Nanoparticles for Undergraduates: Creation, Characterization, and Catalysis

We report a research-enhanced undergraduate laboratory practical in which students synthesize and characterize color-controllable, stable silver nanoparticles for use in a simple catalytic reaction analyzed by UV-vis spectroscopy. The practical has been prepared for students using electronic laboratory notebooks, enables collaborative data sharing, and can be altered to suit time, experience, and instrumentation constraints. This experiment is conducted as part of our Talented Student Program and introduces students to the themes of nanoscience, catalysis, and green chemistry as well as to a range of relevant instrumentation and techniques.