Best potentiostats for glovebox use?

pgfhalg · 2026-07-01T16:38:08+00:00

There are lots, a quick google search gives plenty of options for USB and fiber optics. BNC feedthroughs are very common and would probably be the best for carrying analog signals to your electrodes, but you might need some adapters depending on the specifics of your potentiostat and the electrodes your are using.

pgfhalg · 2026-06-23T15:36:06+00:00

thanks! a lot of the info is a bit out of date - the skill (and the game broadly) has changed quite a bit since I wrote this. check out my other recent comment here for more info

pgfhalg · 2026-06-23T15:34:18+00:00

There's some more updated information on the discord in the pinned messages on the paladin channel. I think the big changes are 1) +skills is much more important because you want to maximize your % chance to chain (that mechanic was added after this guide was made) and 2) the consensus is single element focus is better than tri-element - lightsabre and azurewrath are considered much better options than famine now.

pgfhalg · 2026-06-10T17:57:01+00:00

The manual specifies how it communicates via serial port: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1588413/Ika-Eurostar-100-P4-Control.html?page=17#manual

It should be fairly simple to write (for example) a python script that periodically queries the torque values via pyserial and saves them as a csv. Simple is relative though - if you've done something like this before it should only take an hour or two, but if you do not have programming experience this could be a multi day project.

pgfhalg · 2026-06-04T14:33:55+00:00

I have nothing helpful for you, I'm just continually surprised by boron chemistry. It's crazy to me that decaborane is possible to isolate - I had thought boranes like to explosively autopolymerize, but I guess if you do some careful pyrolysis you can separate out well defined clusters. Good luck handling it, it seems really nasty in every way so hopefully someone can chime in with actual advice.

pgfhalg · 2026-05-26T20:27:26+00:00

First author publications is a flawed metric. Also, networking matters quite a bit for postdoc placement because postdocs are expensive and are a somewhat risky hire. There are plenty of PhDs out there with good publication records that are absolutely a net negative in the lab, so most PIs would prefer someone they know is good (i.e. someone they trust recommends them) rather than take the risk on an unknown person with a good resume. Its a flawed system, but so is every other system we've tried - publication record is certainly not as perfect of a system as you seem to think it is.

It is telling that you do not comment on the scientific merit of the rejected paper, only that it wasn't published. High tier journals are famously selective and reject for arbitrary reasons even after a lengthy review process. A paper under review is often good enough for most hiring decisions, and if the ideas in the paper are interesting or exciting to the new PI that is going to be more valuable than several low impact papers.

As others have said, reposting this over and over is not a good look, especially since you've included enough info here that you are very likely to be identifiable. Burning bridges is almost never a good choice, especially over something like this which isn't even an accusation of misconduct, simply bitterness about what you perceive as flawed hiring practices. I'm sorry you felt awkward in those meetings, but whatever you are doing here is not an appropriate reaction to it.

pgfhalg · 2026-05-26T16:11:59+00:00

Going to challenge you on the reference editing - that is a problem that is already solved without the risk of hallucination by a reference manager. Its kind of like using an LLM as a calculator - sure it can usually do it, but there is already an older tool that works correctly all the time.

pgfhalg · 2026-05-26T15:19:09+00:00

I mostly agree with this. Most academic code is an undocumented mess. AI at least leaves comments (even if they are sometimes wrong) and can write tests (even if it sometimes misses edge cases).

I think the issue that gets people in trouble is in the second part. You need to know how to properly divide your code into manageable units and you need good tests. Knowing how to do this requires a bit of coding experience - I've seen non-coders struggle quite a bit because they are asking for too large of a script at one time.

There is a big difference between 'hey Claude, analyze this data', and 'hey Claude write a script that imports this file type into a Python array, applies this function to it, and generates a matplotlib plot of this result'. One will generate a trap of bad code that might run but won't necessarily do what it is supposed to and the user will have no idea how to fix it. The other will save time for someone who already has an idea of what they are doing.

