2302337 Surface Phenomena & Catalysis

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University Semester 2/2025

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Course Overview

This repository contains all digital materials for 2302337 Surface Phenomena & Catalysis — a senior-level course covering adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, reactor design, transport phenomena, selectivity engineering, and advanced catalytic materials (zeolites, carbon nanotubes).

The course integrates theory (lecture notes, slides) with computation (Jupyter notebooks) so that students can explore catalytic phenomena quantitatively and build intuition through interactive simulations.

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Repository Structure

2302337/
├── README.md                  ← You are here
├── lecture-notes/
│   ├── 2302337-Surface-Phenomena-Catalysis.pdf       (English)
│   └── 2302337-Surface-Phenomena-Catalysis-Thai.pdf  (ภาษาไทย)
├── notebooks/
│   ├── README.md              ← Detailed notebook guide & function reference
│   ├── utils.py               ← 30 reusable functions (consolidated reference)
│   ├── NB1.ipynb … NB6.ipynb  ← Chapter companion notebooks
│   ├── NB-S.ipynb             ← Capstone notebook
│   └── data/                  ← CSV datasets for exercises
├── slides/
│   └── week01-main.pdf … week05-main.pdf
└── .gitignore

lecture-notes/

Full lecture notes in PDF format, available in both English and Thai.

notebooks/

Interactive Jupyter notebooks aligned one-to-one with each chapter. See notebooks/README.md for detailed descriptions, function references, and data file documentation.

slides/

Weekly lecture slides in PDF format.

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Notebooks at a Glance

Each notebook is the companion for the corresponding lecture note chapter: NBN ↔ Chapter N.

Notebook	Chapter	Topic	Key Concepts
NB1	Ch 1	Bridge Module	CSV, pandas, Arrhenius fitting, residual analysis
NB2	Ch 2	Surface Chemistry	Langmuir, LH/ER/MVK kinetics, TPD, Eyring
NB3	Ch 3	Reactors & Characterization	CSTR/PFR, BET, XRD (Scherrer), dispersion
NB4	Ch 4	Transport Limitations	Thiele modulus, effectiveness factor, Weisz-Prater
NB5	Ch 5	Selectivity Engineering	Parallel/consecutive reactions, yield optimization
NB6	Ch 6	Zeolites & CNTs	Shape selectivity, Knudsen/enhanced diffusion
NB-S	Appendix	Synthesis Capstone	Suzuki coupling, ee, deactivation, green metrics

Notebook Dependency Chain

graph TD
    NB1["NB1 — Ch 1: Bridge"]
    NB2["NB2 — Ch 2: Adsorption + Kinetics + Temperature"]
    NB3["NB3 — Ch 3: Reactors + Characterization"]
    NB4["NB4 — Ch 4: Transport"]
    NB5["NB5 — Ch 5: Selectivity"]
    NB6["NB6 — Ch 6: Zeolites + CNTs"]
    NBS["NB-S — Appendix: Capstone"]

    NB1 --> NB2 --> NB3
    NB3 --> NB4
    NB3 --> NB5
    NB4 --> NB6
    NB5 --> NB6
    NB6 --> NBS

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

Requirement	Version	Notes
Python	>= 3.10	3.12 recommended
pip	latest	Comes with Python
Git	any	To clone the repository

Step 1 — Clone & Create Virtual Environment

git clone https://github.com/ExaPsi/2302337.git
cd 2302337
python -m venv .venv

Step 2 — Activate the Virtual Environment

Platform	Command
macOS / Linux	source .venv/bin/activate
Windows (PowerShell)	.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
Windows (Command Prompt)	.venv\Scripts\activate.bat

You should see (.venv) appear at the beginning of your terminal prompt.

Step 3 — Install Dependencies

pip install numpy scipy matplotlib pandas jupyterlab

Step 4 — Launch JupyterLab

cd notebooks
jupyter lab

Open any NB*.ipynb file and run cells sequentially with Shift + Enter.

Alternative: VS Code

1. Open the 2302337/ folder in VS Code.
2. Install the Jupyter extension if not already installed.
3. Open any .ipynb file.
4. Select the .venv Python interpreter via the kernel picker (top-right).
5. Run cells with Shift + Enter.

Alternative: Google Colab

Click any .ipynb file on GitHub, then click the "Open in Colab" badge.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Solution
"jupyter" is not recognized	Virtual environment not activated	Run the activation command from Step 2 above
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'numpy'	Packages not installed in active venv	Activate venv, then pip install numpy scipy matplotlib pandas jupyterlab
NameError in a notebook cell	Cells run out of order	Restart kernel → Run All (or run from the top)
Kernel not found in VS Code	Wrong interpreter selected	Click the kernel picker → select .venv
Activate.ps1 cannot be loaded (Windows)	PowerShell execution policy	Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once

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Tips for Students

1. Run cells in order. Each notebook builds on previous cells.
2. Modify parameters. Look for # ADJUSTABLE PARAMETERS — change values and re-run.
3. Complete the exercises. Cells with pass # Replace with your implementation are practice problems.
4. Check units. The #1 source of errors is unit mismatch — read the docstrings.
5. Use session breaks. Longer notebooks (NB2, NB3, NB6) include ☕ markers — save and take a break.
6. Cross-reference the lecture notes. NBN = Chapter N.

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License

Course materials for registered students of 2302337, Chulalongkorn University. Do not redistribute without permission.