Nanomaterials Syllabus

• Physiological hierarchy: animals from the metre to the micrometer
• Physiological hierarchy: general cell structure and ultrastructure; cytoskeletal elements and intracellular transport; channels, pores, endocytosis, phagocytosis, exocytosis
• Overview of human diseases
• Current therapeutics, strengths and limitations
• The science behind using drugs: pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics
• Targeting receptors, mechanisms of resistance
• Viruses as prototypical drug carriers

Part (ii) Introduction to Properties of Solids

• Free electron model of metals. Fermi and Bose statistics. Fermi energy. Conduction properties of metals, electrons in a magnetic field, Hall effect. Cyclotron motion and cyclotron resonance.
• Structural properties of solids. Bravais latttice and unit cell. Bragg scattering. Reciprocal lattice and Brilloun zone. Phonons in solids: optical and acoustic branch. Piezoelectric materials.
• Band structure for electrons in solids. Metals and insulators. e mass approximations. Donors and acceptors. Heterostructures and two-dimensional electrons.
• Optical properties of semiconductors. Excitons in semiconductors.

• Introduction to nanoparticles, including dimensionality and general properties. (e.g. surface energy’s role in reactivity and crystal structure, optical properties and electronic structure).
• Self assembly. Design and interaction of block polymers which self assemble (micelle phase diagrams, peptide gels and DNA). Mesocrystals.
• Production routes for nanoparticles and nanomaterials (colloidal, templating, chemical vapour deposition).
• Optical characterisation techniques (Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, etc.).

The lectures will cover the following topics:

• Introduction to Tissue Engineering
• Introduction to polymers
• Mechanical Properties
• Rheology of gel-like materials