[Il Divo]

Hey All, I'm in a bit of an odd career situation for a moment and I'm looking for some suggestions. I just recently had my contract expire at my Chemical company and now find myself with an excessive amount of free time before starting my PhD studies either over the Summer or Fall.

I'm almost 100% certain that my focus will be related to Materials Chemistry and I'd like to focus on Nanochemistry especially, but I'm at a bit of a loss in terms of how to spend my free time, leading me to my current series of questions.

1) I've had people advise me to focus on passing my qualifying exams. Basically, to review all my Organic, Inorganic, Quantum Mechanics, etc. My question for those in the field: how much do you find yourself using a lot of these concepts in nanochemistry and which specifically are most critical? I know ligands (as an example) are often used in capping nanoparticles to limit their size, so would it be a good idea to focus on organic chemistry and coordination complex formation, as an example? 

2) Are there any web sites that go really in depth into nanoparticle synthesis? I bought Fahlman's Materials Chemistry for a general overview and thought it did a great job of outlining all the major areas of Materials and their applications, but doesn't go into huge detail regarding nano synthesis. I also tried Geoffrey Ozin's Nanochemistry and while I like his enthusiasm, to some extent it feels like it outlines the bare basics of a number of different techniques/synthesis methods. If possible, I'm looking for something that really goes into the heart of how to manipulate nanoparticle synthesis, both qualitative and quantitative.

Thanks in advance. And any other tips on what to focus on to prepare for a Materials Chemistry degree are also appreciated.

[Corribus]

This topic is still too new to make it into general level textbooks. You're better off searching the primary literature for review articles.

Nanoscience combines a lot of different disciplines. Synthetic chemistry, materials science, physical chemistry - they are all important. If you're interested in optical or electronic nanomaterials, you'll have to include some physics/spectroscopy in there as well.

[Il Divo]

This topic is still too new to make it into general level textbooks. You're better off searching the primary literature for review articles.

Nanoscience combines a lot of different disciplines. Synthetic chemistry, materials science, physical chemistry - they are all important. If you're interested in optical or electronic nanomaterials, you'll have to include some physics/spectroscopy in there as well.

Ah, that is definitely good to know. Right now, I'm also leaning towards semiconductors and photovoltaics, so that's something for me to think about.

More specifically, what topics in p-chem (in your opinion) would you consider to be the most critical for studying nanoscience?

And thank you for your reply.

[Corribus]

There are almost certainly review articles out there for using nanoparticles like quantum dots in photovoltaic applications. I'd try  a googlescholar or (if you have access) scifinder search.

As I said above, it depends on what you're interest in. If photovoltaics or semiconductors are of interest, you'll need to understand concepts like wavefunctions, photochemistry/photophysics, band theory, and so on. E.g., the fluorescent properties of quantum dots can be modeled in a basic fashion by understanding the particle-in-a-box model.

[Il Divo]

There are almost certainly review articles out there for using nanoparticles like quantum dots in photovoltaic applications. I'd try  a googlescholar or (if you have access) scifinder search.

As I said above, it depends on what you're interest in. If photovoltaics or semiconductors are of interest, you'll need to understand concepts like wavefunctions, photochemistry/photophysics, band theory, and so on. E.g., the fluorescent properties of quantum dots can be modeled in a basic fashion by understanding the particle-in-a-box model.

Understood. Thanks again for your *delete me* I think I'll start with photovoltaics and see where I go from there.