L'exploitation de l'énergie solaire présente une solution alternative efficace pour limiter la consommation de l'énergie fossile et résoudre ainsi les problèmes qui en découlent notamment la pollution et le changement climatique. La dissociation de l'eau par le procédé de la photocatalyse est considérée actuellement comme une méthode innovante pour la photogénération de l'hydrogène (H₂) à partir d'une ressource non carbonée. Les photocatalyseurs classiques mis en jeu ne sont malheureusement activables que sous l'irradiation de l'ultraviolet, ce qui limite leur activité catalytique sous la lumière solaire principalement formée par le visible. Grâce à ses propriétés optiques et électroniques, le phosphore noir (BP) est caractérisé par une bonne absorption lumineuse étendue sur le visible, et même l'infrarouge proche. Ainsi, il présente un candidat potentiel pour les procédés photocatalytiques. Ce travail présente une méthode alternative pour la synthèse d'un nanocomposite à base du BP assisté par le phosphure de nickel (Ni₂P). Cette méthode est basée sur la transition de phase induite par l'éthylènediamine en présence des ions nickel (Ni²⁺) pour la formation in-situ du Ni₂P en tant que co-catalyseur à la surface du BP formé. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l'activité photocatalytique du nanocomposite avec un ratio molaire Ni/P de 3 % atteint 406,08 μmol.g⁻¹.h⁻¹, qui est 185 fois plus élevé que le matériau sans co-catalyseur. Le plus important, le photocatalyseur a montré une efficacité quantique élevée allant jusqu'à 48,45 % à 360 nm et 7,90 % à 400 nm. La caractérisation du matériau synthétisé a prouvé que cette performance photocatalytique pourrait être expliquée par l'absorption lumineuse étalée sur le visible ainsi que l'efficacité de la séparation des porteurs de charges assurée par un contact intime entre le co-catalyseur et le matériau principal. Ce contact établi par une liaison covalente permet également d'avoir une stabilité notable. La stabilité du nanocomposite développé s'est manifestée par une capacité importante de réutilisabilité, ce qui lui permettrait d'être un photocatalyseur performant pour une application pratique. / The exploitation of solar energy presents an effective and an alternative solution to limit the consumption of fossil energy and to solve the correspondent problems, particularly the pollution and the climate change. The water splitting using the photocatalysis process is considered currently as an innovative method for the photogeneration of hydrogen (H₂) from a non-carbon resource. The involved conventional photocatalysts are unfortunately activable only under ultraviolet irradiation, which limits their catalytic activity under sunlight, mainly composed of the visible spectrum. Thanks to its optical and electronic properties, black phosphorus (BP) is characterized by a good light absorption including the visible and even the near-infrared spectrum. Thus, it presents a potential candidate for photocatalytic processes. This work presents an alternative method for the synthesis of a BP-based nanocomposite assisted by nickel phosphide (Ni₂P). This method is based on the ethylenediamine-induced phase transition in the presence of nickel ions (Ni²⁺) for the in-situ growth of Ni₂P as a co-catalyst on the surface of the as-synthesized BP. The obtained results show that the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite with Ni/P molar ratio of 3% reached 406.08 μmol.g⁻¹.h⁻¹, which is 185 times higher than the bare material. Most importantly, the photocatalyst showed a high quantum efficiency of up to 48.45% at 360 nm and 7.90% at 400 nm. The characterization of the synthesized material proved that this photocatalytic performance could be explained by the light harvesting efficiency including the visible light as well as the charge carrier separation efficiency ensured by the intimate contact between the co-catalyst and the main material. Also, this contact established by a chemical covalent bond provides a notable stability. The stability of the developed nanocomposite is manifested by a significant capacity for reusability, which would allow it to be a powerful photocatalyst in a practical application.

Yes / By means of die drawing technique at rubber-state, effect of the orientation of microstructure on dielectric properties of polypropylene/multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites (PP/MWCNTs) was emphasized in this work. Viscoelasticity behavior of PP/MWCNTs with MWCNTs weight loadings from 0.25 to 5 wt% and dielectric performance of the stretched PP/MWCNTs under different drawing speeds and drawing ratios were studied for seeking an insight of the influences of dispersion and orientation state of MWCNTs and matrix molecular chains. A viscosity decrease (ca. 30%) of the PP/MWCNTs-0.25wt% melt was obviously observed owing to the free volume effect. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) were adopted to detect the orientation structure and the variation of crystal morphology of PP/MWCNTs. Melting plateau regions, which indicated the mixed crystallization morphology for the stretched samples, were found in the DSC patterns instead of a single-peak for the unstretched samples. It was found that the uniaxial stretching process broke the conductive MWCNTs networks and consequently increased the orientation of MWCNTs as well as molecular chains along the tensile force direction, leading to an improvement of the dielectric performance.

