1. Student Projects for B.Sc. Chemistry
Dr. R. Rajeev
VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram

2. Project Feasibility Introduction Scope of work Experimental Procedure
Relevance
Applications
Literature survey
Scope of work
Experimental Procedure
Materials
Instrumentation for experiments and characterization
Results & Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References

3. Where to find a topic / subject
Inorganic Chemistry
Synthesis of metal oxides
Applications
metallurgy, catalysts, fillers in composites, ceramics, pigments, paints
Properties
Inertness, catalytic activity, stability, purity, colour
Thermal , electrical , magnetic and spectral properties
Particle characteristics like size (macro, micro, nano), shape, surface area, porosity
Properties varies with method of preparation, heat treatment, precursor

4. Iron oxide Oxides of Iron iron(II) oxide, wüstite (FeO)
iron(II,III) oxide, magnetite (Fe3O4)
iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3)
alpha phase, hematite (α-Fe2O3) beta phase, (β-Fe2O3)
gamma phase, maghemite (γ-Fe2O3)
epsilon phase, (ε-Fe2O3)
Hydroxides
iron(II) hydroxide (Fe(OH)2)
iron(III) hydroxide (Fe(OH)3), (bernalite)
Oxide/hydroxides
goethite (α-FeOOH),
akaganéite (β-FeOOH),
lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH),
feroxyhyte (δ-FeOOH),
ferrihydrite (Fe5HO8·4H2O approx.), or 5Fe2O3•9H2O, better recast as FeOOH•0.4H2O
high-pressure FeOOH
schwertmannite (ideally Fe8O8(OH)6(SO)·nH2O or Fe3+16O16(OH,SO4)12-13·10-12H2O)
green rust (FeIIIxFeIIy(OH)3x+2y-z(A-)z; where A- is Cl- or 0.5SO42-)

5. Synthesis Precipitation of from an aqueous solution of iron compound
Precipitating agent,, ammonia, NaOH, KOH, amines
Temperature- RT, Hydrothermal, autoclave, microwave
Homogeneous precipitation- urea, hexamine
Thermal decomposition of Iron compounds
Iron salts – inorganic / organic
Nitrate, carbonate, sulphate, perchlorate / oxalate, citrate, tartrate
Iron complexes-
Atmosphere - oxidizing, reducing, inert

6. Synthesis of Nano Iron oxide particles
Combustion technique
Vapour deposition
Sol-Gel method
Template method
Homogeneous precipitation
Powdering- ball milling, Fluid energy milling

7. Characterization techniques
Elemental analysis
CHNS Analyser
UV-Visible Spectrophotometry
Ion Chromatography (IC)
Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICPAES)
X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF)
Structural Analysis
Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectrometry (FTIR)
X-ray Diffraction Spectrometry (XRD)
Particle Characterization
Surface area analyser
Particle Size analysis by light scattering
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Thermal Analysis
Thermogravimetric Analyser (TGA)
Differential Thermal Analyser (DTA)
Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)

8. Nano ferric oxide by sucrose method
X-ray Diffraction Spectrometer (XRD)
Nano ferric oxide by sucrose method
Colour
Pattern
Compound Name
Formula
PDF
Ferric Oxide
Fe2O3

9. Copper Ammonium Chromate
Colour
Pattern
Compound Name
Formula
PDF
Ammonium Copper Chromium Oxide Hydroxide
NH4 CuCrO4(OH)
PDF
Ammonium Copper Ammine Chromium Oxide
(NH4)2Cu4(NH3)3Cr5O20

10. Copper chromite Colour Pattern Compound Name Formula PDF 01-080-8761
Copper Hydrogen Chromium Oxide
Cu0.41 Cu0.24 H1.1 Cr2O4
PDF
Tenorite, syn
CuO
PDF
Copper Chromium Oxid
CuCr2O4

11. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS)
Specifications
Source : hollow cathode lamp
Flame : air/C2H2, N2O/C2H2
Range : ppm to 5%
Detector : PM tube
Sensitivity : ppm
Sample : aqueous/ non aqueous solutions
Principle is Beer-Lambert’s law: log I0/I = εcl
Measurement of radiation, absorbed by the ground state atoms at specific resonance wavelength, from a hollow cathode lamp
Extent of absorption is directly proportional to the number of ground state atoms in the flame, measured by a spectrophotometer 11

