Question: Do you do experiments with the elements in the periodic table

Struan Simpson answered on 16 Mar 2020:

Yes! To make my materials, I have to combine different elements together like arsenic, cerium, or samarium. Initially, I combine these elements to form a chemical compound which I use in the next step of my reaction to make my final material!

In the past, I’ve done experiments to try and combine these elements in different ways. I’ve done this because you can make different chemical compounds depending on how much of them you try to combine. These compounds can behave surprisingly differently to each other, so I’ve tried using different version of these to make my final materials to see what effect this had on how they behave!