This advanced course will help students to understand fundamental methods used for materials characterization. Students will learn principles and applications of detectors and amplifiers, optical spectroscopy, electron and scanning probe microscopy, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence and spectroscopic methods, surface analysis techniques. Students will be able to use the knowledge in the broad area of materials research. By the end of the course, the students will be able to choose appropriate methods for characterizing each specific type of materials and to treat and analyze the data obtained by such techniques.

Advanced level thermodynamics, entropy, free energy, physical conversion of pure Materials and mixtures, phase rules and phase diagrams, chemical equilibrium, electrochemistry, chemical reaction rate, complex reaction kinetics, molecular reaction Dynamics, statistical thermodynamics, molecular structures.