• Question: If you were to create a new chemical / material, what would you test it on?

    Asked by jackzebeast to Josh on 19 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Josh Makepeace

      Josh Makepeace answered on 19 Jun 2013:

      Hello, jackzbeast!

      When I make a new material, what I want to know is how much hydrogen is stored in it. So what I do is put the material in a little bucket on a very sensitive set of scales (you can see a picture of this on my profile). Then I heat up the material, and watch its weight go down as it gives off hydrogen. So that way I can tell how much hydrogen is in it, how fast it comes off and what temperature it comes off. They’re the main things I want to know.

      If a material looks linteresting, I might also put it in an X-ray machine, which lets me look at the structure of the atoms in the material I’ve made. This can give me clues about how the hydrogen is stored in the material.

      Hope this gives you an idea of the kinds of things I do 🙂

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