• Surfaces and interfaces. Surface energy. Thermodynamics of surfaces. Solids surfaces and
interfaces.
• Structure of surfaces. Surface crystallography. Relaxation and reconstruction phenomena.
• Electronic properties. Surface vs. bulk electronic properties.
• Chemical composition of surfaces. Segregation phenomena.
• Chemical reactivity. Adsorption and heterogeneous catalysis.
• Methods for the investigation of the structure and composition of surfaces and interfaces.
• Nanostructured systems. Chemical and physical properties of nanoparticles, nanotubes quantum
dots, quantum wires and ultrathin films.
• Methods for the preparation and characterization of nanometric systems.

By the end of the course, students should have acquired a knowledge of:
• The principal chemical and physical processes occurring at surfaces and interfaces.
• The relationships of surface versus bulk properties of materials.
• The physical chemistry of nanostructured materials