Le travail de recherche de cette thèse se concentre sur le développement de nanoparticules de silice organo-hybrides pour des applications en nanomédecine et agroalimentaire. Ces nanoconteneurs de silice, comportant des liens disulfures, sont capables de se briser en petits fragments en présence du milieu réductif intracellulaire. Des nanoparticules présentant de larges pores ont été synthétisées pour la livraison d’un siRNA PLK1 pour le traitement du carcinome hépatocellulaire et ont démontré des résultats prometteurs in vitro et in vivo. Ces particules ont été également utilisées pour charger un peptide cytotoxique, souvent utilisé comme pesticide dans l’industrie agroalimentaire. Les nanoparticules cassables ont ensuite été miniaturisées pour le relargage d’agents thérapeutiques dans des glioblastomes humains. Le système présentait un relargage plus rapide comparé à la forme liposomale actuellement sur le marché. Enfin, des nanoparticules contenant des liens répondant aux réactifs dérivés de l’oxygène ont été développées et ont démontré une fragmentation importante en présence d’oxygène singulet. / The research work presented throughout this thesis focuses on the development of organo-hybrid mesoporous silica nanoparticles for their applications in nanomedicine and crop industry. Disulfide doped silica nanocarriers, able to break down in small pieces in presence of the intracellular reductive environment have been tailored. A large pore stimuli-responsive system was developed to deliver a PLK1 siRNA within hepatocellular carcinoma cells demonstrating promising results both in vitro and in vivo. The particles were further used to deliver a venom peptide, often utilized as esticide in the crop industry. The breakable nanocarriers were further miniaturized for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents within human glioblastoma cells. The system presented a faster delivery compared to the commercially available liposomal form. Finally, Reactive-Oxygen-Species-responsive mesoporous silica nanoparticles were developed and demonstrated fast breakability upon incubation with singlet oxygen.

No description available.

This thesis presents the characterization of the optical and mechanical properties of silica nanoparticle films fabricated by ionic self-assembly, also known as layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition. Utilizing electrostatic attraction of oppositely-charged materials permits uniform and rapid growth of the constituents onto planar and curved surfaces. In this work, silica nanoparticles are adsorbed onto glass and polycarbonate substrates, as well as micron-scale glass fibers, with the purpose of improving the optical quality of the respective media. Several methods are presented to improve the adhesion and cohesion of silica nanoparticle films on glass substrates. In the first method, the substrate and nanoparticle surfaces are coated with materials containing sulfonate end groups. Next, a photo-reactive polycation known as diazo-resin (DAR) is used in ISAM deposition with the modified silica nanoparticles. Subsequent exposure to UV converts the ionic bonds between the DAR and sulfonate groups into covalent ones. The second method to improve the mechanical strength is to heat the ISAM silica nanoparticle film at a high enough temperature (500 °C) to remove the polymer and partially fuse the nanoparticles. This technique is known as calcination and is shown to significantly improve the mechanical robustness of the film without compromising the optical properties. The final method involves the deposition of precursor and capping polymer layers around bulk silica nanoparticle films with both bilayer and quadlayer designs. The addition of these polymer layers improves the surface contact between adjacent nanoparticles but reduces the film porosity and consequently the optical transparency. Currently the calcination technique is the only one that significantly improves the film adhesion and cohesion, but suggestions are offered to potentially improve the performance of films made by the other two methods. An alternative way to functionalize polycarbonate substrates for silica nanoparticle ISAM deposition is also presented. The molecular structure of polycarbonate at the surface can be modified by exposing it to deep UV (λ = 185, 254 nm). By doing so, the surface becomes populated with carboxylate species, and thus permits ISAM deposition of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and silica nanoparticles. A variety of spectroscopic methods show that the molecular structure is changed by this procedure, and SEM shows that UV treatment improves the uniformity of ISAM films on polycarbonate. Finally, PAH/silica nanoparticle ISAM films are deposited onto glass fibers. The fibers are used for mechanical reinforcement of polymer composite optical media. The role of the nanoparticle film on the fibers is to reduce light scattering at the interfaces of materials with different thermo-optic coefficients, in other words, transmittance losses associated with changes in temperature. Fiber bundles coated with silica nanoparticles suffer from unacceptable levels of aggregation, and hence do not currently improve the transmittance over the temperature spectrum. Some evidence is presented, however, to suggest that the transparency can be improved if fiber aggregation during ISAM deposition can be avoided. / Ph. D.

