Synthesis and Applications of Inorganic Materials

- Introduction to inorganic materials.
- Basic principles of the solid state. Various structures. Various kinds of solids.
- The electronic structure of solids. Insulators, metals, semiconductors and superconductors.
- Synthetic methodologies for inorganic materials. Synthesis of crystals, polycrystalline materials, thin films and fibres. Intercalated compounds.
- Defects in crystals.
- Alloys, in particular steels and cast irons.
- Inorganic oxides, in particular silica and alumina. Surface mediated synthesis.
- Silicon carbide and silicon nitride.
- Carbon allotropes, in particular fullerene.
- Elemental silicon and photovoltaic cells, in particular third generation solar cells (Graetzel solar cells and bulk-heterojunction solar cells).
- Materials for non-linear optics.
- Materials for luminescent devices.
- Optical fibres.