The Taste of Failure...

Been working hard on my research project for the past 3 weeks. It is really a long and painstaking process since each step in the synthesis of the bulk film would take at least 1 day. Extra care is also needed to be taken in the handling the ceramic powder to prevent contamination in the sample. Contamination is a real serious problem in nano processing as it has an adverse effect in the crystalline structure of the piezoelectric bulk film. This structure will in turn affect the electrical and physical properties of the piezoelectric thick film. Finally, after 3 weeks, I managed to prepare my very first batch of bulk film. Sent my samples for x-ray diffraction today and found that the crystal structure of the film is not we wanted, which means that my 3 weeks of work has gone down the drain. Well, now my sup is working on another composition for the film which hopefully can work. So, after my sup has finally come up with the new composition, I'll have to redo the whole processing again. Well...this is what research is all about. Doing the same process again and again until the optimum result is obtained. Hence, patience is the key to research and so is the ability to recover from failure. This is also very applicable in our daily life. We need to be patient in whatever we do and also not giving up easily when faced with obstacles. With these attitudes, we can then overcome the barriers in our life!