Outreach workshop with Year 12 students

Thomas Dunn (Leeds) hosted a week-long crystallisation workshop for two disadvantaged year 12 students through In2ScienceUK in August 2022. The students grew a variety of crystals, then analysed them using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Students also got to experience some cutting-edge research techniques such as acoustic levitation, which was used to balance saltwater droplets and calculate the concentration at which crystallisation occurred. Throughout the week, polymorphism, structural colour and birefringence were introduced through experimentation and analysis.