An environmentally benign process, which uses supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO₂) as a processing aid, was developed in this work to help exfoliate and disperse nanoclay into the polymer matrices at high clay content. The process involves the use of a pressurized CO₂ chamber to assist in the exfoliation and delivery of the clay into a stream of polypropylene (PP) melt within the extruder. This CO₂ method was evaluated and compared to other conventional processing techniques. It was observed that the conventional direct-melt compounding methods, with and without the direct injection of CO₂, did not show much improvement in the mechanical properties due to their inability to adequately exfoliate the nanoparticles into the polymer matrix. The commercial RTP sample prepared using a TSE and a MA compatibilizer showed moderate improvements in the clay dispersion and properties due to high shear forces and mixing capabilities of TSE. The most improvements were seen from the technique of using the pressurized CO₂ chamber, which directly injected pre-mixed sc-CO₂ and nanoclay into the polypropylene melt during extrusion. It was observed that the mechanical properties of the PP nanocomposites prepared using the CO₂ chamber technique, especially when combined with maleic anhydride (MA) compatibilizer, outperformed those of the commercial RTP samples and those of samples prepared using conventional melt compounding techniques. WAXD and TEM data showed a good degree of exfoliation for clay concentrations as high as 6.8 wt% when the clay was expanded and mixed with CO₂. At this concentration, mechanical properties such as yield strength and modulus increased by as much as 13% and 69%, respectively, relative to the pure PP, and approximately 15% higher than those of samples prepared by direct melt compounding (without the use of CO₂). Furthermore, yield-like behavior in the viscosity and a plateau in the low-frequency behavior of storage modulus, Gâ , was also attributed to polymer-clay interaction due to strong hydrogen bonding between MA groups and the hydroxyl groups on the clay surface, not just solely to the formation of percolation network due to exfoliation between clay platelets that is commonly reported in literature for clay-filled functionalized polypropylene. / Ph. D.

This work is concerned with mechanical property improvements to poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, fibers by the addition of layered silicate nanoparticles and by drawing the un-oriented nanocomposite filaments in a second step. No previous studies on PET fibers filled with montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay examined fiber drawability at temperatures above the glass transition. Therefore, the primary objective of this research was to determine 1) if PET nanocomposite fibers could be drawn to finer diameters and 2) whether drawing imparted improved Young's modulus and tenacity (i.e. strength) relative to un-filled PET fibers. Of equal importance to this work, the subsequent objective was to discern and understand the role of nanoclay in 1) the production of improved or reduced mechanical properties and 2) the ability to draw PET to lower or higher than normal draw ratios. In the first part of this thesis, the improvements in Young's modulus and tenacity of PET fibers filled with various types of organically modified montmorillonite is shown and the method to produce them is discussed. Greater improvements in mechanical properties occurred when the MMT stacks were intercalated with PET. A nominal 1 wt% loading of dimethyl-dehydrogenated tallow quaternary ammonium surface modified MMT in drawn PET fiber showed a 28% and 63% increase in Young's modulus and strength, respectively. Relative to an un-filled PET fiber, these results exceeded the upper-bound of the rule of mixtures estimate. Therefore, both the type of surface modification and concentration of MMT were shown to affect the degree of PET orientation and crystallinity. Furthermore, drawability above Tg and elongation-at-break increased upon the addition of organically modified MMT to un-oriented PET fibers, which was a key distinction of this work from others examining similar systems. Interestingly, the mechanical properties of modulus and tenacity showed a maximum with concentration of alkyl modified clay, but drawability did not show significant variation with increasing nanoclay content. Thermal analysis and Raman spectroscopy was used to examine the role of nanoclay in creating this maximum in mechanical properties. At low loadings, nanoclay was shown to intercalate with PET and enhance amorphous orientation. At higher concentrations of nanoclay the presence of large agglomerates prevented efficient orientation to the fiber axis and acted as stress concentrators to aid in cavitation and failure during testing. Raman spectroscopy showed that the as-spun unfilled PET fibers possessed significantly more trans conformer content of the ethylene glycol moiety than the nanocomposite fibers. The greater gauche content of the nanocomposite fibers delayed crystalline development during non-isothermal DSC scans to higher temperatures was associated with the increased drawability. / Ph. D.

