One of the most challenging goals in nanoparticle research is to develop successful protocols for the large-scale, simple and possibly low-cost preparation of morphologically pure nanoparticles with enhanced properties. The work presented in this thesis was focused on the synthesis, characterisation and testing of magnetic nanoparticles and their potential applications. There are a number of magnetic nano-materials prepared for specific applications such as metal oxide nanoparticles encapsulated with various porous materials including Fe₃O₄/Fe₂O₃ coated with soft bio-organic materials such as glycol chitosan and bovine serum albumin and hard materials such as silica (SiO₂) and zinc sulphide (ZnS). The preparation of these materials was achieved principally by bottom-up methods with different approaches including micro-emulsion, precipitation, electrostatic and thermolysis processes. The thesis also presents the uses of various analytical techniques for characterising different types of nano-materials including Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transformer Infrared Vibrational Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), Ultraviolet Visible- Near Infrared (UV-Vis-NIR) Spectroscopy, Zeta Potentiometric Surface Charge Analysis, Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) and Vibration Sample Magnetometry (VSM) for magnetic analysis and powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) for crystallographic pattern analysis. There are many applications of magnetic nanoparticles, including nano-carriers for biological and catalytic reagents. The magnetic nanoparticles can facilitate separation in order to isolate the carriers from solution mixtures as compared to many inefficient and expensive classic methods, which include dialysis membrane, electrophoresis, ultracentrifugation, precipitation and column separation methods. There are six key chapters in this thesis: the first chapter introduces the up-to-date literature regarding magnetic nano-materials. The uses of magnetic nano-materials in drug binding and for protein separation are discussed in the second and third chapters. The fourth chapter presents the use of magnetic nanoparticle in conjunction with a photo-catalytic porous overlayer for the photo-catalytic reduction of organic molecules. The fifth chapter describes different analytical techniques used for the characterisation of nanoparticles and the underlying principles and the experimental details are also given. The sixth chapter summarises the results and provides an overview of the work in a wider context of future applications of magnetic nanoparticles.

We study correlated two-level quantum impurity models coupled to a metallic conduction band in the hope of gaining insight into the physics of nanoscale quantum dot systems. We focus on the possibility of formation of a spin-1 impurity local moment which, on coupling to the band, generates an underscreened (USC) singular Fermi liquid state. By employing physical arguments and the numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique, we analyse such systems in detail examining in particular both the thermodynamic and dynamic properties, including the differential conductance. The quantum phase transitions occurring between the USC phase and a more ordinary Fermi liquid (FL) phase are analysed in detail. They are generically found to be of Kosterlitz-Thouless type; exceptions occur along lines of high symmetry where first-order transitions are found. A `Friedel-Luttinger sum rule' is derived and, together with a generalization of Luttinger's theorem to the USC phase, is used to obtain general results for the $T=0$ zero-bias conductance --- it is expressed solely in terms of the number of electrons present on the impurity and applicable in both the USC and FL phases. Relatedly, dynamical signatures of the quantum phase transition show two broad classes of behaviour corresponding to the collapse of either a resonance or antiresonance in the single-particle density of states. Evidence of both of these behaviours is seen in experimental devices. We study also the effect of a local magnetic field on both single- and two-level quantum impurities. In the former case we attempt to resolve some points of contention that remain in the literature. Specifically we show that the position of the maximum in the spin resolved density of states (and related peaks in the differential conductance) is not linear in the applied field, showing a more complicated form than a simple `Zeeman splitting'. The analytic result for the low-field asymptote is recovered. For two-level impurities we illustrate the manner in which the USC state is destroyed: due to two cancelling effects an abrupt change in the zero-bias conductance does not occur as one might expect. Comparison with experiment is made in both cases and used to interpret experimental findings in a manner contrary to previous suggestions. We find that experiments are very rarely in the limit of strong impurity-host coupling. Further, features in the differential conductance as a function of bias voltage should not be simply interpreted in terms of isolated quantum dot states. The many-body nature of such systems is crucially important to their observed properties.

