ME 374: Dynamics and Kinetics of Nanoparticles

Winter, 2014

 

 

 

About

 

Syllabus

 

Contact/Classroom

 

Course plan

 

 

 

About

What do candle flames, medieval stained glasses, fibre optics and some of the thin-film solar cells have in common?  They all contain or utilize nanoparticles.  Nanoparticles have a long history; they are found in wide ranging applications from combustion and alternative energy conversion devices, air pollution, climate change, catalysis, sensors, to electronic and biomedical devices. This course will study the theories of nanoparticle formation, reaction and transport with emphasis on their applications in combustion, air pollution, and alternative energy conversion devices.

 

Syllabus

Part 1: Thermodynamics, transport theories and properties, aerosol dynamics and reaction kinetics of nanoparticles in fluids. Nucleation, gas-kinetic theory of nanoparticles, the Smoluchowski equation, gas-surface reactions, diffusion, thermophoresis, electrophoresis, conservation equations and useful solutions.

Part 2: Introduction to soot formation, nanoparticles in reacting flows, particle transport and kinetics in flames, atmospheric heterogeneous reactions, and nanocatalysis.

 

Contact/Classroom

Instructor: Professor Hai Wang (mailto:haiwang@stanford.edu)

Book: Will use lecture notes, handouts, and journal articles.
Office
: Building 520, Room 520H
Office Hours
: By Appointment or Walk
in

Time and Location: M/W 3:15­4:30 PM, 200-305

 

 

 


 

ME 374: Dynamics and Kinetics of Nanoparticles

Winter, 2014

Lecture No.

Date

Topics

1

1/6

Course scope and plan - overview of history, problems and applications

2

1/8

Nanoparticle characterization (I) - physical properties: size distribution, morphology, fractal dimension, phase transition, optical properties, light extinction etc

3

1/13

Overview of methods of nanoparticle characterization (II) - composition, surface and electric properties

4

1/15

Thermodynamics, homogeneous versus heterogeneous nucleation, classical nucleation theory

5

1/20

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (no class)

6

1/22

Gas kinetic theory (I) - Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, temperature and pressure

7

1/27

Gas kinetic theory (II) - gas collision and cross sections, gas-surface collision, adsorption/desorption

8

1/29

Transport properties of nanoparticles - Stokes law, Cunningham slip correction, Brownian diffusion, Einstein's theory, gas-kinetic theory analysis of nanoparticle drag

9

2/3

Electrophoresis/thermophoresis, electric mobility, conservation equations and selected solutions

10

2/5

Nucleation and coagulation, Smoluchowski equation and its solutions, self-preserved distribution

11

2/10

Gas-surface reactions: mechanism and rates. 

12

2/12

Overview of simulation methods: moment method, sectional method, molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo

13

2/17

Presidents' Day (no class)

14

2/19

Review

15

2/24

Mid Term

16

2/26

Mechanism and kinetic of carbon formation in flames and other reacting flows, including a brief discussion of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes

17

3/3

Mechanism, kinetic and transport of metal-oxide formation in flames and other reacting flows

18

3/5

Nanoparticle synthesis and applications in solar cells, rechargeable batteries and chemical sensors

19

3/10

Heterogeneous atmospheric chemistry: issues and critical processes

20

3/12

Soot and global climate changes: causes and uncertainties