COURSES

Goals

The objective is that upon successful completition of the course students from different undergraduate programs understand basics of crystal structures, defects in crystals, solid-state thermodynamics, diffusion in solids and microstructure development in materials. The acquired knowledge should enable understanding of similarities and differences between individual groups of functional materials. General Competences: - The student will understand basic principles of the research methods and procedures in the field of materials science. - The student will develop critical thinking in assessment of experimental and literature data. - The student will develop communications skills to present research achievements in the international environment. Course Specific Competences: This course teaches students basic principles of solid-state chemistry and characterization methods.

Curriculum

1. Introduction to crystal structures: - symmetry elements, - point and space groups, - fundamentals of X-ray and electron diffraction, - diffraction techniques, - crystal structure refinement. 2. Defects in crystals: - thermodynamics of point defects, - Kroeger-Vink notation of point defects, - quasi-chemical approach to point-defect equilibrium, - Brouwer diagrams, - point-defect interactions, - determination of point defects, - line and planar faults. 3. Solid-state chemical kinetics: - macroscopic description of diffusion, - atomistic description of diffusion, - non-reciprocal diffusion, - types and determination of diffusion coefficients. 4. Phase equilibria in solid systems: - basics of thermodynamic equilibrium, - binary phase diagrams, - ternary phase diagrams. 5. Microstructure: - basics of ceramic materials, - theory of solid-state sintering, - development of microstructure in bulk ceramics and thin films.