MasterNanosciences, nanotechnologies

Goal: This course proposes an introduction to the physcis at the colloidal scale, which is the submicrometric scale. The physics of soft matter is governed by weak interactions which are at the source of the generic characteristics of soft matter systems: nanoscale self-organisation at room temperature, importance of entropy and fluctuations, high susceptibility and response to stimulii, specific structures at surfaces and interfaces, slow dynamics. The course describes the interactions at work in soft matter systems and their measurements. These concepts are developped on some examples such as the stability of colloidal particules,  and the basics concepts of the physical properties of membranes.

Content
 Interactions at the colloidal scale.
Van der Waals/Casimir interactions, Hamaker constant.
Electrostatic interactions, Debye's-Huckel and Gouy-Chapman double-layers.
Measurements of weak interactions.
Introduction to the physics of membranes ;  depletion interactions ; Helfrish interactions between membranes.

Bibliography
Molecular and Surface forces, J.K. Israelachvili

Prerequisites
General physics of the Bachelor Level. Electromagnetisms ; thermodynamics.
A first course in statistical physics.