Course catalogue
Create your own master’s programme by choosing between the different specializations of our partner universities.
Academic Programme
Implemented from September 2025
Interfacial Electrochemistry (3 ECTS)
All courses during this semester
- Experimental methods on innovative research infrastructures - 5 ECTS
- Digital Micro-certification "The challenges of sustainable chemistry" - 10h
- Transferable skills : French language & interculturality (3 ECTS)
- Quantum mechanics towars quantum computing (5 ECTS)
- Winter school in Data Science (2 ECTS)
- Organic / Inorganic chemistry towards sustainability (5 ECTS)
- Kinetics and Electrochemistry (5 ECTS)
- Introduction to biophysics and microscopies for life science (5 ECTS)
All courses during this semester
- Luminescence spectroscopy of Lanthanides (3 ECTS)
- Summer School in Entrepreneurship (5 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Polish course (3 ECTS)
- The molecules of life: from structure to chemical function (5 ECTS)
- Thermodynamics and soft matter (3 ECTS)
- Introduction to solid state (5 ECTS)
- Tech-infused perspectives on photochemical reaction dynamics (6 ECTS)
- Transferable skills: Portuguese course (3 ECTS)
- Summer School in Entrepreneurship (5 ECTS)
- Solid State Physics (5 ECTS)
- Molecular Energetics (3 ECTS)
- Laboratory of Materials and Surface Analysis (5 ECTS)
- Interfacial Electrochemistry (3 ECTS)
- Interfaces, Colloids and Self-Assembly (6 ECTS)
All courses during this semester
- 1-year research project - master thesis (equivalent 45 ECTS)
- Progress assessment of the research project (equivalent 6 ECTS)
- Weekly seminars (equivalent 4 ECTS)
- Special Topics in Chemistry (equivalent 5 ECTS)
- French language courses (3 ECTS)
- Nanosciences (6 ECTS)
- Medical applications of nanomaterials and radiations (6 ECTS)
- Top management, corporate law, and project writing for technology transfer and decision making (4 ECTS)
- Tracking ultrafast radiation-induced reactivity (3 ECTS)
- Applications for renewable energy and storage: solar fuels, batteries and hydrogen (6 ECTS) (6 ECTS)
- Scientific Writing and career objectives (2 ECTS)
- Surface Science and Nanostructuring at Surfaces (6 ECTS)
- Polymers for electronics and energy harvesting (5 ECTS)
- Electrochemical systems for fuel and electrolysis cells and batteries (6 ECTS)
- Project-based laboratory on device building (3 ECTS)
- Italian Courses (3 ECTS)
- Chemistry and Technology of Catalysis (5 ECTS)
Content
- Revision of Fundamental Concepts
- Electrochemical Potential
- Electrochemical Cells in Equilibrium
- Debye-Hückel Theory
- Conductivity of Electrolyte Solutions
- Electrical Properties of the Interface
- Faradaic Processes
- Mass Transfer Controlled Reactions
- Reactions Controlled by Charge Transfer
In the lab sessions, the students carry out experimental works illustrative of the themes developed in the lectures, whose results and main conclusions are presented in written reports.
Aims
The aim of this course is to develop the students’ knowledge of interfacial electrochemistry. This includes both the understanding of fundamental aspects of electrochemistry, as well as techniques for the characterization of the electrochemical processes at different electrode surfaces. The students will be knowledgeable on what happens when an aqueous medium is in the vicinity of the electrode surface and be able to describe the structure of an electrochemical cell.
Recommended Books
- Girault, H. H. "Analytical and Physical Electrochemistry", EPFL Press, Lausanne, 2004.
- Bard, A. J., Faulkner, L. B. "Electrochemical methods: fundamentals and applications", John Wiley, New York, 2001.
- W. Ronald Fawcett; "Liquids, Solutions, and Interfaces", Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Wolfgang Schmickler, Elizabeth Santos; "Interfacial Electrochemistry, Second Edition", Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2010.
Teaching Staff
Maria João Sottomayor (responsible)
Hours
21 h (5h lectures + 10h Problem-Solving + 6h Practicals)
Grading System
The lectures are detailed exposition of the content of the program, illustrated by study cases. Some topics will be discussed in the form of seminars prepared by the students. Audio-visual media are used to support the presentations. The practical classes are dedicated to the resolution of exercises and learn the concepts covered in lectures and to clarify doubts. In the laboratory sessions, the students carry out experimental works illustrative of the themes developed in the lectures, whose results and main conclusions are presented in written reports.
The final grade (FG) is calculated according to:
FG = 0.50 x NT + 0.25 x NTP + 0.25 x NP
where
NT = average of the marks obtained on the tests
NTP = average of the marks obtained on written assignments and oral presentations
NP = average of the marks on the laboratory experiments (practical performance + reports)
The tests can be replaced by a final exam.