Crazy, yeah but that's how it goes...
One of the pieces of equipment available here at Birmingham that I don't have at Barry is the Resonant Acoustic Mixer (RAM). It uses low frequency sound energy to mix reagents, and in many cases can facilitate chemical reactions through the force of this mixing. It's a different method of achieving mechanochemistry, rather than manual grinding in a mortar and pestle or ball milling. Here is what the RAM looks like, and a closeup of one of my porphyrin reactions inside:
Follow this link for a short video (with sound):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WSni6_NYj9f9KORjBsPdQUT3nooLlktZ/view?usp=drive_link
For more information on how RAM works, you can visit: https://resodynmixers.com/how-ram-mixes/
One of research projects here is testing various approaches to being able to synthesize porphyrins using RAM, which would be a new method and possibly offer some advantages over ball-milling. I won't publish details here, but we've gotten some promising indications.
I'll continue interspersing my lab time with getting to know some of Birmingham's history and surrounding landmarks. Today I'll post more from my museum visit.
Recorded impressions of Birmingham through the ages:
Birmingham has long been a centre of manufacturing, craftmanship and commercial industry. Of course Cadbury's is a local staple but also Bird's custard was born in a Birmingham Chemist's shop, and HP sauce started in Nottingham, but was taken over by the Midland Vinegar Company in 1899.
Of course, I visited the special Ozzy exhibit, "Working Class Hero".
Until next time...