Overall objectives:

1 - This curricular unit is an introduction to the master course. While leaving to the other curricular units a deepening of contents, this unit has, therefore, provided students with a broad vision of the theme of nanoscience and materials at the nanoscale. The aim is to: a) offer the students the greatest possible diversity of knowledge related to nanoscience
2 - b) acquire the basic tools that will help them not only to deepen their knowledge in other disciplines but also of producing new knowledge and developing the capacity for critical thinking, among other transversal skills.
3 - The content of this unit will be developed over one semester through theoretical and theoretical-practical lessons that will address the most basic aspects of nanoscience and materials at the nanoscale, going through their ethical and social implications and fabrication methods up to the aspects of natural nanomaterials and biomolecular nanoscience.

Syllabus:

1 - Chap.1 - Introduction - the concepts of nanoscience, nanotechnology, nanoscale, etc., will be established.
2 - Chap. 2 - Social, ethical, legal, and environmental implications of the materials at the nanoscale.
3 - Chap. 3 - Techniques of characterization and fabrication - (e.g., top-down and bottom-up methods).
4 - Chap. 4 - Structure and effect of the surface/area of the materials at the nanoscale - the aspects related to the physics of this type of materials (e.g. surface energy), solid-state quantum mechanics, thermodynamic aspects, etc., will be discussed.
5 - Chap. 5 - Nanochemistry, chemical synthesis, and modification of nanomaterials ? this chapter will be devoted to the preparation and chemical modification methods of most common nanomaterials (materials based on carbon and quantum dots), to the discussion of chemical interactions at the nanoscale and supramolecular chemistry.
6 - Chap. 6 - Natural nanomaterials and biomolecular nanoscience.

Literature/Sources:

G. L. Hornyak, J. Dutta, H.F. Tibbals, A. Rao, , 2008 , Introduction to Nanoscience , CRC Press
G. A. Ozin, L. Cademartiri , 2015 , Nanochemistry: A chemical approach to nanomaterials , Royal Society of Chemistry
D. Natelson , 2015 , Nanostructures and Nanotechnology , Cambridge University Press
L. Cademartiri, G. A. Ozin , 2009 , Concepts of Nanochemistry , Wiley-VCH
T.-X. Fan, S-K. Chow, D. Zhang , 2009 , Biomorphic mineralization: from biology to materials , Prog. Mat. Science
J. W. Steed, J. L. Atwood, , 2009 , Supramolecular Chemistry , Wiley
Vários , Outros ,

Assesssment methods and criteria:

Classification Type: Quantitativa (0-20)

Evaluation Methodology:
This curricular unit has 64 hours of contact between the teacher and the students, divided into 32 hours for theory and 32 hours for theoretical-practical lessons. The theoretical and theoretical-practical classes will be devoted to discussing "case studies", problem-solving and analysis, and discussion of scientific papers. The lectures will be given with the help of audiovisual media and black board, with the teacher maintaining a permanent dialogue (asking and answering questions) with the students. The material used for lectures and exercises will be made available to students through the course web page. The evaluation will consist of two evaluation tests (minimum score on each test: 9.5, 60% of the final grade) and the preparation and oral presentation of a monograph about one topic related to the course (maximum of two students per group, the remaining 40%).