The development of a clean hydrogen economy will aid a smooth transition from fossil fuels which is required to stem the environmental impact and economic instability caused by oil dependency. For vehicular application, in addition to being cheap and safe, a commercial hydrogen store must contain a certain weight percentage of hydrogen to provide a reasonable range (~300 miles). It must also be able to release hydrogen under near-ambient conditions (80-120°C) and have a reasonable cycling capacity (~1000 cycles). The primary motivation of this thesis is to gain a fundamental understanding into the sorption processes of hydrogen on carbon- and aluminium-based materials to improve their hydrogen storage capacity. The sorption processes of hydrogen on mechanically milled graphite have been investigated, primarily using Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy and Inelastic Neutron Scattering. An investigation into the storage properties of tetrahydroaluminates, primarily NaAlH₄ and LiAlH₄, is performed in the presence and absence of a catalyst, and a new phase of NaAlH₄ is observed prior to its decomposition. Variable temperature neutron and synchrotron diffraction, in conjunction with gravimetric and mass spectroscopy data were obtained for several mixtures of tetrahydroaluminates and alkali amides and the hydrogen desorption processes are shown to be quite different from the constituent materials. The structure of Ca(AlH₄)₂ has been experimentally determined for the first time and a complete set of equations describing its decomposition pathway is given.

This thesis describes the synthesis and characterisation of a series of cationic rhodium bis-phosphine complexes. The reactivity of these new complexes in the solid-state and in solution is reported. In <b>Chapter 2</b> the synthesis of a series of rhodium bis-phosphine diene complexes is presented and the reactions of these complexes with hydrogen in the solid-state are investigated. Several examples of zwitterionic complexes coordinating the [BAr^F4]^─ anion are produced by hydrogenation. A rare example of a sigma-alkane complex, [Rh(ⁱBu₂PCH₂CH₂PⁱBu₂)(eta²-_CH-eta²-_CH-NBA][BAr^F4]<sup>─</sup], is also formed in the solid-state, by a single crystal to single crystal transition driven by hydrogen. This complex is crystallographically characterised and displays two short Rh∙∙∙H−C sigma-interactions. Deuteration studies indicate that the agostic complex [Rh(ⁱBu₂PCH₂CH₂PⁱBu₂)(eta²-_CH-eta²-_CH-NBE][BAr^F4] may form as a short lived intermediate prior to the formation of the sigma-alkane complex. The temporal evolution of the solid-state hydrogenation reactions is monitored by powder X-ray diffraction methods. In <b>Chapter 3</b> the C−X activation of various aryl halides using the [Rh(ⁱBu₂PCH₂CH₂PⁱBu₂)]⁺ fragment is reported. The 'ligand innocence' of the phosphine with respect to intramolecular C−H activation is also discussed. A rare example of C−X activation in the solid-state is presented, which shows the formation of an isomer that is not observed by analogous solution routes. <b>Chapter 4</b> investigates solid-state ligand exchange reactions using ethene, butadiene, CO and NH3 gases. A solid-state transfer dehydrogenation reaction is reported within single crystals of [Rh(ⁱBu₂PCH₂CH₂PⁱBu₂)(C₂H₄)₂][BAr^F4]. H/D exchange of NH3 can also occur in the solid state in the bis-ammonia complex [Rh(ⁱBu₂PCH₂CH₂PⁱBu₂)(NH₃)₂][BAr^F4]. A variety of rhodium complexes are tested as heterogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of ethene and the isomerisation of butene. In <b>Chapter 5</b> the binding affinity of a variety of fluorinated arenes to rhodium bis-phosphine fragments is presented using ESI-MS methods. The dependence upon the arene substituents, phosphine substituents and phosphine bite angle are discussed.

