Application of scientific research to undergraduate lab of physical chemistry

CHED 1842

Dehua He, hedeh@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn and Ying Ma. Chemical Experimental Center, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Qinghua Yuan, Beijing, 100084, China
A scientific research type experiment entitled “the preparation and characterization of metal oxides and their catalytic performance in the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DME)” has been applied to undergraduate student's physical chemistry lab. We set up several items to open to students for choosing. For example, the types of metal oxides and their preparation methods, the methods of characterization of the samples and the synthesis routes of DME can be selected by students. Students can make up the experiment groups (two to three people for one group) for carrying out the experiments. Before starting experiment, students should make a reference search through library and Internet etc at first. Then, pre-planed report for the experiment should be submitted to the instructor of the teaching course of physical chemistry experiment. The whole experiment can be divided into several units for carrying out in several days.