Highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of research, we present a series of experiments for undergraduate lab courses that teach the principles of preparative ion exchange chromatography and flame emission spectroscopy. Through these inquiry-based experiments, the students learn about experimental design and instrument limitations, naturally connecting general chemistry principles with analytical and physical chemistry and materials science. The goal is to devise experimental parameters that allow quantitative ion exchange on a small scale, and to monitor the exchange with optical spectroscopy. The small-footprint, inexpensive flame emission spectroscopy setup we developed can be used to accurately determine relative concentrations of alkali metal ions in a sample, while also being suitable for simpler experiments, which allow it to be employed in a variety of classes. In a demonstration for energy research, we then perform the presented experiments on redox flow battery electrolytes to investigate the influence of the cation choice on battery performance.