CHEMMAT 206 : Applied Chemistry

Engineering

2024 Semester One (1243) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Fundamental chemistry required for chemical engineering and materials engineering. Topics may include phase equilibrium, reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, surface chemistry, electrochemistry and polymer chemistry. This course will have an emphasis on problem definition and solution.

Course Overview

Area 1: Fundamentals 

Section 1: Energy and Chemistry - (2 Lectures)
Energy transformation and the conservation of energy, heat capacity and calorimetry, enthalpy, Hess’ law, energy and stoichiometry. Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy and chemical reactions.

Section 2: Chemical Kinetics and Equilibrium - (4 Lectures)
Rates of chemical reactions, rate laws and the dependence of concentration on rates, integrated rate laws (zero-order, first-order, and second-order integrated rate laws). Temperature and kinetics, reaction mechanisms, catalysis. Chemical equilibrium, equilibrium constants, Le Chatelier’s principle, free energy and chemical equilibrium.
Section 3: Analytical Chemistry - (6 Lectures)
Ground rules and fundamentals of analytical chemistry, including the importance of quality assurance of data and statistics. The use of UV-visible light absorption and fluorescence phenomena for analytical measurements, Raman spectroscopy applications. Separatory methods for analytical measurements, Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry applications.

Section 4: Organic Chemistry - (3 Lectures)
Special nature of Carbon and characteristics of organic molecules. Structures and classes of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics). Organic reactions and important functional groups (alcohol, amine, aldehyde, etc.). Synthetic macromolecules (addition and condensation polymers, etc.). Biological macromolecules (sugars, amino acids, nucleic acids).

Section 5: Electrochemistry - (3 Lectures)
Oxidation-reduction reactions and galvanic cells, corrosion. Cell potentials and chemical equilibrium. Batteries, fuel cells. Electrolysis and stoichiometry.

Area 2: Applications

Section 6: Commodity Polymers - (4 Lectures)
Chemical bonding within a polymer: H-Bonding, Pi to Pi bonding, electrostatic and entanglement. Examples of common commodity polymers and how they are processed. The concepts behind extrusion and injection moulding.

Section 7: Conducting Polymers - (4 Lectures)
Chemical and physical properties of a conducting polymer, with three examples: polyacetylene, polypyrrole and polyaniline. The mechanism of conductivity, and the implications on electrochemical cycling on the properties. Applications of conducting polymers including: surface coatings, actuators and membranes

Section 8: Biological Sensors - (4 Lectures)
The definition of a biological sensor, including the various components. The types of chemical bonds typically used in fabricating sensors. They various types of capture agents including Proteins / amino acids, Antibodies, Enzymes, Nucleic acids and Aptamers. Transduction methods including Surface Plasmon Resonance, Resistometric and Conducting Polymer.

Section 9: Polymer Roofing - (4 Lectures) 
Roofing tiles, and the types of materials commonly employed. An introducting to polymer roofing tiles and the implications. The testing required to achieve certification including hail resistance, wind uplift and fire retardants. The various types of fire retardants used and the concepts behind how they target the fair. The use of the roof to generate power in the form of thermal and photovoltaics.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 15 points from ENGGEN 140, CHEM 110, 120 Restriction: CHEMMAT 242

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: People and Place
Capability 2: Sustainability
Capability 3: Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4: Critical Thinking
Capability 5: Solution Seeking

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Understand and explain fundamental chemistry and biological concepts (including reaction thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry) and how they affect chemical engineering applications and decision-making. (Capability 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1 and 5.1)
  2. Understand and explain the basic principles of analytical chemistry data collection, analysis, and how the data is used for chemical engineering applications and decision-making process. (Capability 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.1)
  3. Identify and critically analyse current problems and limitations in chemical engineering industries that are based on fundamental chemistry understandings. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 4.2)
  4. Analyse and evaluate the identified chemical engineering problems through fundamental chemistry concepts and calculations. (Capability 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1)
  5. Understand and provide examples of limitations of fundamental analysis of complex engineering problems, including assumptions that might not be valid in reality. (Capability 3.1 and 4.1)
  6. Suggest and validate suitable relatively simple solution(s) to current engineering problems through understanding of fundamental chemistry. (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2 and 5.1)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Test 10% Individual Test
Laboratories 30% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 60% Individual Examination
Assessment Type Learning Outcome Addressed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Test
Laboratories
Final Exam

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect an average weekly workload comprising 3 hours of lectures, 1 hour of tutorial, 3 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 3 hours of work on labs, assignments and/or test preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled labs to receive credit for these components of the course.
Lectures and tutorials will be available as recordings. 
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Specific learning resources:
Brown & Holme, Chemistry for Engineering Students, 3rd Ed. 2015 (Cengage Learning).
Higson, Séamus, Analytical Chemistry. 2004 (Oxford University Press)

Health & Safety

Safety in the labs is covered within the CHEMMAT 206 laboratory Manual, which can be found on Canvas. Please read this section carefully. Note that lab coats and lab safety glasses must be worn during the labs, and gloves should be used when carrying out the experiments. Students are also expected to adhere to the guidelines outlined in the Health and Safety section of the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Based on the student feedback from 2023, most of the problems that arose in 2020-2022 were resolved by themselves when lectures and assessments were done in-person rather than online. However, one aspect that would be improved is on the lab report writing. 

More guidance and a lecture on lab report writing would be provided to the students in order to prepare them for academic and technical report writing. 


Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.