The use of graphene and conductive polyaniline nanomaterials in the field of electrochemistry is increasing due to their excellent conductivity, rapid electron transfer and high specific surface area. However, these properties are strongly dependent on the preparation processes. To accelerate the development of advanced electrochemical sensors for the simultaneous detection of trace amounts of heavy metal ions, two facile and green methods are proposed to improve their performance in this thesis. The first one was dedicated to make graphene-carbon nanotube hybrid nanocomposites. The introduction of carbon nanotubes not only greatly enhances the conductivity of graphene but also suppresses, to some degree, the aggregation between graphene nanosheets. Another method proposed in this thesis work was to synthesize a phytic acid doped polyaniline nanofiber based nanocomposite. The synergistic contribution from polyaniline nanofibers and phytic acid enhances the accumulation efficiency and the charge transfer rate of metal ions during the differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry analysis. The above-mentioned nanocomposite modified electrodes were all successfully applied to real samples for the simultaneous detection of Cd2+ and Pb2+ with good recovery rates. Meanwhile, corrosion protection is another important branch in the field of electrochemistry. In this direction, an active alkyd-polyaniline composite coating with self-healing functionality was prepared. The polyaniline used in this thesis was doped with p-toluene sulfonic acid, which was employed to increase the conductivity of polyaniline, and 1 wt.% of as-prepared polyaniline nanoparticles were found to offer an effective conductive network for anticorrosion. Finally, the reasons that such low loading levels of nanomaterials can result in significantly reinforced properties in nanocomposites were studied with combined atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The results demonstrated that the interphase for a 40-nm-sized silica particle could extend to 55–70 nm in poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) and poly(isobutyl methacrylate) (PiBMA) polymer matrix, and the interphase exhibited a gradient distribution in surface nanomechanical properties. / <p>QC 20170315</p>

[pt] Atualmente a crescente demanda do uso de repelentes de insetos tem promovido a pesquisa de produtos mais eficazes e com uma maior durabilidade da ação repelente. O objetivo deste trabalho foi a obtenção de novas nanopartículas com propriedades interfaciais modificadas superficialmente com grupos funcionais catiônicos e polímeros aniônicos, com o intuito de melhorar a estabilidade de emulsões Pickering contendo um princípio ativo, N,N -dimetil-m-toluamida (DEET), comumente utilizado nos repelentes comerciais. A obtenção das nanopartículas incluiu a funcionalização inicial da superfície de nanopartículas de sílica comerciais com grupos amino secundários (R-NH2), seguido da introdução de grupos catiônicos de amônio quaternário (R-NR4 positivo) e posterior complexação eletrostática com polímeros aniônicos (poli(ácido acrílico), PAA, e poli(4-estireno sulfonato de sódio), PSS). As nanopartículas modificadas mostraram boa dispersabilidade em meio aquoso, favorecendo a estabilização de emulsões de tipo óleo em água (O/A). Os melhores resultados dos estudos de estabilidade no tempo das emulsões foram obtidos usando as nanopartículas catiônicas (SiNP-A,G) recobertas com PAA e com a mistura de polímeros (PAA mais PSS). As emulsões Pickering obtidas com as nanopartículas de sílica recobertas com PAA mostraram os melhores resultados na retardação da evaporação do DEET, com potencial uso para liberação lenta deste composto. / [en] Currently the increasing demand for insect repellent use has promoted research into more effective products and a longer repellent action. The objective of this work was to obtain new nanoparticles by surface modification with cationic functional groups and anionic polymers, with the aim of improving the stability of Pickering emulsions containing an active ingredient, N,N -diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) commonly used in commercial repellents. The preparation of the nanoparticles included initial surface functionalization of commercial silica nanoparticles with secondary amino groups (R-NH2), followed by the introduction of cationic quaternary ammonium groups (R-NR4 positive) and subsequent electrostatic complexation with anionic polymers (poly (acrylic acid), PAA, and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate), PSS). The modified nanoparticles showed good dispersibility in aqueous medium, favoring the stabilization of emulsions oil-in-water (O/W). The best results of the emulsion time stability studies were obtained using cationic silica nanoparticles (SiNP-A,G) covered with PAA and with the polymer mixture (PA plus PSS). The Pickering emulsions obtained with the cationic silica nanoparticles coated with PAA showed the best results in retarding DEET evaporation, with potential use for slow release of this compound.