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) combine optical transparency in the visible region with a high electrical conductivity. In2O3 doped with Sn (widely, but somewhat misleadingly, known as indium tin oxide or ITO) is at present the most important TCO, with applications in liquid crystal displays, touch screen displays, organic photovoltaics and other optoelectronic devices. Surprisingly, many of its fundamental properties have been the subject of controversy or have until recently remained unknown, including even the nature and magnitude of the bandgap. The technological importance of the material and the renewed interest in its basic physics prompted the research described in this thesis. This thesis aims (i) to establish conditions for the growth of high-quality In2O3 nanostructures and thin films by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy and (ii) to conduct comprehensive investigations on both the surface physics of this material and its structural and electronic properties. It was demonstrated that highly ordered In2O3 nanoislands, nanorods and thin films can be grown epitaxially on (100), (110) and (111) oriented Y-stabilized ZrO2 substrates respectively. The mismatch with this substrate is -1.7%, with the epilayer under tensile strain. On the basis of ab initio density functional theory calculations, it was concluded that the striking influence of substrate orientation on the distinctive growth modes was linked to the fact that the surface energy for the (111) surface is much lower than for either polar (100) or non-polar (110) surfaces. The growth of In2O3(111) thin films was further explored on Y-ZrO2(111) substrates by optimizing the growth temperature and film thickness. Very thin In2O3 epilayers (35 nm) grew pseudomorphically under high tensile strain, caused by the 1.7% lattice mismatch with the substrate. The strain was gradually relaxed with increasing film thickness. High-quality films with a low carrier concentration (5.0  1017 cm-3) and high mobility (73 cm2V-1s-1) were obtained in the thickest films (420 nm) after strain relaxation. The bandgap of the thinnest In2O3 films was around 0.1 eV smaller than that of the bulk material, due to reduction of bonding-antibonding interactions associated with lattice expansion. The high-quality surfaces of the (111) films allowed us to investigate various aspects of the surface structural and electronic properties. The atomic structure of In2O3 (111) surface was determined using a combination of scanning tunnelling microscopy, analysis of intensity/voltage curves in low energy electron diffraction and first-principles ab initio calculations. The (111) termination has an essentially bulk terminated (1 × 1) surface structure, with minor relaxations normal to the surface. Good agreement was found between the experimental surface structure and that derived from ab initio density functional theory calculations. This work emphasises the benefits of a multi-technique approach to determination of surface structure. The electronic properties of In2O3(111) surfaces were probed by synchrotron-based photoemission spectroscopy using photons with energies ranging from the ultraviolet (6 eV) to the hard X-ray regime (6000 eV) to excite the spectra. It has been shown that In2O3 is a highly covalent material, with significant hybridization between O and In orbitals in both the valence and the conduction bands. A pronounced electron accumulation layer presents itself at the surfaces of undoped In2O3 films with very low carrier concentrations, which results from the fact the charge neutrality level of In2O3 lies well above the conduction band minimum. The pronounced electron accumulation associated with a downward band bending in the near surface region creates a confining potential well, which causes the electrons in the conduction band become quantized into two subband states, as observed by angle resolved photoemission spectra (ARPES) Fermi surface mapping. The accumulation of high density of electrons near to the surface region was found to shrink the surface band gap through many body interactions. Finally epitaxial growth of In2O3 thin films on α-Al2O3(0001) substrates was investigated. Both the stable body centred cubic phase and the metastable hexagonal corundum In2O3 phase can be stabilized as epitaxial thin films, despite large mismatches with the substrate. The growth mode involves matching small but different integral multiples of lattice planes of the In2O3 and the substrate in a domain matching epitaxial growth mode.

The main objective of this work is to investigate the ionic conductivity of the drugs under certain conditions and also to compare the ionic conductivities of drugs determined by single surface sensors and parallel plate sensors. The ionic conductivity of various materials at their pre-melt and melt states are studied in order to further study a recently discovered phenomenon. Polar solids like Lidocaine, Ketoconazole, Procainamide and Nifedipine were examined in this study. Experimental studies show an increase in ionic conductivity in both pre-melt (20 -30 °C below melting temperature) and melt transition regions. Results of ionic conductivity of both parallel plate and single surface sensor at different frequencies are compared. At 1000 Hz, all the samples show an increase in ionic conductivity with both parallel plate and single surface sensor, but at 0.1 Hz frequency, no increase in ionic conductivity is observed with parallel plate sensor except for Nifedipine.

