Course Description
Introduction to soft condensed matter, including the general aspects of chemistry, physical properties, structure and dynamics, and applications of soft materials (including polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, amphiphiles, gels, and biomaterials). Emphasis is placed on the molecular forces related to self-assembly.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to complete bi-weekly
literature summaries and develop a research design project
based on a related subject. The graduate students give a
presentation based on their project to the rest of the class.
Athena Title
Soft Materials
Prerequisite
CHEM 2211 or PHYS 1212 -1212L or ENGR 3140 or permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will serve as an introduction to soft condensed matter for students with a background in biological engineering, chemistry, physics, and materials science. It covers general aspects of chemistry, physical properties, structure and dynamics, and applications of soft materials (including polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, amphiphiles, gels and biomaterials). Emphasis is placed on the molecular forces related to self-assembly. Topical coverage includes: (a) forces, energies, and kinetics in material synthesis, growth and transformation; (b) synthetic methods for preparing materials; (c) formation, assembly, phase behavior, and molecular ordering of synthetic soft materials; (d) structure, function, and phase transition of natural materials (nucleic acids, proteins, polysaccharides and lipids); (e) techniques to characterize structure, phase and dynamics of soft materials (f) application of soft materials in nanotechnology. Recent examples from the literature will be used to illustrate technologically relevant materials in current nanoscience, nanotechnology, and nano-biotechnology, such as block copolymers thin films, colloidal photonic crystals, micelles, vesicles, hydro-gels, photosensitive materials, and materials in soft lithography.
Topical Outline
1. Introduction 1.1. Overview: What is soft condensed matter? 1.2. Forces, energies, and time scales in soft condensed matter. (Intra- and intermolecular interactions, dynamics, structural organization, phase transition, order parameters, scaling laws…) 1.3. Experimental techniques to investigate soft matter 1.4. Applications of soft matter in nanotechnology 2. General materials chemistry 2.1. Materials chemistry and the stereochemistry of polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, gels 2.2. Chemistry of biomaterials 3. Polymers 3.1. Polymer architecture and stereochemistry 3.2. Synthesis 3.3. Copolymers and polymer blends 3.3.1. Polydispersity 3.3.2. Phase separation and segregation 3.3.3. Thin film vs. bulk properties 3.4. Interactions of Polymers and Surfaces 3.5. Polymer solutions 3.6. Crystalline polymers 3.7. Characterization techniques 4. Gelation 4.1. Classes of gels: physical gels, chemical gels (introduce sol-gel) 4.2. Theory of Gelation 4.3. Hydrogel 4.3.1. Types of hydrogels 4.3.2. Application of hydrogels 4.3.3. Formation of hydrogels 4.3.4. Processing of hydrogels 5. Colloids 5.1. Types of colloids and their formation 5.2. Forces between colloidal particles 5.3. Assembly and phase behavior 5.3.1. Charges and stabilization 5.3.2. Kinetics 5.3.3. Defects in assembly 5.3.4. Approaches to control long range order 5.4. Characterization 5.5. Applications of colloids, especially in photonics and optoelectronics 6. Amphiphiles 6.1. Types of amphiphiles 6.2. Self-assembled phases in solution 6.2.1 Phase separation and aggregation of amphiphilic molecules 6.2.2 Micellization and critical micelle concentration (CMC) 6.2.3 Bilayers and vesicles 6.2.4 Phase behavior in concentrated solutions 6.2.5 Complex phases in surfactant solutions and microemulsions 6.3. Adsorption at solid interface 7. Soft Matter in Nature 7.1. Nucleic acids 7.2. Proteins 7.3. Polysaccharides 7.4. Membranes 8. Nanotechnology and soft materials 8.1. Photoresists in microlithography 8.2. Nanolithography using block copolymer templates 8.3. Directed colloidal assembly 8.4. Soft lithography by PDMS and self-assembled monolayers 8.4.1 Chemistry and process 8.4.2 Micropatterning in microfluidics 8.4.3 Applications in biotechnology