Il est difficile de réaliser une forte adhésion entre deux hydrogels par un procédé simple. Récemment, un nouveau concept a été proposé par Leibler et ses collaborateurs pour coller des hydrogels ou des tissus biologiques. Il consiste à utiliser des nanoparticules sur lesquels s'adsorbent les chaînes de polymère et qui jouent ainsi le rôle de connecteurs. L'objectif principal de la thèse est d'identifier et de contrôler les mécanismes à l'origine de l'adhésion de deux hydrogels par des nanoparticules. De nombreuses questions sont abordées : la nature des nanoparticules de silice (taille, charge, concentration, état de dispersion), l'influence de la structure de l'hydrogel et son état de gonflement, la répartition des nanoparticules sur les interfaces. Les expériences sont menées avec plusieurs catégories d'hydrogels: le Poly(N,N diméthyl-acrylamide) (PDMA), le Polyacrylamide (PAAm), des gels nanocomposites (PDMA renforcé par des nanoparticules de silice), ou encore des gels à double-réseaux. Nous mesurons les propriétés adhésives à l'aide de tests de joints de recouvrement, de pelage à 90°, et de pelage en Y, que nous avons mis au point. Nous avons utilisé des expériences d'ATR-FTIR, de microcopie confocale à fluorescence et de microscopie électronique à balayage pour mettre en évidence l'adsorption des chaînes polymères à la surface des hydrogels, évaluer la quantité de particules de silice à la surface du gel, et caractériser leur distribution. Les résultats nous permettent de proposer un mécanisme d'adhésion et de définir les conditions qui permettent de réaliser une adhésion optimale. / It is very challenging to achieve strong adhesion between two soft and wet materials like hydrogels. Recently Leibler and his collaborators invented a new concept to assemble hydrogels or biological tissues using nanoparticles. The principle relies on the adsorption of gel chains at the surface of nanoparticles, which act as connectors, and on the ability of the adsorbed gel chains to reorganize under stress. The main objective of this work is to identify and control the physical mechanisms fundamental to gel adhesion by silica nanoparticles. Many questions are investigated: the nature of the nanoparticles (size, surface chemistry, concentration, state of dispersion), the gel structure and its state of swelling, the distribution of the nanoparticles at the gel surface. Experiments are conducted using several types of gels: Poly(N,N dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA), Poly(acrylamide) (PAAm), nanocomposite gels (PDMA reinforces with silica nanoparticles), or double-network (DN) gels. We quantify the adhesive properties using lap-shear experiments, peeling tests at 90°, and Y-peeling tests that we developed. We use ATR-FTIR experiments, confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to demonstrate the adsorption of polymers onto the silica nanoparticles and characterize their spatial repartition. The results allow us to propose a mechanism explaining the adhesion and to define conditions for optimal adhesion.

