Handbook

This postgraduate course focuses on the principles of transport phenomena that underpin materials processing, these being reaction kinetics, atomic diffusion, and defect structures.

The course commences with an overview of transport phenomena, followed by examination of chemical reaction kinetics including reaction types, homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions, elementary steps, reaction rates, rate-controlling steps, and temperature dependence. It examines the role of microstructure in mass transport including atomic and electronic defects, interfaces, and grain boundaries, and uses Kröger-Vink notation to describe and analyse defects structures, intrinsic and extrinsic defect reactions, solid solubility mechanisms, and charge compensation mechanisms.

Finally, the atomistics of diffusion and Fick's first and second laws are used to understand and analyse mass transfer in the gas, solid, and fluid phases and in specific material contexts such as diffusion in ionic materials, diffusion couples and interdiffusion, surface diffusion/grain boundary diffusion/bulk diffusion, and measurement of diffusion coefficients.

Students will learn about the technological importance of transport phenomena in the processing and in-service degradation of materials though real-life examples, such as phase transformations, oxidation of metals, conductivity of ionic solids, doping of semiconductors, and other applications.

The course includes lectures and weekly tutorials. Previous knowledge of differential and integral calculus is recommended.