Teaching and Textbook
Overview
In the recent years I have concentrated on four core courses that aref slated for upperclass undergraduates and first year graduate students. They are:
- Chemical Structure and Bonding
- Thermodynamics and Kinetics
- Mechanical Properties
- Introduction to NanoScience
The content of the Thermo and Mech. Prop. courses is self evident: they follow the classical approach from materials science. The course of Chemical Structure and Bonding is evolutionary, incorporating Pauling's approach to bonding as well as spectroscopic methods for characterization of nanostructures.
The course of Introduction to NanoScience is interdisciplinary. A brief description of the course is as follows: "Explains nanoscale materials phenomena in terms of introductory chemistry, physics, materials science and mechanics. Quantitative models that link length scale to performance are developed. Examples of topics: (i) Thermal and electrical transport in nanocomposites and thin films. (ii) Nanocomposite for highly performing Li-ion batteries. (iii) Photoluminescence in nanoscale particles. (iv) Mechanical properties of nanoscale materials and composites, and more."
Textbook on NanoScience
The course on NanoScience is developing into a textbook which is expected to be published by Elsevier in 2012. The structure of the book is divided into two parts.
The first half contains chapters on classical disciplines including, chemistry, physics, materials science, mechanics, mechanical properites, spectroscopy, and molecular biology.
The second half of the book contains chapters that discuss applications and properties of nanomaterials in a model-based approach drawing upon the fundamentals described in the first half. Topics include: thermal conductivity of nanocomposites, nanoscale design for energy storage devices, nanocarbon, mechanical properites of nanoscale structures, nanogold, self-assembled monolayers, blue-shift in nano-semiconductors, small-scale actuators, and nanoporous structures.