Course Leader: Israel Temprano and Milan Kracalik
Home Institution: University of Cambridge, UK; Johannes Kepler University Linz
Course pre-requisite(s): Undergraduate level
Materials Science has always been the defining factor in human society, to the extent that throughout history leaps in societal evolution are characterized by leaps in materials usage (stone age, iron age, etc.). However, materials production and consumption is coming up against environmental constraints in almost every domain, including species biodiversity, land-use change, climate impacts, and biogeochemical flows. Global annual resource use reached nearly 90 billion metric tons in 2017 and may more than double by 2050. Mitigating the impact of materials use is urgent and complex, necessitates proactive assessment of unintended consequences, and requires multidisciplinary systems approaches. Such shift requires a profound transition in technology design and in how businesses create value from technology (35% of global GDP depends on heterogeneous catalysis alone), and Materials Science will be at the heart of it.
The aim of this course is to provide an insight into the key issues that underpins the development of materials for sustainable applications. We will consider the requirements for materials that are sustainably sourced, processed, utilised, and disposed of. We will study the research for sustainable materials in a range of applications such as energy production storage and transformation, catalysis, construction, photovoltaics, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, batteries, carbon capture technologies, etc., discussing the methods used in the relevant fields of research.
The material will be eminently practical with case studies and discussions that will provide an insightful view of the cutting edge research performed in a wide range of scientific topics. It will also provide a firm foundation for those considering a deeper study of materials science and related areas such as nanoscience, bioscience, medical engineering, colloids and catalysis.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course students should be able to recognise the importance of the materials of choice in a wide range of technological applications. They should also have a good understanding of their relevance to other scientific disciplines as well as having a strong foundation of their scientific study and how to interpret the relevant scientific literature
This course will introduce students to the study of the properties of relevant materials for sustainable applications. In it we will study the most relevant considerations for the development of materials that would enable green and sustainable technologies, such as energy generation, storage and transformation. We will cover in detail the scientific field of materials science and the methods required for the development of novel materials. We will review relevant scientific literature on the subject related to several crucial scientific fields and the individual fields of interest of the students with practical cases and lively discussions
The course will consist of a series of lectures with especial emphasis in the scientific research related to sustainable materials in technological applications. The sessions will include discussions on the points of interest to the students and their individual fields of study. Seminars will also be a part of the course in which relevant scientific literature will be assessed and discussed in relation to their field of interest. A hands-on workshop on the design of technological devices with sustainable materials, where the students will experience the integration of multiple materials, will offer a great insight on the topic. Potentially, a visit to the General Services Department at the UDC where multiple research teams work with a number of characterization techniques could be arranged to give the students a unique inside perspective to academic research.
No materials required. Access to a computer and email address is desired but not mandatory.
The evaluation of the students will be based on oral presentations at the end of the course of relevant scientific topics chosen by the students. The presentations will be assessed on the level of understanding the student will display on the relevance of the issue tackled by the proper information recherche. The rest of the students will be encouraged to participate on the discussion after each presentation and they will also be evaluated based on their contribution to it.