Entry requirements

120 credits including 90 credits chemistry. Inorganic Chemistry 10 credits and Physical Chemistry 5 credits, or equivalent.

Learning outcomes

After completion of the course, the students should be able to

• use relevant experimental methods to synthesise and characterise both nanostructured and bulk materials for energy-related applications and catalysis
• identify and use theoretical models to interpret data from different chemical characterisation methods in the research field of energy-related materials and catalysis
• explain chemical bonding, coordination, and structure in terms of crystal and ligand field theory for both solid state materials and molecular systems
• explain how atomic structures affect chemical properties of relevant materials used in renewable energy and/or catalytic applications
• apply relevant computational methods to study surface structure and reactivity, as well as discuss how the surfaces affect the properties of renewable energy systems, in particular for applications based on heterogeneous catalysis
• summarise the principles of homogeneous catalysis and give examples of catalytic reactions related to fuel production and energy conversion
• review a limited research field based on relevant scientific literature.

Content

Synthesis of materials: Solid state, sol-gel, gas phase (CVD/ALD). Characterisation of materials and surfaces: XRD, SEM and TEM, XPS, TGA, and DSC. Synthesis of bulk and nanomaterials, chemical properties of energy-relevant materials at the nanoscale. Crystal field theory for solid-state materials. Semiconductors and their use in energy relevant applications. Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. Surface properties and function in heterogeneous catalysis. Structure, bonding and reactivity of coordination compounds and metalloorganic complexes based on transition metals. 18-electron rule and MO theory. Mechanisms for ligand substitution and ligand activation.

The course includes a literature study project as well as a substantial laboratory project (experimental or computational). Both can be arranged according to the interests of the students.

Instruction

Lectures, tutorials, project work and laboratory work.

Assessment

Written examination at the end of the course (7 credits). To complete the course, it is necessary to additionally pass the laboratory project (2 credits) and the literature project (1 credit). The final grade will be weighted based on the written exam and the mandatory course components.