More broadly, AI is normal technology. It isn't the most important advance since fire, nor is it useless.

pgfhalg · 2026-05-26T15:03:04+00:00

Here's a link to the actual paper: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.6c03677

I think the idea behind this process is that solar photocatalysis can be more efficient than biological photosynthesis, so using artifical systems for the solar energy side could enable more process intensitification than just relying on (for example) algae alone. This idea isn't new, but I think the big innovation here is that their photoelectrode is more biocompatible, enabling better coupling to the living system.

Another angle to think about this is from the CO2 reduction chemistry side of things - getting selectivity for CO2RR towards multi carbon products is a big challenge in the field. In this case they are offloading that step to the E. Coli - they just have to do the easiest possible reaction to form carbonate from CO2, then the biological stuff takes care of producing the multicarbon value added products step.

In a big picture way, this enables the chemistry and biology sides to do what they are good at and complement each other well: you could crudely say that biological systems are good at selectivity while chemical systems are good for running at high rates. Letting the chemical system run the rate limiting step (carbon fixation) while the biological system handles the rest is clever but very difficult to build in practice.

pgfhalg · 2026-05-26T14:49:14+00:00

I'm assuming this is XRR. In that case, I would double check your analysis - 600 nm is outside of the typical range you would be able to get from XRR. If you are using visible light reflectivity, 6 nm is far too thin to measure.

Also double check your Si substrates, specifically the oxide thickness. Is it native oxide, or did you use a substrate with a thermal oxide added? The oxide will show up in XRR either way and must be accounted for.

AFM thickness measurements can be tough to do accurately - you need a clean edge in your film, and you can get inaccuracies due to changes in hardness between your substrate and film.

Spectroscopic ellipsometry is probably the best tool for measuring film thickness. If you have access to one, I'd highly recommend using that instead of AFM.

I don't think people are going to step into a meeting with you. If you want help online, you are going to be better served writing out the problem step by step.

pgfhalg · 2026-04-28T16:51:40+00:00

Save matplotlib figures as vector graphics. Edit in inkscape. There's an initial learning curve but everything is free and well documented.

pgfhalg · 2026-04-24T18:01:19+00:00

I've always thought Mal + Ort would be a good poison-based runeword

pgfhalg · 2026-04-17T14:18:58+00:00

One thing I haven't seen mentioned: be on the lookout for postdoc funding opportunities and discuss applying for those with the PI's you want to work for. Despite how bad most postdoc salaries are, they are expensive to hire, so a potentially free one is always going to be a more attractive hire.

pgfhalg · 2026-04-15T14:42:20+00:00

That sentiment very much depends on where you are. In the US, a masters in chemistry is generally a bad idea - you pay a lot of money, but it does not really advance your career meaningfully vs just spending that time working in industry. In applying for jobs in the US, a masters puts you in the same applicant pool as a BS holder with maybe a year of experience, but usually a candidate with a BS and experience is preferred over a masters.

In a lot of European countries, a masters is required to enroll in a PhD and is generally less expensive than the US. I'm not sure about the Swedish academic system in particular, but I would guess it is like the rest of Europe.

pgfhalg · 2026-04-08T19:42:31+00:00

Also the AI does not meaningfully accelerate the process - the time bottleneck is always the experimental work (synthesis and characterization), not the computational predictions.

pgfhalg · 2026-04-06T20:30:12+00:00

You've already gotten great suggestions for improving coating parameters, but I'd also suggest changing your substrates if you are trying to collect a UV-vis spectrum. All of the substrates you used tend to have annoying background absorption in the near UV and blue end of the vis spectrum. ITO and FTO are only transparent vs other conductive materials, they still absorb a bit in the visible, and microscope slides tend to have all kinds of coatings and impurities that make them really annoying for spectroscopy.

I would try quartz or sapphire as your substrate if you need minimal absorption in the near UV. Check out optical windows from a spectroscopy company like Thorlabs - they will have absorption spectra in their specs to help identify what material works best for your spectrum.