La technique de photocatalyse solaire offre une solution prometteuse pour une élimination efficace des polluants pharmaceutiques émergents comme les antibiotiques dans les eaux usées. Les matériaux photocatalytiques à base de semi-conducteurs jouent un rôle crucial dans la dégradation complète de ces nouveaux polluants pharmaceutiques. À ce propos, de nouveaux photocatalyseurs nanocomposites ont montré une performance catalytique importante par rapport aux photocatalyseurs classiques dans la dégradation des antibiotiques dans l'eau. Ces photocatalyseurs nanocomposites surmontent des défis notamment une photo-absorption insuffisante, une mauvaise séparation de charge, un transfert de charge lent, une recombinaison de charge importante, une mauvaise réaction de surface, une stabilité faible et une récupération difficile. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé des hybride matériaux photocatalytiques nanostructuré et nanocomposite tout en exploitant leur performance pour la dégradation des antibiotiques sous la lumière solaire. Un nouveau matériau de pérovskite ferroélectrique à base de bismuthate de calcium (CaBiO₃) nanostructuré avec une disproportion de différentes multicharges Bi³⁺ et Bi⁵⁺, a été développé via des méthodes de complexation de glycine et d'échange d'ions. La disproportion efficace obtenue de charge Bi³⁺/Bi⁵⁺ et l'arrangement bien organisé du cristal octaédrique de BiO₆ ont offert une photo-absorbance efficace du visible ainsi qu'une photogénération et une séparation importante de porteurs de charge dans CaBiO₃. En outre, les matériaux CaBiO₃ développés présentent une nanostructure avec une surface spécifique plus élevée qui offre des propriétés de surface améliorées en faveur de la réaction catalytique. De plus, les matériaux à base de CaBiO₃ sont étudiés pour la dégradation des antibiotiques de ciprofloxacine et de tétracycline sous la lumière solaire. Un nanocomposite efficace de BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀ a été développé en intégrant les nanoparticules C₆₀ fonctionnalisées par aminosilicate à la surface de nanocouches ultrafines de BiVO₄. L'intégration de C₆₀ sur BiVO₄ a élargi l'absorption de la lumière dans le domaine du visible et a également offert une génération et une séparation efficaces des porteurs de charge photo-induits. En fait, l'aminosilicate a établi une forte interaction interfaciale entre C₆₀ et BiVO₄, ce qui a fourni un transfert de charge efficace et une stabilité remarquable du composite BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀. Par conséquent, BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀ a montré une activité photocatalytique beaucoup plus élevée vis-à-vis la dégradation de ciprofloxacine sous irradiation solaire. Le nanocomposite Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66 a été développé par l'incorporation de NH₂-UiO-66 sur Bi₂WO₆ ayant une forme micro/nanoflorale dans le but d'améliorer l'activité photocatalytique pour la dégradation de ciprofloxacine sous l'irradiation de la lumière solaire. L'activité photocatalytique améliorée, expliquée par la formation d'une hétérojonction avec un fort contact interfacial entre Bi₂WO₆ et NH₂-UiO-66, a permis d'élargir le domaine d'absorption lumineuse, de réduire la recombinaison de paires électron-trou photo générées et d'accélérer le transfert des porteurs de charges. L'hétérojonction Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66 suit le mécanisme de transfert de charge de type Z-schème et possède des sites hautement réactifs offrant une forte propriété redox au composite Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66. / The solar photocatalytic technique is a promising solution for the effective removal of antibiotics, which are emerging pharmaceutical pollutants in water and wastewater. The semiconductor based photocatalytic materials plays crucial role in achieving the complete degradation of these pharmaceutical pollutants. In this direction, the design of nanostructured hybrid photocatalysts shows superior catalytic performance as compared to the conventional photocatalysts towards the effective degradation of antibiotic molecules in water. These nanostructured hybrid photocatalysts overcome the limitations of weak photoabsorption, poor charge separation, slow charge transfer, high charge recombination, limited surface reaction, lesser stability and difficult recovery. In this context, we have developed potential nanostructured and nanocomposite photocatalytic materials and explored their performance in degradation of antibiotics under solar light. Novel ferroelectric perovskite material, nanostructured calcium bismuthate (CaBiO₃) with distinct Bi³⁺ and Bi⁵⁺ multi-charge disproportion was developed via glycine-complexation and ion-exchange methods. The efficient Bi³⁺/Bi⁵⁺ charge disproportion and well-organized BiO₆ octahedral crystal arrangement provided an enhanced visible photo-absorbance and higher charge carrier generation and separation to CaBiO₃ system. The developed CaBiO₃ materials exhibited nanostructure with higher surface area which provided enhanced surface properties for catalytic