User:Michael Corrado/Notebook/Experimental Chemistry Fall 2016/2016/09/16

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Objectives Run XRD on dehydrated film, silly putty, PVOH, and Bentonite clay Prepare activated carbon beads Prepare plastic columns for filtration Procedure Activated Carbon (Charcoal) bead synthesis Follows the basic procedure located here. A solution made up of 2.5g PVOH, 0.25g charcoal, 21.97ml of DI water, and 8.03ml of concentrated HCl were heated and stirred in order to completely dissolve the PVOH. The heated solution was then transferred to a burette. 10ml of this solution was added dropwise to 100ml of ethyl acetate stirred at around 600 rpm. 2ml of glutaraldehyde were added and the solution was stirred for 7 minutes, after which 7ml of sodium bicarbonate were added and stirred for 30 seconds. The finished solution was then stored in two 50ml Falcon tubes and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 1 minute. The ethyl acetate was pipetted out of the FAlcon tubes and replaced with DI water. Preparation of the plastic column The mass of the dry column with cap was measured and recorded. Water was then eluted through the column and the mass of the column with cap was again measured and recorded. In order to place the beads into the column, the bead solutions were poured into the column and flushed through using a rubber bulb in an effort to compact the beads into the bottom of the column. If an air bubble formed in the column, the column was simply inverted until the bubble was removed. Once the column was filled one third to one half of the way with beads, the remaining water was eluted from the column and the mass of the column with cap was measured. This procedure was repeated with the charcoal column. The column was then refilled with water to prevent the beads from drying out, and stored. XRD Procedure For the XRD, the dried film was cut into pieces and placed onto the sample holder using silly putty as an adhesive. Samples of powder PVOH and blank silly putty were taken as well. Data Table 1: Mass measurements from plastic column preparation The similar masses of the clay and charcoal beads will be useful in accurately testing the effectiveness of both methods Once you get your own protocol that works, you'll want to report it.