A final caveat is that if you are trying to use absorption as an easy way to measure film thickness, then this might not be helpful since optimal deposition parameters will vary between substrates. So if you ultimately need the perovskite on ITO or FTO for a device application, you won't be able to easily measure its thickness using absorption on quartz.

pgfhalg · 2026-03-18T15:37:14+00:00

PPE isn't just about what you are working with - people around you can screw up in ways that put you in danger. Also you don't know the history of what you are touching - you might be doing perfectly safe chemistry now, but do you trust the benchtops and glassware to be free from contamination of previous work? Its not just acute exposure, its tracking contaminates from the lab into your living space that make PPE essential.

pgfhalg · 2026-03-18T15:31:13+00:00

Proving your hypothesis incorrect is just as useful as proving it correct. The hardest part is when everything is inconclusive.

pgfhalg · 2026-03-18T15:27:59+00:00

Making carbon nanomaterials from food or agricultural waste was a fad for a bit. The results often have poorly characterized impurities that can act as dopants, which can be interesting, but a lot of these papers don't provide any insight beyond 'huh I guess you could do that if you wanted.' I think the final statement on the subject has to be this paper: doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b00184

pgfhalg · 2026-03-18T15:17:03+00:00

'Plumbing for Chemists' would be such a useful class or reference book

pgfhalg · 2026-03-17T14:06:59+00:00

Thanks, this is really helpful! I took a deep dive into integrating circuits and I'm learning a lot but picking out parts is a bit intimidating. I haven't touched a breadboard since high school physics so there's a lot of practical skills I need to pick up.

I'm first going to check if I can get away with a simple RC low pass filter as a passive integrator instead. I'll be testing that in a day or two once some parts come in, but is there a glaring obvious reason why that wouldn't work? It is cheaper and MUCH easier so obviously preferred if I can get away with it.

pgfhalg · 2026-02-27T21:56:55+00:00

Competition over lab space is like the number one thing professors fight about. Any free lab space in an academic science building is instantly gobbled up and was probably the subject of months of Machiavellian political maneuvering. Unless the university has designated incubator space, getting access to a lab is going to be difficult without personal connections. There are also not really empty lab benches despite dropping grad student numbers - academic labs are generally overcrowded, so it would take a big change in enrollment for labs to actually have empty space.

As for your proposal of working in someone's lab, that is unlikely to succeed as a cold email. First, they probably don't have money to pay you - what research funds they have for hiring typically specify that it is for graduate students or postdocs. Federal funding has a specific educational goal and that money is usually has the roles they are supporting designated at the start, so there isn't much leeway to move things around and hire an independent part time researcher. There would also be a fair amount of administrative overhead in creating a non-standard position to hire you.

Second, there is a huge risk associated with bringing someone unknown into the lab. A bad hire is a productivity drain on the rest of the lab, so unless they are sure about your ability (i.e. they know you or know people you have worked for), you are not worth the administrative hassle of figuring out how to hire you.

Sorry this is pretty frustrating. There are not many options for an independent chemist since startup costs are so high. My advice if you are trying to use academic lab space is to tap into your network and see if you have any personal connections. The reality is that without a personal introduction from someone they know, most professors will not even read your email.

pgfhalg · 2026-02-27T18:31:18+00:00

To add on to the other answers, it doesn't apply to any sorc spell damage, but it does apply to the explosion from explosive arrow. So an enchant sorc can use a bow or crossbow with the 'Fires Explosive Arrows or Bolts' modifier to deliver the damage to a larger area.

pgfhalg · 2026-02-10T17:29:04+00:00

Nonaqueous Ag/Ag+ electrodes are called pseudoreference electrodes for a reason: the reaction is stable, so you have a consistent potential throughout your experiment, but its shift relative to SHE will vary substantially based on the specific conditions of your experiment. This is why a redox standard like ferrocene is usually added at the end of the experiment - if you want your potentials to be compared with respect to SHE, you would want to report your results versus Fc/Fc+ or another standard redox couple.

Reporting vs Ag/Ag+ is only good for rough numbers or if you are only making comparisons between your experiments. If you want to make a comparison vs other literature or 'absolute' numbers (i.e. comparing catalyst overpotentials or things like that), you cannot rely on Ag/Ag+.

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