OVERVIEW

Soft materials are systems whose bond energies between constituents are comparable to thermal energy. They include colloids, polymers and liquid crystals.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is aimed to provide an introduction to the study of soft matter, which is characterized by weak interactions between nano-sized building blocks and important effects of thermal fluctuations.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Acquiring knowledge on the characteristic features of soft materials, the forces acting in these systems, the physical models which describe their behavior.

TEACHING METHODS

Traditional lessons (48 h)

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Intermolecular forces – Hydrophobic interaction – Surface tension – Van der Waals forces between particles and surfaces – Electrostatic forces between surfaces in liquid: the Poisson-Botzmann equation; the Grahame equation; the Debye length – Colloids – DLVO interaction and stability of a colloidal suspension – Brownian motion – Polymers – Polymer models: freely jointed chain, worm-like chain – Thermodynamic principles of molecular self-assembly – Micelles, liposomes, planar bilayers, mesophases – Liquid crystals – The Frederiks transition and the liquid crystal display – Soft matter and biological molecules.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Israelachvili J. Intermolecular and Surface Forces, 2011 Academic Press - Elsevier

• Jones, R. A. Soft condensed matter, 2002 Oxford University Press

• Berg, J.C. An introduction to interfaces and colloids - The bridge to nanoscience. 2010 World Scientific

• Rubinstein M., Colby R. H., Polymer physics, Oxford University Press, 2010

• Chaikin P. M., Lubensky T. C., Principles of condensed matter Physics, 1997 Cambridge University Press

• Phillips, R., Kondev, J., Theriot, J., Physical Biology of the Cell, 2009 Garland Science.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Second semester - Class schedules will be available at https://dida.fisica.unige.it/dida/i-corsi-di-fisica-a-genova/laurea-magistrale-lm-17/orario-delle-lezioni.html

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral exam is always conducted by the professor who is responsible for the course and by another expert in the subject (usually another professor). The oral exam takes about 50 minutes and it consists of a fixed number of questions (the same for all students) on the course topics. It allows the commission to assess the student's understanding of the course topics and the student's ability to discern the validity limits of the models used.