The study of quadrupolar nuclei using NMR spectroscopy in the solid state significantly increased in popularity from the end of the 20th century, with the introduction of specific methods to acquire spectra free from the effects of the quadrupolar interaction, that results in broadened lineshapes that cannot be completely removed by spinning the sample at the magic angle (MAS), unlike most of the other interactions present in the solid state. The first technique which allows, without any specific hardware, the removal of this broadening has been the Multiple-Quantum MQMAS experiment. The method quickly gained a popularity within the NMR community, with numerous successful applications published. However, the multiple-quantum filtration step in this experiment relies on severely limits sensitivity, restricting application to the most sensitive nuclei. Extending the applicability of MQMAS to less receptive nuclei requires the use of signal improvement techniques. There are multiple examples of such approaches in the literature, but most of these require additional optimisation that may be time-consuming, or simply impossible, on less receptive nuclei. This work introduces a novel signal improvement technique for MQMAS, called FAM-N. Its optimisation is solely based on density matrix simulations using SIMPSON, implying no additional experimental optimisation is required, while improving the signal in MQMAS spectra by equivalent or higher amounts than other common methods. In order to prove the applicability of this method on virtually any system, FAM-N has been investigated by simulation, and tested experimentally using a number of model samples, as well as samples known to be challenging to study by NMR. This work also explores other aspects of NMR spectroscopy on quadrupolar nuclei. Adiabatic inversion of the satellite populations can be performed to improve the central transition signal in static or MAS spectra. A range of methods has been tested and compared, with particular attention given to hyperbolic secant-shaped pulses, for which its performance have been described. Finally, cross-polarisation from a spin I = 1/2 nucleus to a quadrupolar nucleus has been investigated. After reviewing the theory for the static case, simulations have been performed under MAS in order to identify the conditions for efficient magnetisation transfer, with applications in spectral editing or for the combination with MQMAS.

The present thesis demonstrates and discusses polymeric ion and mixed ion-electron conductors for rechargeable batteries based on lithium viz. lithium-ion and lithium-sulphur batteries. The proposed polymer ion conductors in the thesis are discussed primarily as potential alternatives to conventional liquid and solid-crystalline electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries. These discussions are part of Chapters 2-4. On the other hand, the polymer based mixed ion-electron conductor is demonstrated as a novel electrode for lithium-Sulphur battery in Chapter 5. Possibility of application of polymer ion conductors is discussed in the context of Li-S battery in Chapter 6. A distinct correlation between the physical properties and electrochemical performance of the proposed conductors is highlighted in detail in this thesis. Systematic investigation of the ion transport mechanism in the polymeric ion conductors has been carried out using various spectroscopic techniques at different time and length scales. Such detailed investigations demonstrate the key structural and physical parameters for design of alternative polymer conductors for rechargeable batteries. Though the thesis discusses the various polymeric conductors in the context of lithium-based batteries, it is strongly felt that the design strategies are equally likely to be beneficial for different battery chemistries as well as for other electrochemical generation and storage devices. A brief discussion of the contents and highlights of the individual chapters are described below: The thesis comprises of six Chapters. Chapter 1 briefly reviews the important developments and materials of lithium-based batteries, with specific focus on Li-ion and Li-S batteries. It starts with discussions on different types of liquid, solid crystalline and solid-like electrolytes. Their materials characteristics, advantages and disadvantages are discussed in the context of secondary batteries such as lithium-ion and lithium-sulphur batteries. As prospective alternative electrolytes polymer based soft matter electrolytes are discussed in detail. Special emphasis is given to the recent developments in polymer electrolytes and their ion conduction mechanism, which are central themes to this thesis. The importance of investigation of charge transport, typically ion, on electrochemical processes is also briefly discussed in Chapter 1. A brief discussion about the characteristics, materials and non-trivialities of the electrochemical storage process