Hi Ava. Unfortunately, we are not 100% sure why our compound, palladium nanoparticles, would not dissolve in the 50% concentration DMSO solvent. It could be possible that the solution was over-saturated with particles, but even when we reduced the concentration of our particles, they still would not dissolve. It is likely that on a molecular level, DMSO would not react with our particles in order to appropriately dissolve them.
Hi Ava. Unfortunately, we are not quite sure why our solvent, 50% DMSO, would not dissolve our compound, palladium nanoparticles. One issue could be that our solution was over-saturated with particles, but even when we reduced the concentration of particles, they would still not dissolve. It is likely that on a molecular level, DMSO did not react appropriately with our compound to dissolve it correctly.
Hi Mayleen. One of our biggest issues was the lack of dissolution of our compound into the DMSO solvent. Another issue we came across was the reflective nature of the palladium nanoparticles likely skewing the spectrophotometer readings. The spectrophotometer shoots out light of a certain wavelength, which is absorbed by whatever may be in the wells of the 96 well-plate. Because palladium is metallic, it is likely that the palladium caused reflection of light, affecting the absorbance values.
Hi Maxim. We, unfortunately, could not determine why our solvent did not completely dissolve our particles. Due to the nature of our experiment being done in a controlled environment, i.e. a lab class, we were limited to working with DMSO as a solvent. With that being said, we ran our experiments as best as we could despite the fact that our compound would not completely dissolve. We suspect that our results did not support our hypothesis not because palladium nanoparticles are an ineffective antimicrobial agent, but because our stock solution did not provide uniform distribution of the particles within the 96 well plate.
Hi Michael. It is unlikely that a concentration lower than 100% could dissolve our compound. The 50% concentration DMSO was 50% DMSO and 50% water. The 100% concentration DMSO was just that, 100% DMSO. Since not even pure DMSO could dissolve our compound, it is unlikely that a lower concentration could dissolve it. I do think that in the future, we could try a different solvent from DMSO, such as nitric acid, to dissolve our compound.
Hi Veronica! Thanks so much. I hypothesize that using a different solvent will effectively dissolve our compound, which in turn would allow us to support previous research which has established the antimicrobial effects of palladium nanoparticles.
Why weren’t you able to dissolve your DMSO compound into the 50%?
Hi Ava. Unfortunately, we are not 100% sure why our compound, palladium nanoparticles, would not dissolve in the 50% concentration DMSO solvent. It could be possible that the solution was over-saturated with particles, but even when we reduced the concentration of our particles, they still would not dissolve. It is likely that on a molecular level, DMSO would not react with our particles in order to appropriately dissolve them.
Hi Ava. Unfortunately, we are not quite sure why our solvent, 50% DMSO, would not dissolve our compound, palladium nanoparticles. One issue could be that our solution was over-saturated with particles, but even when we reduced the concentration of particles, they would still not dissolve. It is likely that on a molecular level, DMSO did not react appropriately with our compound to dissolve it correctly.
What were some problems your group came across with?
Hi Mayleen. One of our biggest issues was the lack of dissolution of our compound into the DMSO solvent. Another issue we came across was the reflective nature of the palladium nanoparticles likely skewing the spectrophotometer readings. The spectrophotometer shoots out light of a certain wavelength, which is absorbed by whatever may be in the wells of the 96 well-plate. Because palladium is metallic, it is likely that the palladium caused reflection of light, affecting the absorbance values.
Where you able to determine what the issues were when dissolving the compound or did you run the tests until the compound dissolved?
Hi Maxim. We, unfortunately, could not determine why our solvent did not completely dissolve our particles. Due to the nature of our experiment being done in a controlled environment, i.e. a lab class, we were limited to working with DMSO as a solvent. With that being said, we ran our experiments as best as we could despite the fact that our compound would not completely dissolve. We suspect that our results did not support our hypothesis not because palladium nanoparticles are an ineffective antimicrobial agent, but because our stock solution did not provide uniform distribution of the particles within the 96 well plate.
Do you think you could use a lower concentration that is above 50% and below 100% to dissolve your DMSO compound into?
Hi Michael. It is unlikely that a concentration lower than 100% could dissolve our compound. The 50% concentration DMSO was 50% DMSO and 50% water. The 100% concentration DMSO was just that, 100% DMSO. Since not even pure DMSO could dissolve our compound, it is unlikely that a lower concentration could dissolve it. I do think that in the future, we could try a different solvent from DMSO, such as nitric acid, to dissolve our compound.
Excellent presentation!!
Great presentation, what do you hypothesize the result of a different solvent would be?
Hi Veronica! Thanks so much. I hypothesize that using a different solvent will effectively dissolve our compound, which in turn would allow us to support previous research which has established the antimicrobial effects of palladium nanoparticles.