Entry requirements

Alternative 1: 120 credits with 60 credits in chemistry, including 10 credits in inorganic chemistry and 10 credits in physical chemistry. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Alternative 2: 120 credits with 75 credits in physics or chemistry, and 30 credits materials science. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• explain the principles of synthesising solid materials by various routes, e.g. from solid phase, solution, melts, gas phase,
• explain the principles behind and the type of information that different characterisation techniques provide,
• evaluate the strengths and limitations of various synthesis and characterisation methods,
• propose technical applications for materials produced by different synthesis methods,
• critically analyse how and why the nature of the chemical bonding in a material is influenced by the synthetic pathway and how it impacts the resulting material properties,
• synthesise a material by a variety of different synthesis routes, having assessed their suitability,
• assess the suitability of different characterisation techniques (e.g. to determine form, purity and other properties) for a particular material, perform various measurements (e.g. XRD,XPS) to characterize a material and analyse the data,
• propose and critically evaluate the suitability of synthesis and characterisation methodologies for a material targeted towards a particular application.

Content

The course will include detail on solid state synthesis, solution-based synthesis (co-precipitation, solvothermal, sol-gel), synthesis from the melt, combustion synthesis, gas phase synthesis for thin films (PVD, CVD, sputtering), and polymer synthesis. 

It will also cover scattering techniques (e.g. XRD, PDF), spectroscopic techniques (e.g. IR, Raman, XPS, XAS, UV-vis), imaging (e.g. SEM, AFM, TEM), methods for studying materials properties such as electrochemical, mechanical and magnetic characterisation (e.g. SQUID, MOKE, NMR).

Instruction

Lectures, seminars and laboratory work.

Assessment

Written exam (6 credits). A pass in the laboratory course, by presence and written reports (4 credits).

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.