reactions. Moreover, the developed CaBiO₃ materials were potentially explored for degradation of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline antibiotic drugs under solar light. An efficient BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀ nanocomposite was developed by integrating aminosilicate functionalized C₆₀ nanoparticles on the surface of ultrathin BiVO₄ nanolayers. The integration of C₆₀ on BiVO₄ broadened the light absorption spectrum in the visible light range and offered an enhanced generation and separation of the photoinduced charge carriers. The aminosilicate group established a strong interfacial interaction between C₆₀ and BiVO₄, which provided remarkable charge transfer efficiency and stability for BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀ composite. The as-synthesized BiVO₄-APS-C₆₀ displayed high photocatalytic activity towards ciprofloxacin degradation under solar light irradiation. Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66 nanocomposite was designed incorporating NH₂-UiO-66 with Bi₂WO₆ micro/nanoflower for enhanced photocatalytic activity towards ciprofloxacin degradation under solar light irradiation. The improved photocatalytic activity attributed to the formation of heterojunction with strong interface contact between Bi₂WO₆ and NH₂-UiO-66, broadened the photoabsorbance range, reduced photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination, and accelerated charge carrier transfer. The Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66 heterojunction follows Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism with high surface reactive sites providing strong redox property to Bi₂WO₆/NH₂-UiO-66 composite.

This work explores the computational modeling of electromechanical problems using peridynamics and in particular, its application in studying the potential of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced nanocomposites for the purpose of sensing deformation and damage in materials. Peridynamics, a non-local continuum theory which was originally formulated for modeling problems in solid mechanics, has been extended in this research to electromechanical fields and applied to study the electromechanical properties of CNT nanocomposites at multiple length scales. Piezoresistivity is the coupling between the electrical properties of a material and applied mechanical loads, more specifically the change in resistance in response to deformation. This can include both, a geometric effect due to change in dimensions as well as the change in resistivity of the material itself. Nanocomposites referred to in this work are materials which consist of CNTs dispersed in a binding polymer matrix. The origins of the extraordinary piezoresistive properties of nanocomposites lie at the nanoscale where the non-local phenomenon of electron hopping plays a significant role in establishing the properties of the nanocomposite along with CNT network formation and inherent piezoresistivity of CNTs themselves. Electron hopping or tunneling allows for a current to flow between neighboring CNTs even when they are not in contact, provided the energy barrier for electrons to hop is small enough. This phenomenon is highly nonlinear with respect to the intertube distance and is also dependent on other factors such as the potential barrier of the polymer matrix. To investigate this in more detail, peridynamic simulations are first employed to study the piezoresistivity at the CNT bundle scale by considering a nanoscale representative volume element (RVE) of CNTs within polymer matrix, and by explicitly modeling electron hopping effects. This is done by introducing electron hopping bonds and it is shown that the conductivity and the non-local length scale parameter in peridynamics (the horizon) can be derived from a purely physics based model rather than assuming an ad-hoc value. Piezoresistivity can be characterized as a function of the deformation and damage within the material and thereby used as an in-situ indicator of the structural health of the material. As such, a material system for which real time in-situ monitoring may be useful is polymer bonded explosives. While these materials are designed for detonation under conditions of a strong shock, they can be damaged or even ignited under certain low magnitude impact scenarios such as during accidental drop or transportation. Since these materials are a heterogeneous system consisting of explosive grains within a polymer matrix binder, it is proposed that CNTs can be dispersed within the binder medium leading to an inherently piezoresistive hybrid nanocomposite bonded explosive material (NCBX) material which can then be monitored for a continuous assessment of deformation and damage within the material. To explore the potential use of CNT nanocomposites for this novel application, peridynamic simulations are carried out at the microscale level, first under quasistatic conditions and subsequently under dynamic conditions to allow the propagation of elastic waves. Peridynamics equations, which can be discretized to obtain a meshless method are particularly suited to this