in Li-S battery is also reviewed. Chapter 2A demonstrates a binary polymer physical network based gel (PN-x) electrolyte, comprising of an ionic liquid confined inside a binary polymer system for electrochemical devices such as secondary batteries. The synthesis, physical property and electrochemical performances are studied as a function of content of one of the polymers in this Chapter. A physical network of two polymers with different functional groups leads to multiple interesting consequences. The polymer physical network characteristics determine all physical properties including electrochemical property of the ionic liquid integrated PN based GPE. The conductivities of the proposed gel are nearly an order in magnitude higher than the unconfined ionic liquid electrolyte and displays good dimensional stability and electrochemical performance in a separator-free battery configuration. The ac-impedance spectroscopy, steady shear viscosity measurement, dynamic rheology are employed to study physical properties of the proposed gel polymer electrolyte. Chapter 2B discusses the detailed investigations of the ion transport mechanism of the gel polymer electrolyte, as discussed in Chapter 2A. Ion conduction mechanism is investigated in the light of ion diffusion and solvent dynamics of the entrapped ionic liquid inside the polymer. The studies reveal a heavy influence of network characteristics on the ion conduction mechanism. The influence of solvent dynamics on the ion transport is drastically altered by polymer physical network. Consequently, a drastic change in the ion mobility and nature of predominant charge carrier is observed in the polymer physical network based gel electrolyte. A clear transformation from dual ion conductivity to a predominantly anion conductivity is observed on going from single polymer to a dual polymer network. The spectroscopic tools such as pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (PFG–NMR), Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy, ac-impedance spectroscopy, FT-Raman and FTIR spectroscopy were used to elucidate the ion transport mechanism in the Chapter. Chapter 3 demonstrates a simple design strategy of gel polymer electrolyte comprising of a lithium salt (lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide, LiTFSI) solvated by two plastic crystalline solvents, one a solid (succinonitrile, abbreviated as SN) and another a (room temperature) ionic liquid (1-butyl-1-methyl-pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl) imide, (abbreviated as IL) confined inside a linear network of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The concentration of the IL component determines the physical properties of the unconfined electrolyte and when confined inside the polymer network in gel polymer electrolyte. Intrinsic dynamics of one plastic crystal influences the conduction mechanism of gel polymer electrolytes. The enhanced disordering in the plastic phase of succinonitrile by IL doping alters both the local ion environment and viscosity. The proposed plastic crystal electrolytes show predominantly anion conduction (tTFSI ≈ 0.5) however, lithium transference number (tLi ≈ 0.2) is nearly an order higher than the ionic liquid electrolyte (IL-LiTFSI) (tLi ≈ 0.02-0.06), discussed in Chapter 2. The gel polymer electrolyte displayed high mechanical compliability, stable Li-electrode | electrolyte interface, low rate of Al corrosion and stable cyclability. The promising electrochemical performance further justifies simple strategy of employing mixed physical state plasticizers to tune the physical properties of polymer electrolytes requisite for application in rechargeable batteries. Chapter 4A proposes a novel liquid dendrimer–based single ion conducting liquid electrolyte as potential alternative to conventional molecular liquid solvent–salt solutions and conventional solid polymer electrolytes for rechargeable batteries, sensors and actuators. The physical properties are investigated as a function of peripheral functionalities in the first generation poly(propyl ether imine) (G1-PETIM)–lithium salt complexes. The change in peripheral group simultaneously affects the effective physical properties viz. viscosity, ionic conductivity, ion diffusion coefficients, transference numbers and also the electrochemical response. The specific change from ester (–COOR) to cyano (–CN) terminated peripheral group resulted in a remarkable switch over from a high cation (tLi+ = 0.9 for –COOR) to a high anion (tPF6- = 0.8 for –CN) transference number. Chapter 4B presents an analysis of the frequency dependent ionic conductivity of single ion dendrimer conductors by using time temperature scaling principles (TTSPs) and dielectric modeling of the electrode polarization. The TTSP provides information on the salt dissociation and number density of mobile charges and hence provides direct insights into the ion conduction mechanism. Summerfield and