Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces

In this course the students will get to know the chemistry behind the formation of solids and on their surfaces, the kind of bonding involved and the available techniques to characterize them. Through this course students will also learn how to interpret various chemical structures of solids and their surfaces. Students will further understand crystallographic terminology, selected diffraction theory, nomenclature at surfaces, reconstruction and relaxations at surfaces and how to determine the surface structure. They will also realize the wide range of chemical information available from diffraction based techniques. Further the students will learn about different surface phenomena such as adsorption, catalysis, work function, and basics of the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties, and their relevance to nanomaterials. This is a required course for Chemistry majors, but also satisfies UWE requirements for non-majors.

COURSE CONTENT:

• INTRODUCTION TO SOLID STATE CHEMISTRY
• CRYSTAL CHEMISTRY
  
  • Introduction to Crystallography
  • Unit cells and Crystal Systems
  • Symmetry, Lattice, Lattice spacing
  • Crystal Densities and Packing
  • Crystallographic Notations
• BONDING IN SOLIDS
  
  • Overview on Bonding
    • Ionic, Covalent, Metallic, van der Waals and Hydrogen Bonding
  • Born-Haber Cycle
  • The Shapes of Molecules
  • Intermolecular Forces
• CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS
  
  • Properties of X-Rays
  • X-Ray Emission & Absorption
  • X-Ray Diffraction Techniques
  • Point, Line, Interface & Bulk Defects
• AMORPHOUS MATERIALS
  
  • Introduction to Glasses
  • Glass Properties

• INTRODUCTION TO THE CHEMISTRY of SURFACES

• Surface structure

               Nomenclature

               Surface unit cell

               Relaxation and reconstruction at surfaces and its relevance to nanomaterials

               How to characterize atomic structure at surfaces

• Basics of different phenomena at surfaces

Surface energy

Electronic structure, 2D Brillouin zone, photoemission

Work function

Magnetic properties and relevance to nanomaterials

Optical properties

Adsorption and catalysis

Two dimensional structures

Recommended reading:

1. 1. P. Atkins and J. dePaula, Atkins' Physical Chemistry
2. A. R. West, Basic Solid State Chemistry.L. Smart and E. Moore, Solid State Chemistry An Introduction
3. J. P. Glusker, K. N. Trueblood, Crystal Structure Analysis
4. W. Clegg, Crystal Structure Determination
5. J.M. Blakely, Introduction to the properties of Crystal Surfaces, New York, Plenum Press 1973.
6. G A Somarjai, Chemistry in Two Dimensions: Surfaces, Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press 1981.
7. A. Zangwill, Physics at Surfaces, New York: Cambridge University Press 1988.
8. Surface Science, An Introduction, John B. Hudson, 1992, Butterworth-Heinemann.
9. Solid Surfaces, Interfaces and Thin Films – Springer, by H Lüth.
10. Modern Techniques of surface Science, Second Edition D.P. Woodruff and T A Delchar, Cambridge University Press 1994.

Prerequisites: Chemical Principles (CHY111), Physics (PHY101/102 or PHY103/104).