problem as the explicit modeling of crack initiation and propagation at the microscale is essential to understanding the properties of this material. Moreover, many other parameters such as electrical conductivity of the grain and the properties of the grain-binder interface are studied to understand their effect on the piezoresistive response of the material. For example, it is found that conductivity of the grain plays a major role in the piezoresistive response since it affects the preferential pathways of current density depending on the relative ease of flow through grain vs. binder. The results of this work are promising and are two fold. Peridynamics is found to be an effective method to model such materials, both at the nanoscale and the microscale. It alleviates some of difficulties faced by traditional finite element methods in the modeling of damage in materials and can be extended to coupled fields with relative ease. Secondly, simulations presented in this work show that there is much promise in this novel application of nanocomposites in the field of structural health monitoring of polymer bonded explosives. / Ph. D.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) are carrying great promise as two important constituents of future multifunctional materials. Originating from their minimal defect confined nanostructure, exceptional thermal and electrical properties have been reported for these two allotropic forms of carbon. However, a brief survey of the literature reveals the fact that the incorporation of these species into a polymer matrix enhances its effective properties usually not to the degree predicted by the composite\\textquoteright s upper bound rule. To exploit their full potential, a proper understanding of the physical laws characterizing their behavior is an essential step. With emphasis on the electrical and thermal properties, the following study is an attempt to provide more realistic physical and computational models for studying the transport properties of these nanomaterials. Originated from quantum confinement effects, electron tunneling is believed to be an important phenomenon in determining the electrical properties of nanocomposites comprising CNTs and GNPs. To assess its importance, in this dissertation this phenomenon is incorporated into simulations by utilizing tools from statistical physics. A qualitative parametric study was carried out to demonstrate its dominating importance. Furthermore, a model is adopted from the literature and extended to quantify the electrical conductivity of these nanocomposite. To establish its validity, the model predictions were compared with relevant published findings in the literature. The applicability of the proposed model is confirmed for both CNTs and GNPs. To predict the thermal properties, a statistical continuum based model, originally developed for two-phase composites, is adopted and extended to describe multiphase nanocomposites with high contrast between the transport properties of the constituents. The adopted model is a third order strong-contrast expansion which directly links the thermal properties of the composite to the thermal properties of its constituents by considering the microstructural effects. In this approach, a specimen of the composite is assumed to be confined into a reference medium with known properties subjected to a temperature field in the infinity to predict its effective thermal properties. It was noticed that such approach is highly sensitive to the properties of the reference medium. To overcome this shortcoming, a technique to properly select the reference medium properties was developed. For verification purpose the proposed model predictions were compared with the corresponding finite element calculations for nanocomposites comprising cylindrical and disk-shaped nanoparticles. To shed more light on some conflicting reports about the performance of the hybrid CNT/GNP/polymer nanocomposites, an experimental study was conducted to study a hybrid ternary system. CNT/polymer, GNP/polymer and CNT/GNP/polymer nanocomposite specimens were processed and tested to evaluate their thermal and electrical conductivities. It was observed that the hybrid CNT/GNP/polymer composites outperform polymer composites loaded solely with CNTs or GNPs. Finally, the experimental findings were utilized to serve as basis to validate the models developed in this dissertation. The experimental study was utilized to reduce the modeling uncertainties and the computational predictions of the proposed models were compared with the experimental measurements. Acceptable agreements between the model predictions and experimental data were observed and explained in light of the experimental observations. The work proposed herein will enable significant advancement in understanding the physical phenomena behind the enhanced electrical and thermal conductivities of polymer nanocomposites specifically CNT/GNP/polymer nanocomposites. The dissertation results offer means to tune-up the electrical and thermal properties of the polymer nanocomposite materials to further enhance their performance. / Ph. D.

