Course content

The specialization subject consists of elective modules which are to be combined to yield a total of 7.5 study points (stp). The elective modules are:
Industrial colloid chemistry (3.75 stp).
Surfactants and polymers in aqueous solution (3.75 stp).

Modules from other subjects/courses within the department or from other departments/faculties can be selected provided agreement from the coordinator.

Learning outcome

At the end of the course the students should:
- Understand interactions between surfactants and polymers at different concentration levels, and their phase behavior.
- Understand and be able to apply Gibbs’ phase rule.
- Understand the significance of colloid and surface chemistry in industrial applications such as oil recovery, food emulsions, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry.
- Understand stabilization- and destabilization mechanisms in emulsions and suspensions.
- Understand the mechanisms behind polymer/protein adsorption and how to tune the properties of the adsorbed layer.
- Use of adsorption isotherms to determine surface coverage and adsorption affinity.
- Determine critical micelle concentration (CMC) and critical association concentration (CAC) from a given data set.
- Interpret phase diagrams and predict phase separation and stable domains.
- Predict the effect of addition of surface active compounds.
- Optimize the stability of a suspension or emulsion for a given application.
- Retrieval, understanding of and citing peer-reviewed international literature.

Learning methods and activities

The modules are given as lectures, seminars, problem sessions, group- or individual studies.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

TKP4115 Surface and Colloid Chemistry and TKP4130 Polymer Chemistry, or equivalent knowledge. Recommended pre-reading will also depend on the chosen topic.

Course materials

Given first day of class.

Credit reductions