MATSE 480/CHEM 488: Surfaces and Colloids
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Textbook: Class notes.
Catalog Description:
Introduction to the chemistry and physics of surfaces and interfaces, with emphasis on behavior in liquid media; major areas include surface composition, surface and interfacial forces, colloidal stability and flocculation, and amphiphilic molecules. Prerequisite: MATSE 301, CHEM 342, or PHYCS 361; or equivalent undergraduate course in thermodynamics or physical chemistry, or consent of instructor. 3 hours, or 3/4 or 1 unit. 3 lecture-discussion hours/week
Course Topics:
1. Basic concepts of surfaces
general principles; surface structure; surface thermodynamics;
curvature; adsorption.
2. Forces between surfaces
use of colloids; varieties of interparticle forces; van der Waals
forces; electrostatic forces; zeta potential; examples.
3. Forces due to liquid structure
Polymers; structured liquids (small molecules); tribology and
adhesion.
4. Forward look
summary and review; diffusion, viscoelasticity; frontier areas.
Course Objectives:
1. To teach students intuition and problem-solving techniques
in the industrially and environmentally important field of wet
surfaces and colloidal interactions.
2. To teach students to analyze and interpret the common themes
that underlie seemingly disparate phenomena; to recognize and
understand the unifying themes in different areas of applications.
3. To develop the expertise to know where to look to find out
more about any of the areas that were treated in this class.
4. To teach students to implement in a group setting an oral presentation
of a semester-long research and assessment project.
Course Outcomes:
1. A general understanding of surface energy, adsorption, relaxation,
and reconstruction and their different characteristic behavior
as between the general classes of materials (atomic and molecular).
2. A general understanding of the main types of surface forces
(van der Waals, electrostatic, steric, forces owing to liquid
structure) and the reasons that these forces exist.
3. Ability to read the literature critically in the field of surfaces
and colloids.
4. Ability to develop informed opinions about items of current
interest in the field of surfaces and colloids.
5. Ability to express these opinions and reasons for them persuasively
in the form of an extended term paper and numerous homework open-ended
essay problems.
6. Given an engineering situation, the ability to develop an informed
approach to methods by which to manipulate the magnitudes and
ranges of the interaction forces.
Assessment Tools:
1. A midterm and final exam.
2. A written presentation of an open-ended term paper on a subject
of the student's choosing.
3. An oral presentation of an open-ended investigation of a second
research topic (only for those who take the class for honors credit).
Contribution of Course to Meeting the Professional Component:
100%
Prepared by:
Steve Granick, March, 2001