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 9 mai 2023) / La thèse suivante examine la conversion du CO₂ à partir d'énergie solaire en utilisant des photocatalyseurs, qui est considérée comme l'un des techniques les plus intéressantes pour résoudre les problématiques du réchauffement climatique et de la crise énergétique. Il convient de souligner que cette thèse propose trois nouveaux composites hybrides nanostructurés pour la réduction photocatalytique du CO₂. La récolte de la lumière, la séparation des charges et les réactions de surface sont des aspects critiques qui ont un impact énorme sur la photoréduction du CO₂. Les cadres organiques covalents (COF) sont des candidats appropriés pour ces processus car ils offrent des caractéristiques et des propriétés structurelles exceptionnelles. De nombreux photocatalyseurs nanostructurés sont activement développés pour la photoréduction du CO₂. Les nanostructures multidimensionnelles et les hétérostructures sont largement étudiées en raison de leurs excellents attributs tels que la séparation efficace et la longue durée de vie des porteurs de charges. De manière prometteuse, les nanostructures et les nanocomposites des cadres organiques covalentes avec le graphène et ses dérivés, les dichalcogénures métalliques et les matériaux plasmoniques présentent d'excellentes performances photocatalytiques, selon des études de la littérature. D'abord, un cadre organique covalente, à base de céto-énamine TpPa-1 et de nanofeuillets d'oxyde de graphène réduit (rGO en anglais), a été développé par la technique d'assemblage in situ pour la photoréduction du CO₂ sous la lumière du soleil. Les interactions covalentes entre TpPa-1 et le rGO ont facilité la formation des bandes avec le potentiel requis, ainsi qu'une séparation de charge améliorée et une migration rapide des porteurs de charges vers la surface pour la réduction sélective du CO₂. Le médiateur électronique [Co(bpy)₃]²⁺ a servi pour apporter sites actifs pour la coordination, l'activation et la réduction des molécules de CO₂ en CO. De plus, un cadre organique covalente (COF) nanosphérique creux à base de TpPa-1, intégrée à un atome unique de Co-1T-MOS₂ (TpPa-1/Co-1T-MOS₂), a été conçu et développé via une stratégie à double ligand pour ajuster le potentiel des bandes et améliorer la séparation des charges afin d'optimiser l'efficacité de la photoréduction du CO₂. Les interactions entre TpPa-1 et Co-1T-MoS₂ ont facilité et amélioré la séparation des charges ainsi que la migration des porteurs de charge vers la surface, ce qui a entraîné une conversion sélective du CO₂ en CO. Finalement, les nanoparticules plasmoniques Au adhérés à une structure organique covalente tridimensionnelle, à base de porphyrine creuse (COF-366-Co) et avec un atome unique de Co (COF-366-Co[indice (H)]/Au), augmentent considérablement l'efficacité de la photoréduction du CO₂. Le nanocomposite conçu utilise le transfert d'électrons énergétiques induit par le plasmon, une meilleure collecte de lumière et des réactions de surface facilitées pour conduire les réactions redox photocatalytiques. Le nanocomposite développé (COF-366-Co[indice (H)]/Au) a montré une activité prometteuse vis-à-vis de la réduction photocatalytique du CO₂ sous irradiation à la lumière visible, qui a produit CO à un taux allant jusqu'à ~1200 µmolg⁻¹h⁻¹ et avec une sélectivité de 98 % sur H₂. / The ensuing thesis examines the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to value-added chemical and fuels under solar light irradiation by employing some of the emerging photocatalytic materials known as covalent organic frameworks (COFs). This approach of photocatalytic process is considered to be one of the most viable remedies to global warming and energy crisis dilemmas. Importantly, this thesis delivers three novel nanostructured hybrid composites based on COFs for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction to value-added chemicals and fuels. Light-harvesting, charge separation, and surface reactions are critical aspects that have an enormous impact on CO₂ photoreduction. Covalent organic frameworks can be suitable candidates for these processes as they offer outstanding structural features and properties. Diverse nanostructured photocatalysts are actively being developed for CO₂ photoreduction. Multidimensional nanostructures and nanocomposite heterostructures are widely studied because of their excellent attributes such as efficient separation and long lifetime of the excited charge carriers. Promisingly, nanostructures and nanocomposites of the covalent organic frameworks with graphene and its derivatives, metal dichalcogenides and plasmonic materials exhibit excellent photocatalytic performance, according to the literature reports. In this investigation, a keto-enamine TpPa-1 covalent organic framework and reduced graphene oxide nanosheet nanocomposite are developed by an in-situ assembling technique. The covalent interactions between TpPa-1 and rGO facilitated the formation of band edges with required potential and thereby to achieve an improved charge separation along with rapid migration of charge carriers to the surface toward the selective reduction of CO₂. By the support of the electron mediator [Co(bpy)₃]²⁺ in the hybrid served as the active sites for the coordination, activation, and reduction of CO₂ molecules to CO. A hollow nano spherical TpPa-1 covalent organic framework (COF) integrated with single atom Co-1T-MoS₂ (TpPa-1/Co-1T-MoS₂) is further designed and developed through a dual-ligand strategy to tune the band edge potential and enhance the charge separation to improve CO₂ photoreduction efficiency of the system. The interactions between TpPa-1 and Co-1T-MoS₂ aided and enhanced the charge separation as well as charge carrier migration to the surface resulted in selective conversion CO₂ to CO. Au plasmonic nanoparticles adorned three-dimensional hollow porphyrin-based covalent organic framework with Co single atom (COF-366-Co[subscript (H)]/Au) is developed via dual-ligand strategy and post-synthetic metallization method and found that this system significantly boosted up the CO₂ photoreduction efficiency. It utilizes the plasmon-induced energetic electron transfer, enhanced light harvesting, and surface reactions to drive the photocatalytic redox reactions. The developed COF-366-Co[subscript (H)]/Au exhibited fine activity toward photocatalytic CO₂ reduction under visible light irradiation, which yielded the CO at a rate up to ~1200 µmolg⁻¹h⁻¹ with a selectivity of 98% over H₂.

