Day 2
Sanraj's and Xuan Wei's experience (Week 1 Batteries):
So yesterday we (Sanraj and I, Xuan Wei) learned about the inner workings of lithium - ion battery cells and anodes and cathodes. Fascinating stuff. Really.
And today we did more readings. The end.
Just kidding. We did get to view some research procedures. Although as we sat in the pantry, hunched over our laptops, it felt as if WE were the ones being viewed by an endless stream of passing researchers instead.
So we finally got a chance to see the research rooms - though we didn’t get to touch anything ;(. One of the in-charges gave us a death-stare (O_O) as if we were about to blow up the nitrogen tanks in the room. (No, I wanted to say, we don’t have bombs. Nor do we have any intention of swiping your gigantic machinery. We will wait until the fourth day.)
The machinery were by far the most interesting ones I have ever seen, and we treaded gingerly around them like a group of preschoolers around a fire lighter. Bad ass, hulking and complicated - I mourned internally as I looked on at them. The bunsen burners back at our labs seem very wanting right now.
Among the ones that stuck out the most was the argon-filled glove box - where they prepared the lithium for battery cell.
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It was also the most recognizable piece, with its rubber gloves and squashed finger sockets jutting out like a series of handles.
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Amidst these high tech equipment, we spied a lone PS3 controller sitting on a table :D
We thought scientists played video games inside the lab as a form of a break from their meticulous scientific research.
Turns out it was hooked up to an equipment as the joystick provided better controls than a regular mouse. Now that is ingenious.
The procedure for making the battery seemed relatively simple to write out - you piece together bits like a Lego set. But the repetitiveness and endless patience required of the task indicated the amount of dedication required to actually successfully execute a research.
Also, to anyone who complains about the data collection during practical sessions in JC, I welcome you to make sense of the numbers on this screen.
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Now I know why some people are termed as "Mad Scientist"...because they fathomed too much of such data.
So the general procedure for making lithium ion batteries is first obtaining the necessary components - the graphite coated with copper, polymer separator (to prevent short circuit), and the stainless steel covers to hold everything in.
This was followed a series of filling and emptying the container with Argon to ensure that it contained only Argon. We watched as the rubber gloves deflated and our mentor stuffed his hands into them to work on the lithium battery. The graphite, separator and lithium were sandwiched between the covers and filled with an electrolyte before being slammed shut.
And that’s it. A battery is created.
Here's a some pictures on what it looks like:
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This is the argon gas chamber's control panel where we can control the gas chamber's air pressure, light intensity etc.
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The research doesn’t just stop here of course. What happens next is testing, evaluating, more testing and more evaluation until the scientific research is published online.
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Jun Yang and Ying Li's experience (Week 1 Drug Coating):
Today we came in to the place and coincidentally as we were entering we encountered our mentor, who was just coming in after settling some admin problems. We then proceeded to settle down in our 'personal work-space' provided and he gave us a list of research machinery and techniques to look up on like the High-Performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) machine.
HPLC
After that we got to do our own things, so both of us proceeded on to read up on a few research papers our mentor had sent us.We then spent some time thinking about the innovative challenge and what we were going to present for it. We looked at various issues ranging from environmental to health issues in society today. Our mentor shared with us some insight into issues in society today such as lack of clean water or diagnosis of bacterial infections that we were very excited to learn about. He shared with us the number of techniques and measures that other scientists and researchers have put in place to tackle these issues. During our research we looked into the methods that were used to detect and diagnose bacterial and viral infections such as HIV. We looked into the limitations of these methods and then thought about solutions to solve these so as to improve on their existing ideas.
We then went for lunch at canteen B which was quite a distance away and after eating and chatting about how profitable each course in the university were, he showed us around the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Which really was an eye-opener as we got to see the amazing facilities of the school, and one cool part would be how technologically equipped they were in the tutorial rooms. We also got to see the exam venues where actual students were having their exams!
Last but definitely not least, we went to the lab to observe our mentor making some materials needed for his project, and we got to see the utilization of UVA light in action. (It was dangerous so we had to take it from far away).
(The one with the aluminium foil on top)
Overall it was a relaxing yet interesting day whereby we got more exposed to different things.
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