ThermoDex contains records for selected printed and web-based compilations of thermochemical and thermophysical data for chemical compounds and other substances. You can select one or more compound types and link them to one or more property terms, and ThermoDex will return a list of handbooks that could contain these data. Due to copyright and technical considerations, the actual data are not contained in ThermoDex. ThermoDex is based primarily on the holdings of the Mallet Chemistry Library at the University of Texas at Austin. Links are provided to identify library holdings in your area.

See: ThermoDex: An Index of Selected Thermodynamic and Physical Property Resources

Suppose we need to find information on ‘Enthalpy’ and ‘Gibbs Free Energy’. Mark the items in ‘Thermodex’, and then click on ‘Search’.  We find a book titled ‘Chemical Properties Handbook’. Click on ‘Find in a Library’ link and use Zipcode 19104 to see if our Library has this book. The first link tells us that our library do have a copy of this reference book. See Drexel University Libraries link to locate information on where to find this book. However, one important point to remember is that this link points only to the print version. We do subscribe to the electronic version of this book. Therefore, it is necessary to check our online catalog as well.

Access the electronic version at: Chemical Properties Handbook

The senior design team of Eric Eisele, Courtney Reid, Dan Pugh, Sarah Byrnes, and Charlie Woods was awarded a Phase II People, Prosperity, and Planet Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  See Senior Design Team wins EPA funding for more details.

Eric and his team used several Library resources over a period of time.  These include:

• ASCE Civil Engineering Database
• ASCE Conference Proceedings Online
• BuildingGreen – (BuildingGreen Suite integrates online versions of GreenSpec, Environmental Building News, and a database of more than 160 high-performance building case studies.)
• DoE Energy Codes
• Ei Compendex and INSPEC
• Environmental Engineering Abstracts
• Google Scholar
• Home Depot Smart Home
• Knovel: Engineering and Scientific Online References
• MAD CAD – (NOTE: access to cross-referenced collections of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and maintenance codes from BOCA, SBCCI, ICBO, ICC, and NFPA.)
• ScienceDirect
• Statistical Resources
• Statistical Resources on the Web-Energy
• Web of Knowledge

Eric also needed some ASTM standards for the Solar Coating project. Using How Do I access ASTM, SAE, ASHRAE, ISO or ANSI standards? Any other standards? Eric was able to obtain ASTM standards that he needed for the project. Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and Materials Engineering Site include a few resources that may also help in future for other projects. See also Cool Roofs and Cool Roofing Materials Database available from Heat Island Group Resources.

Eric also contributed in creating  Drexel’s web site for Sustainability and Drexel Green.

Congratulations to the Senior Design Team!

A collaboration between the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute (DNI) and the A.J. Drexel Plasma Institute (DPI) has enabled high-impact research results, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The paper, “Nanoscale Corona Discharge in Liquids Enabling Nanosecond Optical Emission Spectroscopy” has been selected as a VIP (very important paper).  Only 5% of all manuscripts submitted to this journal receive this honor.

Read the full article in CoE News archives at: Nanotechnology – Plasma Collaboration Leads to Very Important Paper