L'exploitation de l'énergie solaire présente une solution alternative efficace pour limiter la consommation de l'énergie fossile et résoudre ainsi les problèmes qui en découlent notamment la pollution et le changement climatique. La dissociation de l'eau par le procédé de la photocatalyse est considérée actuellement comme une méthode innovante pour la photogénération de l'hydrogène (H₂) à partir d'une ressource non carbonée. Les photocatalyseurs classiques mis en jeu ne sont malheureusement activables que sous l'irradiation de l'ultraviolet, ce qui limite leur activité catalytique sous la lumière solaire principalement formée par le visible. Grâce à ses propriétés optiques et électroniques, le phosphore noir (BP) est caractérisé par une bonne absorption lumineuse étendue sur le visible, et même l'infrarouge proche. Ainsi, il présente un candidat potentiel pour les procédés photocatalytiques. Ce travail présente une méthode alternative pour la synthèse d'un nanocomposite à base du BP assisté par le phosphure de nickel (Ni₂P). Cette méthode est basée sur la transition de phase induite par l'éthylènediamine en présence des ions nickel (Ni²⁺) pour la formation in-situ du Ni₂P en tant que co-catalyseur à la surface du BP formé. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l'activité photocatalytique du nanocomposite avec un ratio molaire Ni/P de 3 % atteint 406,08 μmol.g⁻¹.h⁻¹, qui est 185 fois plus élevé que le matériau sans co-catalyseur. Le plus important, le photocatalyseur a montré une efficacité quantique élevée allant jusqu'à 48,45 % à 360 nm et 7,90 % à 400 nm. La caractérisation du matériau synthétisé a prouvé que cette performance photocatalytique pourrait être expliquée par l'absorption lumineuse étalée sur le visible ainsi que l'efficacité de la séparation des porteurs de charges assurée par un contact intime entre le co-catalyseur et le matériau principal. Ce contact établi par une liaison covalente permet également d'avoir une stabilité notable. La stabilité du nanocomposite développé s'est manifestée par une capacité importante de réutilisabilité, ce qui lui permettrait d'être un photocatalyseur performant pour une application pratique. / The exploitation of solar energy presents an effective and an alternative solution to limit the consumption of fossil energy and to solve the correspondent problems, particularly the pollution and the climate change. The water splitting using the photocatalysis process is considered currently as an innovative method for the photogeneration of hydrogen (H₂) from a non-carbon resource. The involved conventional photocatalysts are unfortunately activable only under ultraviolet irradiation, which limits their catalytic activity under sunlight, mainly composed of the visible spectrum. Thanks to its optical and electronic properties, black phosphorus (BP) is characterized by a good light absorption including the visible and even the near-infrared spectrum. Thus, it presents a potential candidate for photocatalytic processes. This work presents an alternative method for the synthesis of a BP-based nanocomposite assisted by nickel phosphide (Ni₂P). This method is based on the ethylenediamine-induced phase transition in the presence of nickel ions (Ni²⁺) for the in-situ growth of Ni₂P as a co-catalyst on the surface of the as-synthesized BP. The obtained results show that the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite with Ni/P molar ratio of 3% reached 406.08 μmol.g⁻¹.h⁻¹, which is 185 times higher than the bare material. Most importantly, the photocatalyst showed a high quantum efficiency of up to 48.45% at 360 nm and 7.90% at 400 nm. The characterization of the synthesized material proved that this photocatalytic performance could be explained by the light harvesting efficiency including the visible light as well as the charge carrier separation efficiency ensured by the intimate contact between the co-catalyst and the main material. Also, this contact established by a chemical covalent bond provides a notable stability. The stability of the developed nanocomposite is manifested by a significant capacity for reusability, which would allow it to be a powerful photocatalyst in a practical application.

