MSE 6230: Thermodynamics and Phase Equilibria of Materials (Instructor, 2019 Fall)

This course emphasizes the understanding of thermal properties such as heat capacity, thermal expansion, and transitions in terms of the entropy and the other thermodynamic functions. Develops the relationships of the Gibbs and Helmholtz functions to equilibrium systems, reactions, and phase diagrams. Atomistic and statistical mechanical interpretations of crystalline and non-crystalline solids are linked to the general thermodynamical laws by the partition function. Nonequilibrium and irreversible processes in solids are discussed.


MSE 6240: Kinetics of Transport and Transformations in Materials (Instructor, 2019 Spring)

This course will cover three main topics: 1) chemical reaction kinetics, 2) diffusion (mass transport), 3) phase transformation and microstructure evolution.

In this course we will build on the understanding of thermodynamic driving forces and of phase diagrams you developed in MSE 6230 and apply these concepts to the analysis of the key kinetic processes, phase transformations, and the development of microstructure in materials. We will start with discussing chemical reaction kinetics in the gas phase. Most kinetic phenomena in condensed matter involve diffusion, and we will consider the phenomenological descriptions as well as atomic-scale mechanisms of diffusion in materials. We will then discuss the kinetics of phase transformations and microstructure evolution, including the classical nucleation theory, mechanisms of growth and coarsening, theory of capillary, grain growth and so on. By the end of the course we will see how the interplay of thermodynamic driving forces and kinetics of mass transfer is defining the formation of complex microstructures of real materials.


MSE 6592: Computational Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Materials (In development)

I plan to initiate a new graduate-level course which focuses on teaching the CALPHAD and first-principles based methods to model the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of materials.