This course covers a background on the relationship between kinetics, diffusion, phase transformations and the prediction of materials microstructure. Students will understand how to predict materials structure based on the principles of phase transformations and apply this knowledge to commercial alloys.

Kinetics - Reaction rate definition, the rate law, rate constant and order. Experimental determination of the rate law: the method of initial rates, methods using integrated rate equations for 1st order and 2nd order reactions; rate constants, half-life. Effect of temperature on reaction rates: the Arrhenius equation, activation energy and frequency factor. Elementary reactions, mechanism, rate-determining step; in relation to the rate law. Complex reactions: opposing, consecutive and parallel reactions; catalysis and catalysts; enzyme catalysis, Michaelis-Menten mechanisms, molecular reaction kinetics and collision theory.

Diffusion Fundamentals - Introduction to diffusion in gasses, liquids, membrane transport, facilitated diffusion, osmosis, diffusion in solids and thin films, Fick’s first and second laws and other factors affecting diffusion.

Diffusion case studies – We will see how the fundamentals of diffusion learnt in weeks 1-5 can be applied to solve real problems encountered for various materials processing phenomena. Based on such case studies an appreciation of the complexities of applying diffusion laws will be learnt. Finally, students will analyse a different set of topics of how the principles of Diffusion and Kinetics learnt in weeks 1-5 can be applied for their research paper.