About the lecture

In the first mini-lecture, we discuss the theories of acid and base behaviour (Topics 2.1.4, 5.1.3). The lecture begins with the common acids and bases encountered in school, including bench acids like hydrochloric acid and functional group-containing molecules such as ethanoic acid. Arrhenius's early theory describes acids as substances that increase the concentration of hydrogen ions in water and bases as substances that release hydroxide ions. However, Bronsted and Lowry expanded on this theory to create a more general definition based on the movement of hydrogen ions in reactions. They defined acids as substances that donate hydrogen ions and bases as substances that accept hydrogen ions, and many acid-base reactions occur in equilibrium. Finally, the lecture explains the concept of conjugate acid-base pairs.

About the lecturer

Nick Chatterton graduated from Cambridge University with an MA in Natural Sciences, which was then followed by an MSc in Chemistry at Imperial College and a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from Kings College London in 2003. Since then he has further done research in inorganic chemistry in France (CEA, Grenoble), been a teaching fellow at Sheffield University and prior to joining the OU in June 2015 was a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry and Course Leader in Pharmaceutical Sciences at London Metropolitan University for 8 years. He is also an associate editor for the journal RSC Advances. His research interests primarily involve exploiting electrohydrodynamic techniques (electrospinning and electrospraying) to generate nanomaterials. His group research in this area predominantly focuses on using these techniques to fabricate novel drug delivery systems. The materials generated generally increase the solubility of poorly soluble drug molecules thereby increasing their bioavailability. In addition they have fabricated materials that can tuned to give either sustained or pulsatile release of drug cargo. They are also interested in luminescent solids with unusual optical properties produced via similar techniques to generate highly-tuned materials that act as sensitive sensors of gas molecules. Recent work has applied similar techniques to generate anti-microbial materials for the food industry using food waste as a raw material. Nick has over 10 years experience of face-to-face teaching (lectures, tutorials etc) at UK universities and joined the OU to gain experience in developing and utilizing distance learning approaches to teach HE level chemistry. Since joining the OU in 2015 he has written material for S111, S112, S315, SS021, SS031 and most recently, was module chair for the production of the new level 2 module S248. He is also employed as an associate lecturer on the project module SXM390 and the level 1 module S112. He has developed support for materials for chemistry students transitioning between stages in their study, authoring the material for the "Get Ready For S215" website, and is currently Qualification Lead for the Chemistry pathway.