as-expected results, I am at peace with knowing this specific catalyst may not give the expected result (that it produces a high amount of acetic acid). I can use this to find that this specific compound with the copper nanocubes do not produce a higher amount of acetic acid and move onto the next compound! My mentor also gave me some practice in analyzing my NMR results from Thursday’s experiment.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my week and I’m feeling more comfortable and confident in the lab. These weeks are going by very quick, so I’m trying to absorb as much as I can and enjoy the moment before August 2nd!

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Thanks for reading!

Chloe

Hey Blog!

Week 2 has been eventful, I feel like I’m learning more and more every day about my lab, but luckily, it’s starting to make sense to me as I’ve been independently working on projects.

Dr. Haotian Wang’s lab focuses on utilizing CO2/CO reduction reactions to form high-purity acetic acid while reducing both carbon intensity and energy consumption. Transferring as an Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science major, I feel like this lab directly correlates to the lab work I’ll do as an undergraduate student here at Rice and have background knowledge in electrochemistry.

This reduction reaction process involves a lot of electrochemistry, which I’m unfamiliar with. Still, I’m currently reading about it to see exactly how it applies to what I’ll be working with – flow cells with a porous solid electrolyte (PSE) reactor.

So far in the lab, I’ve been able to synthesize catalysts (mixing a bunch of chemicals together), spray coat the catalyst onto a Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL), and learn how to assemble and prepare a flow cell (lots of pumps, wires, voltages, and a GC?)

Overall, I’m starting to feel more comfortable in the lab, what my project is exactly about, and growing independence, I thoroughly enjoy in the lab. I can’t wait to learn each step of the process so I can work on new experiments by myself. My mentor, Wei Ping, has been an extreme help with his expertise and patience in teaching me. He’s very easy-going and I value his time. I also value the other REU interns’ time as everyone has been extremely supportive and welcoming, and I’ll be sad once these 10 weeks are up!

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Thanks for reading, until next week!

Hi blog!

It’s been a short – and long – eventful week. This is my first internship, and I’m still shocked I was chosen for a lab! Here’s a rundown of the first week of my 10-week journey:

Tuesday – Orientation Day: I was extremely nervous presenting my introductory PowerPoint to my peers; however, everyone was welcoming and kind, so it wasn’t that bad. The food that was provided was delicious! This orientation gave me a sense of accomplishment and independence as I learned communication is key here. I knew what to be expected of me and that being in “The Cloud” did not equate to failure.

Wednesday – Safety Training and Meeting with Mentors: The safety training is serious, which intimidated me a little to work in a lab setting. Yet, knowing what to do if a mistake happens is always great. I was also provided lunch that day, 10/10! I met my graduate mentor, who is very professional, flexible, and helpful. The lab room itself has a ton of equipment I don’t know how to use, maybe I will learn someday.

Thursday – Lab Day: I got to shadow my mentor in copper catalyst synthesis, luckily this process is very repetitive, so I took down a few procedure notes and I feel I can definitely (maybe) do this procedure myself! There’s still lots of reading I have to do to understand these complex concepts.

Friday – Lab Day: More shadowing in the lab!

Overall, this has been an amazing introductory week to this program, and I’m very grateful to take in this experience and learn, as well as put myself out of my comfort zone of not knowing anything or anyone! Until next week!