2020 Faculty Courses School of Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Graduate major in Energy Science and Engineering
Soft Materials Design
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Energy Science and Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Hidetoshi Matsumoto
- Class Format
- Lecture (Zoom)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Fri (S8-623)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- ENR.J407
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2020
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Organic materials includes a broad range of materials groups, phases, and morphologies form small- to macro-molecules. From the viewpoint of materials science and physical chemistry, this course deals with the relationship between nano-microscaled structural controlling of organic materials including multi-component systems and nanomaterials and their properties. In addition, this course introduce recent energy applications of organic materials for photoelectric conversion, thermoelectric conversion, and polymer electrolytes.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1) Understand the characteristics and formation mechanism of condensed system, phase separation, crystal and amorphous structures, and network structure of solid polymers.
2) Understand the functional expression of solid polymers based on their characteristics and formation mechanism.
Keywords
Condensed polymer system, Multicomponent polymer system, Polymer crystal structure, Polymer amorphous structure, Polymer network Structure, Polymer nanomaterials，Polymer nanofibers
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
At the beginning of each class, the previous class is bleiefly reviewed. Before coming to class, students should read the course schedule and check what topics will be covered. Required learning should be completed outside of the classroom for preparation and review purposes.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Overview of Softmaterials | Understand characteristics of softmaterials. |
| Class 2 | Structure of Condensed Polymer Systems | Understand polymer chain behavior in the bulk, multi-component polymer system, and micro phase separation. |
| Class 3 | Polymer Crystal Structure | Understand polymer crystal structure and crystallization mechanism. |
| Class 4 | Polymer Amorphous Structure | Understand polymer amorphous structure and grass transition phenomenon. |
| Class 5 | Polymer Network Structure - Rubbers | Understand crosslink, elasticity of polymer network, and elastomers. |
| Class 6 | Polymer Network Structure - Gels | Understand gels, sol-gel transition, and functional gels. |
| Class 7 | Polymer Nanomaterials | Understand polymer nanomaterials and polymer nanofibers. |
| Class 8 | Summary | Review the course contents |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Materials used in class can be found on OCW-i.
Matsushita, Yushu Ed., Structural and Physical Properties of Polymers, Tokyo: Kodansha, ISBN: 978-4-06-154380-5. (Japanese)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Student's course scores are based on a report and a term-end examination.
Related courses
- MAT.P421 ： Organic Materials Functional Design
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are necessary, but enrollment in the related courses is desirable.