Carbohydrates (saccharides) are very important in life action. They are abundant in nature as stable structure. In past decades, saccharide-based compounds and materials have been paid more and more attention in chemistry, biology, medicine and materials. However, the part structural formula of saccharide was wrong in some publications, which cause confusion to readers. In this paper, based on discussing the chair conformation of cyclohexane, the strategy on deducing and drawing structural units of monosaccharide, oligosaccharide and polysaccharide has been summarized, which is very useful to understand related contents in publications. It is also very useful to authors for drawing related structures.

As the traditional polymerization experiments in the polymer chemistry laboratory course are often time-consuming, and there are many waiting time during the polymerization process, several less time-consuming and interesting experiments related with the fundamentals of polymer chemistry, such as PVA gel experiment, interfacial polymerization of nylon-66, and water-absorption properties of sodium polyacrylate resins (artificial snow experiment), were introduced to fill these time slots, thus the total class hours would not be increased. In recent years, the students' feedback on teaching showed that these interesting experiments were well received by the students and greatly enhanced the students' learning interests.

Two combined experiments about polymer materials have been developed. One was preparation of g-C₃N₄/PANI and the study of catalytic performance. The other was preparation and study of porous g-C₃N₄/PANI. By using the ways of literature, the experiment scheme was determined. The g-C₃N₄ (porous g-C₃N₄) was prepared by calcinations of dicyandiamide, and then the composites were obtained by an interfacial polymerization method. On the basis of structural characterization of the obtained materials, the catalytic performance and its influencing factors were studied. These experiments gathered instrumental analysis,polymer materials preparation and physical performance analysis in one. This could not only improve students' experimental ability, but also link knowledge points and provide support for well-rounded talents.

As a new attempt to the aim of training practical talents, the comprehensive polymer chemistry experiment of sunlight induced reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was designed base on the idea of inquiry teaching. The RAFT polymerization of 2-vinylpyridine was successfully carried out under the irridation of sunlight in the only presence of S-1-dodecyl-S'-(α,α″-dimethyl-α″-aceticacid). The sunlight was applied ingeniously in the RAFT polymerization. This study found that the RAFT polymerization had obvious phenomena and the experiment could be performed in an easier way.

Graphite carbon nitride was prepared from simple raw materials (melamine, silicon sol) using a template method. The structure and morphology of products were characterized and analyzed. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue testing was used to evaluate the visible light catalytic properties of graphite carbon nitride, and the degradation reaction kinetics equation and the degradation rate constant were obtained.Students can learn about the template method in controllable preparation of nonmaterialby doing the preparation experiment and their understanding of the structure and properties of light catalytic materials can be deepenedby doing the testing and characterization of the products. The experiment involves the multiple disciplines, which can broaden students' knowledge horizon and cultivate their scientific research innovation ability.

The acrylic acid/styrene/2-ethylhexyl acrylate copolymer hydrogel was prepared by emulsion polymerization method, and was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The influence of pH value on the swelling ratio of the hydrogel was investigated. The thiourea sustained-release system was synthesized by the hydrogel. The results showed that the hydrogel with pH-responsive and excellent sustained-release property had much higher swelling ratio in alkaline conditions than those in neutral or acidic conditions. The experimental process was designed as a comprehensive experiment for higher vocational students, and the practical explorations were carried out. The results showed that it had significant effect on improving students' professional comprehensive ability, broadening their professional vision, and training their creative and scientific thinking.

The type of adsorbent is one of the most important factors in column chromatography separation. Several common stationary phases have been adopted to analyze their influence on the separation effect of fluorescent yellow and methylene blue BB, such as silica gel, alkaline alumina, neutral alumina, and acidic alumina, etc. The acid distribution and pore distribution of the adsorbent were characterized by NH₃-TPD and N₂ adsorption desorption respectively. The molecular size of fluorescent yellow and methylene blue was calculated using density functional method. The relationship between the acidity, the structure of the adsorbent and the separation efficiency was also investigated. Experimental results showed that the separation effect of silica gel was better than that of neutral alumina. In addition, fluorescent yellow was eluted firstly when silica gel was used as adsorbent, which was contrary to results when neutral alumina was employed. This process was helpful for students to clearly understand the function of stationary phase and column chromatography. And scientific research could also make sense for the cultivation of earnest scientific attitude and ability to analyze and solve problems.

Silica gel-catalyzed and microwave-irradiated preparation of N-phenylbenzamide under solvent-free condition has been developed as a representative example for the amidation reaction. This experiment utilized chromatography-used silica gel as an environmentally benign catalyst, leading to high catalytic efficiency. Such an amide preparation with benzoic acid and aniline performed by microwave-heating at 120 ℃ in the absence of solvent with a yield greater than 90% within 10 min, was quite atom economical and energy efficient. Therefore, it represented a good example of green chemistry in action.

Applications of quantum chemistry gaussian software in the teaching of university engineering courses such as energy, environment and chemical engineering were introduced, which was also described in detail by combining with the three examples: elementary reaction of hydroxyl radical with ozone, elementary reaction of nitric oxide with hydroxyl radical and reaction pathway of hydrogen production from supercritical water gasification of formic acid. Practice showed that by using this method the engineering students could afford insight into the intrinsic laws of chemical reaction and the nature of problem on the micro-level, which can deepen the students' understanding of “micro-chemical knowledge” and stimulate the enthusiasm of the students to explore the deep-level “micro-chemical knowledge”, thus to achieve perfect teaching effect.

View of the nature of models was the key element of scientific literacy, which was the core of science education. Based on the previous research, the learning progression framework on the ideas of the nature of models has been developed. Through an investigation on 381 students including secondary school students and undergraduates, this research showed that many students had misconception about models, especially in the dimension of “relation between models and entity”.