[Course Overview]
With the increasing significance of eco-friendly energy materials, there is a growing demand for a convergent understanding of analytical techniques to characterize materials and elucidate the mechanisms behind performance enhancement. Given the rising complexity of modern materials, an in-depth understanding through multi-dimensional analysis is essential. Accordingly, this course introduces undergraduate students in Chemical Engineering and related convergent disciplines to the current development of various energy materials and the practical application of characterization tools, focusing on their fundamental principles and operational scopes.

[Learning Objectives]
- Fundamental Principles: Grasp the core principles of various analytical techniques utilized for characterizing energy and environmental materials, specifically for hydrogen production, storage, extraction, utilization, and CO2 reduction.
- Technical Selection: Evaluate the strengths, limitations, and application ranges of each characterization method to select the most appropriate tools for specific research objectives.
- Integrated Interpretation: Develop the ability to synthesize diverse analytical datasets to achieve a profound understanding of material properties within the hydrogen economy and carbon capture frameworks.

- Lecture Note
- References: Characterization of Solid Materials and Heterogeneous Catalysts, Michel Che and Jacques C. Védrine (Wiley-VCH),
Characterization of Porous Solids and Powders: Surface Area, Pore Size and Density, S. Lowell, Joan E. Shields, Martin A. Thomas, and Matthias Thommes (Springer Science+Business Media New York), etc.

- Introduction to Energy and Environmental Materials
- Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-OES and ICP-MS)
- X-ray Photoelectron, Auger Electron, Ion Scattering, UV Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS, AES, ISS, and UPS)
- Surface Area/Porosity, Adsorption (Physisorption and Chemisorption)
- Thermal Methods (Temperature-programmed Techniques, and TGA)
- Infrared, Raman, and UV-Vis Spectroscopy (IR, Raman, and UV-Vis)
- Electron Microscopy (TEM and SEM)
- X-ray Diffraction (XRD)