Les nanoparticules de silice sont très largement étudiées pour les applications biomédicales. Elles permettent une facilité et une flexibilité de la synthèse des particules et une bio-toxicité limitée. Cette thèse a mené une grande diversité de résultats impliquant des nanomatériaux de silice. Premièrement, les propriétés physicochimiques et les propriétés de biodégradation de trois types de nanoparticules de silice structurées ont été étudiées dans un tampon, un milieu de culture et au contact de fibroblastes cutanés humains suggérant que les nanoparticules de silice doivent être principalement considérées comme dégradées par hydrolyse, et non biodégradé. Ensuite, des nanoparticules de silice multifonctionnelles constituées de nanoparticules de silice creuses et de nanoparticules de MnO2 ont été synthétisées. Ainsi le contrôle de la libération du médicament et la performance de l’imagerie de ces nanoplates ont été étudiées à partir de modèles 2D à 3D. Cette approche pourrait être utilisée pour une évaluation rapide de la bio-fonctionnalité des nanoparticules avant de mettre en place des expériences in vivo. En outre, un nouveau nanocomposite 3D à base de collagène utilisant des tiges de silice a été étudié et les relations entre la composition composite, la structure et les propriétés mécaniques, mettant en évidence le rôle clé des interactions collagène-silice. L'influence de ces paramètres sur l'adhésion et la prolifération des cellules fibroblastiques a également été étudiée. De plus, nous avons préparé et utilisé des nanobatonnêts de silice magnétiques pour contrôler l’orientation des particules dans le réseau de collagène grâce à un champ magnétique externe. Tous les résultats apportent de nouvelles connaissances sur la préparation et les propriétés des bionanocomposites et ouvrent la voie à des hydrogels multifonctionnels. / Silica nanoparticles, thanks to the great easy and adaptability of particle synthesis and limited biotoxicity, is very widely studied for biomedical applications. This thesis conducted a large diversity of investigations involving silica nanomaterials. Firstly, the physicochemical properties and biodegradation properties of three types of structured silica nanoparticles were studied in a buffer, a culture medium and in contact with human dermal fibroblasts that suggest that, under these conditions, the silica nanoparticles must be mainly considered as degraded by hydrolysis and not biodegraded. Then, multifunctional silica nanoparticles which are consist of hollow silica nanoparticles and MnO2 nanosheets were synthesized. And the control drug release and imaging performance of this nanoplatforms were studied from 2D to 3D models. This approach could be used for a rapid assessment of the biofunctionality of nanoparticles before setting up in vivo experiments. Furthermore, a new 3D collagen-based nanocomposites using silica rods were studied and the relationships between the composite composition, structure and mechanical properties, emphasizing the key role of collagen-silica interactions. The influence of these parameters on the adhesion and proliferation of fibroblast cells was also investigated. In addition, we prepared and used magnetic silica nanorods to control particle orientation within the collagen network thanks to an external magnetic field. All the results bring new insights on the preparation and properties of bionanocomposites and open the route to multifunctional hydrogels.