Baranovskii–Cordes scaling laws, which are well known TTSPs, have been applied to analyze the ion conductivity. The electrode polarization, which quantifies the number density of mobile charges and ionic mobility, is studied using Macdonald-Coelho model of electrode polarization. The combination of these two theoretical investigations of the experimental data emanating from one technique i.e. ac– impedance spectroscopy, predicts independently the contributions of the effect of mobile ion charges and ionic mobility to ion conduction mechanism. In Chapter 5 focus shifts from polymer ion conductors to polymer mixed ion-electron conductor. The polymer mixed ion-electron conductor is demonstrated as a novel electrode material for Li-S battery. A simple strategy to overcome the challenges towards practical realization of a stable high performance Li–S battery is discussed. A soft mixed conducting polymeric network is utilized to configure sulphur nanoparticle. The soft matter network provides efficient and distinct pathways for lithium and electron conduction simultaneously. A lithiated polyethylene glycol (PEG) based surfactant tethered on ultra-small sulphur nanoparticles and wrapped up with polyaniline (PAni) (abbreviated as S-MIEC) is demonstrated here as an exceptional cathode for Li–S batteries. The S-MIEC is characterized by several methods: powder-X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ac-impedance spectroscopy and dc current-voltage measurements are performed to evaluate conductivity of S-MIEC cathode. Electrochemical studies such as cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling, galvanostatic intermittent titration (GITT) are performed to demonstrate feasibility of S-MIEC in the Li–S battery performance. Chapter 6 provides a brief summary of the work carried out as part of this thesis and also demonstrates the future perspective of the present work. Potential of the polymer physical network based gel polymer electrolytes, which are discussed in Chapter 2A-B for lithium-ion batteries, are demonstrated in Li-S battery. The proposed polymer physical network confines higher order lithium polysulfides (typically Li2S8) dissolved in tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) based electrolyte (TEGDME-1M LiTFSI). The three dimensional polymer network is proposed to be formed by physical blending of the poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) with the copolymer of AN and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA), [ P(AN–co–PEGMA)]. We extend here the similar synthetic approaches as described in Chapter 2A. The approach proposed and demonstrated in this concluding Chapter is expected to mitigate some of the major issues of Li-S chemistry. The proposed Li2S8 confined gel electrolyte exhibits moderately high values of ionic conductivity, 2 × 10-3 Ω-1cm-1 and shows a stable capacity of 350 mAhg-1 over 30 days in a separator free Li-S battery.

In this thesis, we investigate the entanglement and magnetic properties of frustrated spin systems and correlated electronic properties of conjugated carbon systems. In chapter 1, we present different approaches to solve the time-independent, nonrelativistic Schr¨odinger equation for a many-body system. We start with the full non-relativistic Hamiltonian of a multi nuclear system to describe the Born - Oppenheimer approximation which allows the study of electronic Hamiltonian which treats nuclear positions parametrically. We then also describe ab initio techniques such as the Hartree-Fock Method and density functional theories. We then introduce model Hamiltonians for strongly correlated systems such as the Hubbard, Pariser-Parr-Pople and Heisenberg models, and show how they result from the noninteracting one-band tight-binding model. In chapter 2, we discuss various numerical techniques like the exact diagonalization methods and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. We also discuss quantum entanglement and the success of DMRG which can be attributed to the area law of entanglement entropy. In chapter 3, we study here different regions in phase diagrams of the spin-1/2, spin-1 and spin-3/2 one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg systems with nearest-neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) interactions and dimerization (d ). Frustration arises for specific relative signs of the interactions J1 and J2. In particular, we analyze the behavior of the bipartite entanglement entropy and fidelity at the gapless to gapped phase transitions and across the lines separating different phases in the J2−d plane. All the calculations in this work are based on exact diagonalizations of finite systems. In chapter 4, we study Heisenberg spin-1/2 and spin-1 chains with alternating ferromagnetic (JF 1 ) and antiferromagnetic (JA 1 ) nearest-neighbor interactions and a ferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interaction (JF 2 ). In this model frustration is present