Structural Chemistry

All chemical compounds consist of molecules.

Structural Chemistry is the study of molecular structures, from the simple to the more advanced molecules. In inorganic structural chemistry, we study the structure of advanced materials, i.e. materials science.

Admission to the master course Structural Chemistry, you must have an approved main profile in chemistry, including the courses KJ2031 and KJ2043. Further more, we recommend KJ2041 in addition to introductory courses in physics. Please refer to our webpage for the Bachelor’s degree programme in Structural Chemistry.

At the Department of Chemistry we have focused our activities within what is commonly referred to as Materials Science, and relevant topics for master’s theses are structural studies of different functional materials. This means that we produce new materials (microporous zeotypes, nanophase ferrites, perovskites). The structures of these materials give hem unique properties as ion exchangers, molecular sieves, magnets, conductors of electricity, and catalysts. These properties are very important in industrial connections.

The produced materials are characterized by using several techniques, the most important being powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. We can study elements of the main group and the structure around these in our metals by using the X-ray absorption spectroscopy method, which involves the use of a high-energetic X-ray, a synchrotron ray.

In addition, the group can offer topics within the field powder X-ray diffraction where we are interested in finding atomic positions in the crystal (a Rietveld analysis). Synchrotron data, where both techniques can be employed, are gathered at synchrotron facilities abroad, currently at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble – an international facility supported and shared by 18 countries. Our objective is to maintain the competence within synchrotron research because NTNU initiated the Norwegian participation in a Swiss - Norwegian beamline (SNBL) at ESRF.