Les matériaux nanocomposites obtenus par la dispersion de charges nanométriques dans un polymère ont de nombreuses applications industrielles à cause de l’amélioration des propriétés des matrices. La dispersion des charges pendant le procès de préparation des nanocomposites est déterminée par les interactions entre charges et avec le polymère. L’état final de dispersion impacte les propriétés structurales, dynamiques et mécaniques du matériau.Dans ce travail de thèse, nous proposons l’étude de nanocomposites produits par dispersion de billes de silice hydrophiles dans une matrice de polymère hydrophobe, i.e., styrene-butadiene (SB), couramment utilisé dans les pneumatiques. Nous avons notamment étudié l’impact des agents de recouvrement - des silanes réagissant avec la surface des charges – qui sont utilisés afin de promouvoir la compatibilité entre la silice et le SB.Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié des matériaux composites industriels simplifiés obtenus par l’incorporation de silice hautement dispersible dans le SB. En couplant des expériences de diffusion des rayons-X aux petits angles (DXPA) avec de la microscopie, nous avons montré que : i) la présence d’un catalyseur (DPG) amplifie l’effet de l’agent de recouvrement; ii) l'augmentation de la quantité de silane favorise la réduction de la taille des agrégats de silice. De plus, un système modèle équivalent au système industriel simplifié a été développé, mais avec une silice colloïdale. Nous avons mis au point une nouvelle méthode pour modifier la surface des billes de silice en suspensions dans en mélange eau/éthanol. Ces nanoparticules sont ensuite stabilisées dans le même solvant utilisé pour la dissolution du SB, le MEK. Enfin, le composite modèle est obtenu par évaporation du solvant. La dispersion des billes de silice greffées a été étudiée en suspension (i.e., dans le mélange eau/éthanol et MEK) et dans le nanocomposite, en couplant DXPA avec des simulations de Monte-Carlo inverse. Nous avons montré que la qualité de la dispersion dépend du type de silane utilisé et qu’elle est transférée du solvant (MEK) au composite. De plus, l’impact des agents de recouvrement sur les propriétés dynamiques (relaxation α) du système modèle a été étudié par spectroscopie diélectrique, BDS. Nous avons découvert que les agents de recouvrement peuvent plastifier le SB pur, en induisant une baisse significative de la température de transition vitreuse. Dans les composites, la modification de l’état de surface des billes par l’agent de recouvrement n’altère pas la relaxation α. Cependant, la présence de molécules de silane libres dans la matrice polymère du nanocomposite peut également induire un effet de plastification. / Nanocomposite materials made by dispersion of nano-scale fillers in a soft polymer matrix attract industrial interest because of their enhanced properties. During their formulation, filler-filler and filler-polymer interactions affect the dispersion of the particles, and thus the final nanocomposite structure. The filler dispersion as well as dynamical properties control many material properties and in particular the mechanical response of these materials.In this PhD work, we propose the study of nanocomposites made by dispersion of nano-metric hydrophilic silica particles in a soft hydrophobic polymer matrix of styrene/butadiene (SB), which is commonly used in car tire manufacturing. Since coating agents can react with the filler surface tuning the silica-silica and the silica-polymer interactions, they have been used to promote the compatibility between silica and SB. Firstly, we investigate “simplified industrial nanocomposites” obtained by solid mixing of SB and millimetric silica pellets. By a multiscale approach (microscopy and X-ray scattering, SAXS) we show that: i) the presence of a catalyzer (DPG) unambiguously amplifies the action of the coating agent; ii) the increase of silane content induces the progressive decrease of silica aggregate size. The study of the simplified industrial nanocomposites has been extended to a silica/SB model system. We developed an efficient method to surface-modify colloidal silica NPs in ethanol/water, to stabilize them in the same solvent (MEK) used to dissolve the polymer, and to obtain the final model nanocomposite by solvent casting. For the structural characterization of this multi-step system, we propose a combined SAXS-reverse Monte Carlo approach which allows to investigate the dispersion state of surface-modified silica NPs in precursor solvents (i.e., ethanol/water and MEK) and in the polymer matrix. The filler dispersion is influenced by the characteristics of the grafted silane molecule (varying hydrophobicity, grafting function, and density) and it is shown the quality of the dispersion state is maintained from the precursor suspension to the nanocomposite. Moreover, Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) has been used to investigate the role of silane coating agents in the segmental dynamics of model nanocomposites. We show that the silane molecules can act as plasticizers in pure styrene-butadiene matrices, inducing a significant decrease of the glass transition temperature. We also prove that the chemical surface-modification of the fillers does not affect the segmental dynamics (α-relaxation) in nanocomposites, whereas the presence of “free” silane molecules in the polymer bulk can induce a detectable plasticization effect.