due to non-zero JF 2 . The model with site spin s behaves like a Haldane spin chain with site spin 2s in the limit of vanishing JF 2 and large JF 1 /JA 1 . We show that the exact ground state of the model can be found along a line in the parameter space. For fixed JF 1 , the phase diagram in the space of JA 1 −JF 2 is determined using numerical techniques complemented by analytical calculations. A number of quantities, including the structure factor, energy gap, entanglement entropy and zero temperature magnetization, are studied to understand the complete phase diagram. An interesting and potentially important feature of this model is that it can exhibit a macroscopic magnetization jump in the presence of a magnetic field; we study this using an effective Hamiltonian. In chapter 5, we study correlated electronic properties of zigzag and armchair fused naphthalenes and polyperylene systems in the presence of long-range electronelectron interactions. We find that the ground state of zigzag fused naphthalene system is a higher spin state, while the ground state of armchair fused naphthalene is a singlet. The spin gap of polyperylene is unusually small and the ground state is a singlet. Our calculations of optical gap and two-photon gap suggest that polyperylene should exhibit fluorescence. From the charge gap calculation, we predict that in zigzag fused naphthalene and polyperylene systems, excitons are weakly binding. Peierls type of distortion is negligible in zigzag fused naphthalene and polyperylene systems, however, in armchair fused naphthalene system, interior bonds have tendency to distort in low-lying excited states. In chapter 6, we study the ground state spin of the Heisenberg spin-1/2 nearestneighboring antiferromagnetic exchange models of systems with fused odd member rings. In particular, we compute the ground state spin of fused three and five membered rings as well as fused five membered rings. In the thermodynamic limit, the ground state of the fused three and five membered system is a higher spin state, while fused five membered system shows a singlet ground state, for all system sizes.

<p align="justify">Plusieurs métaux de notre vie courante sont obtenus industriellement au moyen de procédés électrolytiques. Un des procédés les plus communs est l’électro-obtention de cuivre, dans lequel le métal est déposé à la cathode tandis que l'oxygène se dégage à l'anode. Généralement, en usine, plusieurs anodes et cathodes, ayant une surface de 1 m2 et séparées par plus ou moins 10 cm sont alternées dans une cellule contenant une solution d'acide sulfurique riche en sulfate de cuivre. En fonction des conditions d'utilisation, les cathodes sont remplacées, après un certain temps, par des nouvelles de façon à récupérer le cuivre déposé. De ce fait, les anodes doivent être capables de résister sans se corroder, se déformer ou perdre leurs propriétés électrocatalytiques pendant de longues périodes. Au début, des alliages en Pb (pb-Ag, Pb-Ca-Sn,) ont été utilisés comme anodes. Malheureusement, malgré leur faible prix, ces anodes présentent des surtensions élevées et une faible résistance à la corrosion et au fluage. Par conséquent, une alternative aux anodes traditionnelles en 1 développée. Ce nouveau type d'anode, connu sous le nom d’anode dimensionnellement stable (DSA) est fabriquée à partir d'une tôle en Ti recouverte par un mélange d'oxydes de métaux nobles catalysant la réaction de dégagement d'oxygène. Différentes techniques peuvent être utilisées pour préparer la couche d'oxyde. La technique la plus souvent employée consiste à décomposer thermiquement une solution de chlorures contenant un ou plusieurs nobles. Malheureusement, ce type d'anode est cher et a tendance à perdre son activité électrocatalytique avec le temps.</p><p><p align="justify">Dans le but de produire une DSA à faible prix, pouvant résister de longues périodes sans se passiver, un nouveau type de DSA a été développé dans le présent travail. Cette anode est produite par électrodépôt d'un métal noble dans les pores d'un substrat microporeux en Ti/TiO2.</p><p><p align="justify">Ce travail a permis de démontrer qu'une DSA avec une concentration en métal noble peut être obtenue par la voie proposée. Il a été montré que les propriétés électriques et électrochimiques de ces DSAs sont directement liées aux caractéristiques morphologiques et structurales du en Ti/TiO2. Lorsque la couche barrière existant au fond des pores est suffisamment fine et que le film présente des défauts, la résistance me l'interface Ti/métal noble est faible. Ceci abouti à des DSAs possédant d'excellentes propriétés électrocatalytiques. Les DSAs optimales sont capables de résister à des conditions similaires à celles employées en industrie avec des surtensions de ~ 0.4 V, ce qui représente un gain de 50% par rapport aux surtensions normalement atteintes par les anodes traditionnelles en Pb.</p> / Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished