Academics / Courses / DescriptionsMAT_SCI 395-5: Special Topics: Supramolecular Design of Materials and Nanostructures
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Prerequisites
junior standing in materials science and engineering or chemistry or consent of instructor.Description
This course introduces first year graduate and undergraduates in materials science and chemistry to supramolecular design of materials and nanostructures. The course focuses on the synthetic methods and basic physical principles needed to create functional materials and nanomaterials for useful applications. After a general introduction, the first area covered is the synthesis of molecularly precise polymers using techniques such as living anionic and free radical reactions, atom transfer, metathesis, and recombinant synthesis of artificial proteins. This is followed by topics in self-assembly strategies to create materials using supramolecular chemistry to design interactions among their components. This section includes supramolecular polymerization, molecular design of liquid crystals, superlattices through molecular self-sorting, metal organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, colloidal crystals, gels, and layer-by-layer assemblies. The third section of the course covers design of functional nanostructures through self-assembly of amphiphiles, sol-gel chemistry, organic monolayers, quantum dot and metal nanoparticle assemblies, and carbon nanostructure systems such as graphene and nanotubes.