Duration
20h Th, 10h Pr
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This lecture is an introduction to the physical chemistry of nanometer-sized systems.
The following topics are notably covered:
-Specific surface area
-Surface energies and wettability
-Dispersive forces and adsorption
-Size effects for phase equilibria (Gibbs-Thomson and Kelvin relations)
-Role of thermal fluctuations at the nanometer-scale.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The aim of this course is to have students understand why nanomaterials have specific properties. The focus of the course is on simple models as well as on the estimation of orders of magnitude.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
-A freshman course on physics corresponding to the topics covered in the Feynman Lectures on Physics -An introductory course in thermodynamics
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
face-to-face
Recommended or required readings
Assessment methods and criteria
Theory and practicals.
Work placement(s)
None
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Every week, the students receive a self-study guide. That guide is a pdf document, which is sent to students by email, at latest the day before the scheduled two-hour lecture.
The pdf contains a list of instructions, to be followed in the mentionned order, to guide the students in the material that they can find online (notably on eCampus). That guide is meant for two hours of study.
The online material generally consists of (i) an exercise covering topics of previous lectures, which the students should try to solve on their own, (ii) lecture notes covering new material, (iii) some illustrative slides, (iii) videos recorded by the professor to draw the students' attention to some specific points, (iv) videos from general platforms (Youtube, etc.) that put the topic of the lecture in a broader perpective, and (v) the solution to the exercise of the previous week.
Forums have been created on eCampus, one for each chapter, for the students to interact with the teacher. Anonymous posts are allowed to ensure that the forums are not used for any type of assessment.
The list of all weekly self-study guides is also stored on eCampus.
Assessment subjects
The subjects on which the students will be assessed are the following:
- Before March 12th, the subjects covered in the weekly lectures;
- After March 19th, the subjects covered in the self-study guides that the students receive each week (also available on eCampus).
Globally, the subjects over which the students will be assesed are those covered in the lecture notes on eCampus. The few exceptions are those mentionned explicitely during the lectures (before March 12th) or in the self-study guides (after March 19th).
Assessment methods
Online questionnaire, via eCampus.
Contacts
Forums have been created on eCampus, on which students are encouraged to discuss any topic related to the lectures. I will also answer questions on the forum. To ensure that the forums are not used for assessment, anonymous post are allowed.
The students are also welcome to contact me by email. I will be happy to take part in any Q&A online discussion (Skype, Zoom, etc.) organized by the students.