This course will introduce synthetic methods, properties, and applications of materials synthesized through chemical means, ranging from organic polymers to inorganic crystals. An overview of the physics necessary to understand polymer properties and electronic structure in solids will be included. Particular emphasis will be placed on the control of material structure through chemical mechanisms and how molecular and nanoscale structure translate to macroscale properties. A portion of the course will be dedicated to the study of nanomaterials and how unique properties emerge from constraining dimensions of materials to the nanoscale. Throughout the course students will be asked to consider the effect of the development and production of synthetic materials on society.
Required: Chemistry 126 or 140.
Recommended: Chemistry 245 and one year of college-level Physics.