LVEM5 enables imaging of carbon nanoparticles in freshman laboratory education

Color changing chemical reactions inspire our innate human curiosity about the physical world around us and draws us into inquiring why the world works as it does.

A recent article in the Journal of Chemical Education provides an engaging educational laboratory exercise based on the formation of carbon nanoparticles from lactose and baking soda.(Klobes and Koch, 2020)  These safe materials provide a captivating color-change reaction that draws students in, and allows introduction of additional concepts ranging from fluorescence to measuring the size of nanoparticles using a Delong Instruments LVEM5 transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Best Technical Approach

The LVEM5 provides a significantly higher contrast of carbon based nanostructures compared to traditional TEM.  This enables direct imaging of the carbon structures with a contrast that is easy for novice users to identify, and eliminates the need for additional staining steps or other complexities in the laboratory procedure that could distract from the other learning goals.

Advancing Educational Learning Objectives

Nanoparticles by definition are smaller in size than what the unaided eye can resolve.  Therefore, having a low-cost and easy-to-use TEM helps students see the nanoparticles they just synthesized.  In turn, students gain a powerful understanding that nanomaterials have different properties than the chemical or bulk material version of their components.  

Ease of Training and Operation

The LVEM5 is designed for even non-microscopists without prior experience to be able to operate, and is therefore simple enough for university freshmen to learn it’s operation.  With a smaller laboratory footprint, it is both less intimidating for new scientists and easier to successfully operate. 

References:

Klobes, B., & Koch, C. (2019). Carbon Nanoparticles from Lactose and Baking Soda: Light Absorption and Fluorescence. Journal of Chemical Education. 97, 143-146.

About the author:

Robert I. MacCuspie, Ph.D., has over twenty years of experience in nanotechnology and materials characterization, at national laboratories, academia and corporations, working at the interface of business and science.