12. Ion Chromatograph Principle Ion exchange , retention and elution
Applications
Anions and cations from ppm to percentage levels

13. Thermogravimetric Analyser (TG) and
Differential Thermal Analyser (DTA)
Components
Balance assemblies
Furnace
Cabinet
Software
Temperature Range: Ambient to 1500°C
Heating Rate : 0.1°C/min to100°C/min
Accuracy :  1%
Balance sensitivity : 0.1g
DTA sensitivity : °C

14. TG /DTG and DTA of FeSO4.7H20

15. TG /DTG of Fe(NH4)2.(SO4)2.6H20 – Mohrs. salt

16. TG /DTG of FeNH4.(SO4)2.12H20
– Ferric alum

17. Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)
Temperature Range: -150°C to 725°C
Heating Rate : 0.1°C/min to 100°C/min
Calorimetric Precision : 1 %

20. UV-Visible Spectrophotometer
Principle
Beer-Lambert law
A = log I0/I = εcL
UV -Visible spectroscopy involves the absorption of UV or visible light by a molecule causing the promotion of an electron from a ground electronic state to an excited electronic state
Applications
Estimation of trace level impurities in alloys
Estimation of titanium, Iridium in alloys and catalysts
Absorption studies of Quantum dots, dyes
Fe in Al powder
Ammonium dinitramide analysis
Specifications
Range : nm
Resolution : 1 nm 20

21. UV-visible spectra of metal complexes
λmax of NiCl2 760 nm, λmax of NiOA is below 650 nm
λmax of CuCl2 754 nm, λmax of CuOA is 650 nm

22. Analysis of Titanium by UV-visible Spectrophotometer
In acid medium Titanium ions give an yellow orange complex with H2O2 which forms the basis of spectrometric method for determination of Titanium.
The interference from other elements can be eliminated by the addition of citric acid / tartaric acid
UV-Visible Spectrophotometer
max = 410nm, Band width = 0.5nm
Quartz cell with optical path length 10mm 5 10 15 20
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
0.30
0.35
slope
Calibration graph for Titanium
Absorbance
Concentration of Titanium (mg/L)

23. Fourier Transform Infra red Spectrometer
Wavelength range : cm-1 Sa Samples in KBr pellets used for measuring spectrum

24. FTIR spectra of OA and CuOA complexes
3300 cm-1 – broadened due to metal oleyl amine complexes
2854 and 2922 cm-1 Oleyl group

25. Topics for Projects Studies on water crystallization of compounds
Sulphate, Double sulphates, alums
Nitrates, chlorides, complexes
Preparation of crystals
TG, DTA studies, XRD, IR
Catalytic activity studies
Ammonium perchlorate, ammonium nitrate,
potassium nitrate, potassium chlorate
Catalysts: Metal oxides, mixed metal oxides
Preparation and characterization
TG, DTA, DSC, particle size, surface area, XRD, IR, SEM, TEM

26. Topics for Projects Pollution control studies
Removal of major contaminants
acid, base, sulphate, nitrate, perchlorate, fluoride, iron, etc
Addition of suitable neutralizing /precipitating agents, separation
analysis
Removal of minor and trace contaminants
-As, Hg, Cr, Fe, Ni, Fluoride, perchlorate, etc
-Adsorption, Ion exchange, chromatography, solvent extraction, precipitation, evaporation, volatilization
Regeneration, analysis
Type of additives / by products
Natural, synthetic reagents, corrosive, ecofriendly

27. Topics for Projects Analytical Chemistry Projects
Estimation of iron content in soil from different area by spectrophotometry
Analysis of Titanium content in beach sand by spectrophotometry
Quantitative composition analysis of alloys eg. Chromium / Nickel content in Stainless steel
(gravimetry, volumetry, colorimetry, AAS, ICP-AES)

28. Advanced Projects Mars atmosphere contains >95% CO2
and also as dry ice in soil
Technologies are required for producing oxygen from this CO2 and from iron oxide
Splitting of water to hydrogen and oxygen by low cost / energy method
Storage of hydrogen