L6 Chemistry Trip to Johnson Matthey

On the 21st February, 13 Lower Sixth chemistry students, accompanied by Dr. Chapman and Dr. Hobbs, visited the Johnson Matthey Technology Centre in Reading. As a leader in chemical technology and a member of the FTSE 100, Johnson Matthey is an extremely large organisation providing invaluable research into areas such as fuel cells and solar panels, focusing on sustainability and efficiency. The trip gave an excellent opportunity to experience work in an industrial lab and company focused on innovation.

The visit started with a tour around the main research labs at the site, featuring talks about ongoing research from some of the scientists, and highlighting areas such as fuel cells, catalysts, nanoparticles and solar cells. The tour was followed by practical experiments in the afternoon, which proved particularly entertaining. The entire trip was highly interesting, but there were certainly highlights, including using a £100,000 scanning electron microscope, and making our own (fairly simplistic) solar panels. Arguably the most thought-provoking moment on the trip was discussing the future of cars, such as the already developed cars that use hydrogen as fuel, and the very real possibility of cars powered by water in the near future.

Thanks must go to Dr. A Chapman and Dr. Hobbs who organised the trip, and those at Johnson Matthey for allowing us to visit their centre and giving us one of the highlights of Sixth Form chemistry so far this year.