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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > September  >
In the Laboratory
Surface Oxidation Kinetics: A Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Experiment
Jordan C. Poler
Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
Cover
September 2000
Vol. 77 No. 9
p. 1198
Abstract
The study of surfaces and materials is underrepresented in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. This is unfortunate because chemistry plays such a central role in the development of new materials. We have developed an undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory experiment in which students use the scanning tunneling microscope to study the oxidation of graphite by nitric oxide. The lab is designed to simulate a research experience. Each student is responsible for one part of the experiment and the whole class uses everyone's data for their analysis. A scanning tunneling microscope is used to measure the diameter of monolayer pits etched into the graphite by the nitric oxide. The results are both instructive and aesthetic. The data are used to determine the activation energy for the etching process. Several concepts that are explored from these results: crystallography, surface diffusion, bonding, defects, and reaction kinetics. We believe that the open-ended nature of both this experiment and the data analysis will result in better educated and more productive scientists.
Supplement
Student information for the physical chemistry laboratory "Oxidation and Catalysis on the Graphite Surface: An STM Study of Surface Catalysis" is described.
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*  Citation
 Poler, Jordan C. J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 1198.
*  Keywords
 Laboratory Instruction; Physical Chemistry; Materials Science; Surface Science; Problem-Based Learning; Carbon
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 August 29, 2000
August 31, 2005
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