L'une des meilleures alternatives actuelles pour prévenir et/ou réduire les déchets d'emballages est le recours aux polymères renouvelables et biodégradables. Ainsi, il existe un intérêt croissant d'améliorer les emballages existants tels que les emballages multicouches plastiques. Ces derniers contiennent différentes couches de polymères, chacune répondant à un besoin différent comme barrière aux gaz, propriétés mécaniques, qualité du scellage, etc. Pour assurer une barrière à l'oxygène, les polymères utilisés sont généralement des polymères très peu perméables tel que l'alcool éthylène vinylique (EVOH) et le nylon. Cela présente toutefois des inconvénients tels que le coût et la non recyclabilité de l'emballage. Rapportés comme étant les matériaux du 21ème siècle, les polymères nanocomposites (PNCs) sont des alternatifs prometteurs à ces matériaux d'emballages plastiques en raison de leurs caractéristiques écologiques favorables. C'est dans cette optique qu'on a développé dans ce travail des films d'emballages bicouches et quadricouches dégradables à haute barrière à l'oxygène à base de l'alcool polyvinylique (PVA), le chitosane (CS) et d'argile (montmorillonite, MMT). Ce dernier a été choisi comme charge en raison de sa disponibilité et de son prix abordable. En utilisant la technique de dépôt 'Layer-by Layer (LbL)', deux types de films avec du PVA comme couche principale sont développés; l'un avec la MMT et l'autre avec le CS. Les films bicouches et quadricouches étudiés diffèrent non seulement par le nombre de couches de l'unité répétitive (deux et quatre respectivement) mais aussi de la teneur en MMT et en CS dans chaque films. Les films obtenus sont caractérisés par diffraction des rayons X (DRX), spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier (FTIR), la diffraction des rayons X à grand angle (WAXD), etc. Cette dernière a révélé que les films obtenus par la méthode 'Spin coating-LbL' présentent une bonne orientation de la macromolécule et des nanoplaquettes de MMT avec des interactions électrostatiques intéressantes. Les études de l'angle de contact (CA) et de la perméabilité à l'oxygène (PO) ont montré que les films quadricouches sont plus hydrophobiques avec des valeurs de PO considérablement réduites. Par conséquent, ils sont des candidats prometteurs pour une application dans l'emballage alimentaire. / One of the best alternatives to reduce current packaging waste is the use of biodegradable polymers. Thus, with the urgent need for green materials, there is a growing interest for the improvement of the existing packaging, such as the multilayer packaging. This packaging has different layers of polymers, each one fulfilling a different need like gas barrier, mechanical properties, and saleability. To ensure the oxygen barrier, a higher barrier polymer, like ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and Nylon, is generally used. This, however, has some drawbacks, such as the cost and the non recyclability of the packaging. Reported as the materials of the 21st century, polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) are promising alternatives to these plastic packaging materials due to their favorable ecological characteristics. To this aim, we have focused in this work on the development of multilayer films using spin coating assisted layer-by layer assembly technique (LbL). To provide a deeper understanding of the effect of macromolecule and nanoclay platelets orientation on barrier properties, two polymers were chosen to study hydrogen bonding based films: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CS). MMT was chosen as a filler because of its availability and affordable price. Using the LbL deposition technique, two different structures, bilayers and quadlayers films were investigated, which differ in the layers number of the repetitive unit (two and four, respectively). Two types of films were developed: PVA/MMT and PVA/CS. For the bilayer structures, two layers were deposited, one composed of PVA and one of MMT for PVA-MMT films and one of PVA and one of CS for PVA-CS films. For the quadlayer structure, four alternated layers are prepared; two composed of PVA and two of MMT for PVA-MMT-PVA-MMT films, and two composed of PVA and two of CS for PVA-CS-PVA-CS films. All films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), etc. The WAXD characterization showed a parallel orientation of the macromolecule and of MMT clay nanoplatelets. The contact angle (CA) and oxygen permeability (PO) characterizations showed that all quadlayers films are hydrophobic and their permeabilities are reduced compared to neat PVA. Therefore, as results, quadlayers films appear to be good candidates for food packaging applications.