The course aims at providing the student with knowledge on the chemistry of nanomaterials, their principal methods of preparation and peculiar properties. Case studies and application of polymer nanocomposites are presented and deeply described. The student will be able to critically describe the relationship between the chemical structure of the nanomaterials and their main physico-chemical and mechanical final properties.
In detail, at the beginning, the course will provide the basic definition of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Then, it will focus on the preparation, characterization and main properties of the different 0D, 1D, 2D and 3D nanomaterials and their incorporation into polymers by means of physical mixing or chemical functionalization.
Finally, the course will describe the principal microscopic and spectroscopic techniques for nanomaterials characterisation.