La dégradation accélérée des membranes conductrices protoniques en pile est en partie due à une oxydation induite par la production d'H2O2. Cette étude présente une stratégie originale de stabilisation chimique d'une matrice de sPEEK par l'inclusion de nano-charges stabilisantes. Quatre nano-charges ont été préparées par fonctionnalisation de nanoparticules de silice avec des fonctions chimiques organosoufrées (disulfure, tétrasulfure et thiourée). Un protocole spécifique de mise en forme des membranes hybrides a permis d'obtenir des composites présentant des propriétés mécaniques et une conductivité protonique compatibles avec l'application pile. Les fonctions polysulfures permettent de ralentir la dégradation de la matrice de sPEEK durant l'étape de mise en œuvre et d'augmenter sa conductivité au cours d'un vieillissement ex-situ (H2O2). En présence de fonctions tétrasulfures, la membrane sPEEK ne se dégrade pas durant un test de 1200h en OCV à 70°C et 100%HR. / One of the origins of the accelerated aging of proton exchange membranes used in Fuel Cells is the oxidation induced by H2O2 formation. This work concerns the development of a new way to chemically stabilize a sPEEK membrane by the addition of stabilizing nano-fillers. Four fillers were synthesized by grafting organosulfur functions (disulfide, tetrasulfide and thiourea) onto silica nanoparticles. A specific protocol to prepare hybrid membranes led to materials with suitable mechanical properties and proton conductivity for fuel cells application. Polysulfides allow a significant decrease of the matrix degradation occurring during membrane processing and also a large increase of the proton conductivity of this matrix during ex-situ aging tests (H2O2). A membrane containing tetrasulfide nano-fillers could withstand 1200h in OCV condition at 70°C and 100%RH, without showing any sign of degradation.

The development of molecular receptors for anion recognition has become an important aspect of supramolecular chemistry. In this thesis, we focused our attention to the study of systems for fluoride recognition in water. Fluoride is indeed an anion of interest due to its implication in environmental and health related issues. Furthermore, its small size and high hydration energy make its recognition in water particularly challenging.<p>Most of the synthetic systems reported for fluoride recognition have been extensively studied in organic solvents (DMSO, acetonitrile) using tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) as the source of fluoride. In many cases, titra- tion behaviours are observed that cannot be ascribed to a classical 1:1 binding isotherm, deprotonation problems of Brønsted-Lowry acid type of receptors aside. In the first part of our thesis we investigated, using a uranyl-salophen re- ceptor which recognizes fluoride via Lewis Acide/Base interactions, the origin of the unusual titration behaviour. Via UV/vis, 19F and 1H NMR spectroscopies, we have been able to highlight that the equilibrium between the fluoride and the corresponding bihalide ion, HF−2 ,which is inevitably generated along with the hydroxide anion in situ due to trace amounts of water, can be at the ori- gin of this singular behaviour. Our results put to light that when undertaking titrations with fluoride in DMSO, the fluoride–bihalide equilibrium can affect the data and that the latter species can even be the dominating species at low TBAF concentrations. When varying the solvent from DMSO to acetonitrile, the s-shape titration curves observed by UV/vis are no longer observed for the uranyl-salophene receptor that we studied. The fluoride-bifluoride equilibrium is still present but both of the anions generated in this process are recognised by the uranyl-salophene receptor with similar affinity constants above 10^6 M−1.<p>The second part of our work was devoted to finding ways to solubilize anion receptors that are efficient in organic solvents, into an aqueous environment. Two approaches were investigated: (i) grafting of the receptors onto silica nanoparticles and (ii) the micellar incorporation of the receptors. For the first strategy, we developed two silylated urea-based receptors. These receptors were first studied in organic solvents (DMSO and/or acetonitrile) where they showed selectivity, among halides, towards fluoride. Once grafted on the silica nanoparticles, due to the fact that hydroxyl groups and solvent molecules are present in the silica matrix, fluoride recognition was not possible.<p>We explored it with different simple H-bond based urea receptors in the second srategy. With the cationic surfactants, cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride and bromide, the counter-ions of the micelles interfere with the fluoride recognition. With the neutral surfactant triton X-100, the incorporation of the anion receptors proved to be difficult. Moreover, the variations observed in the UV/vis spectra upon titrations were too small to be able to make any conclusions about fluoride recognition. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished