L’accroissement des performances des accumulateurs Li-ion sur les 25 dernières années découle principalement de l’optimisation de leurs composants inactifs. Aujourd’hui, l’urgence environnementale impose de développer de nouveaux matériaux actifs d’électrode pour proposer la prochaine génération d’accumulateur qui participera à la transition énergétique. A cet effet, le silicium pourrait avantageusement remplacer le graphite des électrodes négatives à moyen terme. Cependant la rétention de capacité des électrodes de silicium est mise à mal par l’expansion volumique que le matériau subit lors sa réaction d’alliage avec le lithium, qui mène à la déconnexion des particules de Si et à une réduction continue de l’électrolyte. Une compréhension de ces phénomènes de vieillissement à l’échelle de la nanoparticule est nécessaire à la conception d’électrodes de silicium viables. Pour ce faire, la technique STEM-EELS a été optimisée de manière à s’affranchir des problèmes d’irradiation qui empêchent l’analyse des matériaux légers d’électrode négative et de la Solid electrolyte interface (SEI), grâce à l’analyse des pertes faibles EELS. Un puissant outil de cartographie de phase est obtenu et utilisé pour mettre en lumière la lithiation cœur-coquille initiale des nanoparticules de silicium cristallin, la morphologie hétérogène et la composition de la SEI, ainsi que la dégradation du silicium à l’issue de cyclages prolongés. Enfin, un modèle de vieillissement original est proposé, en s’appuyant notamment sur un effort de quantification des mesures STEM-EELS sur un grand nombre de nanoparticules. / Over the last 25 years, the performance increase of lithium-ion batteries has been largely driven by the optimization of inactive components. With today’s environmental concerns, the pressure for more cost-effective and energy-dense batteries is enormous and new active materials should be developed to meet those challenges. Silicon’s great theoretical capacity makes it a promising candidate to replace graphite in negative electrodes in the mid-term. So far, Si-based electrodes have however suffered from the colossal volume changes silicon undergoes through its alloying reaction with Li. Si particles will be disconnected from the electrode’s percolating network and the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) continuously grows, causing poor capacity retention. A thorough understanding of both these phenomena, down to the scale of a single silicon nanoparticle (SiNP), is critical to the rational engineering of efficient Si-based electrodes. To this effect, we have developed STEM-EELS into a powerful and versatile toolbox for the study of sensitive materials and heterogeneous systems. Using the low-loss part of the EEL spectrum allows us to overcome the classical limitations of the technique.This is put to use to elucidate the first lithiation mechanism of crystalline SiNPs, revealing Li1.5Si @ Si core-shells which greatly differs from that of microparticles, and propose a comprehensive model to explain this size effect. The implications of that model regarding the stress that develops in the crystalline core of SiNPs are then challenged via stress measurements at the particle scale (nanobeam precession electron diffraction) for the first time, and reveal enormous compressions in excess of 4±2 GPa. Regarding the SEI, the phase-mapping capabilities of STEM-EELS are leveraged to outline the morphology of inorganic and organic components. We show that the latter contracts during electrode discharge in what is referred to as SEI breathing. As electrodes age, disconnection causes a diminishing number of SiNPs to bear the full capacity of the electrode. Overlithiated particles will in turn suffer from larger volumes changes and cause further disconnection in a self-reinforcing detrimental effect. Under extreme conditions, we show that SiNPs even spontaneously turn into a network of thin silicon filaments. Thus an increased active surface will compound the reduction of the electrolyte and the accumulation of the SEI. This can be quantified by summing and averaging STEM-EELS data on 1104 particles. In half-cells, the SEI volume is shown to increase 4-fold after 100 cycles without significant changes in its composition, whereas in full cells the limited lithiation performance understandably leads to a mere 2-fold growth. In addition, as the operating potential of the silicon electrodes increases in full cells – potential slippage – organic products in the SEI switch from being carbonate-rich to oligomer-rich. Finally, we regroup these findings into an extensive aging model of our own, based on both local STEM-EELS analyses and the macro-scale gradients we derived from them as a whole.

Une nouvelle voie de synthèse de matériaux microstructurés à base de phosphore est présentée. Elle permet de réduire le nombre de réactifs et consiste à utiliser un composé phosphoré servant à la fois de source de phosphore et de précurseur d’agent structurant. Ce dernier est généré in situ dans le milieu de synthèse. Nous présentons le cas de l’utilisation de l’hexaméthylphosphoramide, l’oxyde de tripyrrolidinophosphine, l’hexaéthyltriaminophosphine et la trimorpholinophosphine dont la décomposition a fait l’objet d’une étude par RMN liquide 1H et 31P. Suite aux analyses effectuées à partir de mélanges de composition molaire différente, il apparait qu’une élévation de température, la présence d’ions H3O+ et de l’éthylène glycol soient des critères qui favorisent la décomposition des molécules d’alkylphosphoramides. Les synthèses réalisées en présence d’une source de gallium ont conduit à la cristallisation de gallophosphates de structure connue. De façon inattendue, deux agents structurants sont identifiés dans le fluorogallophosphate ULM-3 : la diméthylamine et NH4+. Les synthèses réalisées en présence d’une source d’aluminium ont conduit à la cristallisation d’une nouvelle phase dont la structure est en cours de résolution et à la cristallisation d’aluminophosphates de structure connue. Les analyses par RMN liquide 1H et 31P nous ont permis de proposer des mécanismes de décomposition d’alkylphosphoramides dans les différents milieux de synthèse. / This work focuses on the development of a new synthesis route by reducing the number of reactants for the synthesis of phosphate-based materials. This synthesis strategy was developed by using alkylphosphoramide which can play both the role of precursor of the structure-directing agent (SDA) and the phosphorus source. In this work we present the case of hexamethylphosphoramide, tris(N,N-tetramethylene)phosphoric acid triamide, tris(diethylamino)phosphine and trimorpholinophosphine oxide. 1H and 31P liquid NMR spectroscopy was used to fully characterize the decomposition of the alkylphosphoramide. It has been found that the heating temperature, the presence of an acid and ethylene glycol play a crucial role on the alkylphosphoramide decomposition. The synthesis results obtained for the gallophosphate and aluminophosphate systems are reported. The in situ generation of the SDA and the phosphorus source allowed preparing known crystallized gallophosphates and aluminophosphates. For the fluorogallophosphate ULM-3, the 1H liquid NMR spectrum shows clearly the presence of dimethylamine and ammonium cations as structure-directing agents. A new aluminophosphate has been obtained. Finally, a decomposition mechanism of the alkylphosphoramides was proposed for the different reaction media under study.

The aim of the thesis is to compare the results from in situ spectrometry and laboratory determination of the area activity of Cs-137 in samples taken from uncultivated soils. To fulfil the goal, the research question has been determined: Are the results from in situ measurement of the area activity of Cs-137 in uncultivated soil comparable with the results from laboratory measurement of collected soil samples? The theoretical part of the work has been written based on research of book publications, foreign scientific articles and electronic sources, which deal with the issue of radioactivity and its impact on the environment and the principle of semiconductor gamma spectrometry. The practical part of the work deals with the spectrometric measurement using in situ method and the laboratory determination of the area activity of Cs-137 in the soil samples using a semiconductor gamma spectrometer. The measurement and the soil sampling took place in the territory of the Šumava National Park and its adjacent areas in Pilsen Region. There were selected five locations (Nová Hůrka, Prášily, Srní, Nový Brunst and Hadí vrh). By in situ spectrometric measurement the highest values were determined of the area activity of Cs-137 in the location Nová Hůrka (19526 Bq / m2) and the lowest in the location Hadí vrh (5398 Bq / m2). The spectrometric measurements of the soil samples in the laboratory revealed the highest values of the area activity of Cs-137 in the sample from the location Nová Hůrka (10000 Bq / m2) and the lowest values of Cs-137 in the location Hadí vrh (2060 Bq / m2). The contribution of this work is the comparison of in situ spectrometric measurement with the measurement of taken soil samples using the gamma semiconductor spectrometer. The results of this monitoring can provide data on the radiation situation in individual locations in Šumava. By the comparison of the results of the area activity of Cs-137, there has been found a correlation between in situ spectrometric measurements and the laboratory measurements of the soil samples. The results of the area activity of Cs-137 are in an order of magnitude comparable. The differences between the results are probably caused by the measurement conditions.

Le développement de nouveaux antibiotiques est un enjeu majeur de santé publique. Etant donné, le fort potentiel des aminoglycosides en tant qu’antibiotique, ces composés ont attisé l’intérêt de plusieurs groupes de recherche. Cependant, leur usage est encore très limité, malgré leur ancienneté, du fait de leur toxicité et du développement toujours croissant des mécanismes de résistances aux aminoglycosides. Afin de mieux appréhender les problèmes inhérents à leur utilisation, il est crucial de mieux comprendre leur action sur les différentes cibles cellulaires, et d’étudier leur interaction avec leur cible moléculaire (ARN et protéine). En plus de leur pouvoir antibiotique, les aminoglycosides sont également des ligands universels pour des ARN, capables d’interagir spécifiquement avec notamment les ARN du VIH-1 suivants : DIS, TAR, RRE. L’élaboration d’aminoglycosides modifiés présente un énorme avantage car le domaine d’application, et en conséquence les retombées, sont grandes. Néanmoins, la complexité structurale de ces molécules est un frein majeur, la fonctionnalisation chimiosélective est indispensable mais malheureusement peu décrite dans la littérature. Dans le cadre de ce travail, nous avons développé deux types d’approches pour cibler le DIS et/ou le site A du ribosome bactérien. La première originale, mais risquée se base sur le concept de click in situ. La seconde approche est traditionnelle et est basée sur la fonctionnalisation sélective de certaines positions clés des aminoglycosides. / The development of new antibiotics is a major public health issue. Given the high potential of aminoglycosides as antibiotics, these compounds have aroused great interest in many research groups. However, despite their maturity, their use is still limited because of their toxicity and the increasing development of resistance mechanisms to aminoglycosides. To better understand the problems inherent to their use, it is crucial to understand their action a cellular level, and to study the interactions with their molecular targets (RNA and protein). In addition to their antibiotic power, aminoglycosides are also universal ligands for several RNAs, capable of specific interactions with RNAs of HIV-1: DIS, TAR and RRE. The elaboration of modified aminoglycosides presents a huge advantage because the domain of application, and therefore the benefits, are important. Nevertheless, the structural complexity of these molecules is a major constraint, chemoselective functionalization is essential but unfortunately poorly described in the literature.In this work, we developed two approaches to target the DIS and/or the A site of the bacterialribosome. The first one, unique but challenging is based on the concept of in situ click chemistry. The second approach is conventional and is based on the selective functionalization of some keypositions of aminoglycosides.

Cancers display heterogeneity in genetic profiles of the individual cancer cells and in the composition of different malignant and non-malignant cell populations. Such intra-tumor heterogeneity plays a role in treatment response and the emergence of resistance to cancer therapies. Approaches that address this complexity and improve stratification of patients for treatment are therefore highly warranted. Thus, the aims of this thesis were to further develop and apply in situ technologies for expression and mutation analyses of candidate cancer genes to gain a deeper understanding of cancer biology and to study intra-tumor heterogeneity. In paper I, we established and validated a procedure for scalable in situ hybridization of large gene sets in human formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues for analysis of gene expression. This method was used in paper II for large-scale expression analysis of the tyrosine kinome and phosphatome, two gene families whose members are frequently mutated in many forms of cancers. Systematic, compartment-specific expression mapping at cell type resolution enabled us to identify several novel vascular markers that have gone unnoticed in bulk transcriptomic analyses. In papers III and IV, we used padlock probes for in situ mutation detection in single cells for studies of genetic intra-tumor heterogeneity. In paper III, multiplex detection and genotyping of oncogenic point mutations was demonstrated in routinely processed tissue materials, whereas in paper IV we further the application by demonstrating multiplex detection of fusion gene transcripts. Collectively, the work presented in this thesis employs in situ-based methods to obtain spatial resolution of gene expression and mutation patterns in normal and cancer tissues, thereby broadening our understanding of the cancer genome.

The primary goal of this work is to measure the acoustic properties of a surface in situ. This generally involves sound pressure measurements and a calculation of the acoustic reflection factor of a surface, which may then be used to calculate the acoustic impedance or the acoustic absorption coefficient. These quantities are of use in acoustic simulations, architectural design, room acoustics and problems in noise control. It is of great interest to determine the performance of a particular surface where it is used, as opposed to measurements conducted in a laboratory. In situ measurements are not trivial, caution must be taken to ensure that high signal-to-noise levels are achieved and that the reflections of sound from the measurement environment are taken into consideration. This study presents five measurement methods that may be applied in situ. The acoustic absorption coefficient is calculated for each method on various surfaces spanning the whole range of absorption. Emphasis is placed on frequency resolution, in order to determine absorption characteristics in the bass region (50 Hz to 200 Hz). Advantages and disadvantages of each method are demonstrated and discussed. Finally, the in situ implementation of the surface pressure method is presented and measurements are made in order to test the limitations of this approach.

The diagnosis of cancer today is obsolete, depending upon pattern recognition and non-quantifiable data. The time consuming diagnosis is often performed on biopsies, fixed using non standardised procedures, and leaves room for dubious results. The diagnosis is also invasive, exposing patients to risk of infections and discomfort due to the need of tissue samples. The knowledge about changes in protein expression levels related to cancer can instead be utilized to generate a new diagnostic tool. By adapting the in situ proximity ligation assay (in situ PLA) to cells in solution, it is possible to detect proteins, or protein interactions, within cells without the need for tissue samples. Since the method is both highly sensitive and specific, it delivers reliable results. In this report, the in situ PLA method for cells in solution is combined with flow cytometry readout. Hence, a new and less invasive diagnostic tool for cancer, delivering highly accurate high throughput single cell analysis, may be on the rise.

The primary goal of this work is to measure the acoustic properties of a surface in situ. This generally involves sound pressure measurements and a calculation of the acoustic reflection factor of a surface, which may then be used to calculate the acoustic impedance or the acoustic absorption coefficient. These quantities are of use in acoustic simulations, architectural design, room acoustics and problems in noise control. It is of great interest to determine the performance of a particular surface where it is used, as opposed to measurements conducted in a laboratory. In situ measurements are not trivial, caution must be taken to ensure that high signal-to-noise levels are achieved and that the reflections of sound from the measurement environment are taken into consideration. This study presents five measurement methods that may be applied in situ. The acoustic absorption coefficient is calculated for each method on various surfaces spanning the whole range of absorption. Emphasis is placed on frequency resolution, in order to determine absorption characteristics in the bass region (50 Hz to 200 Hz). Advantages and disadvantages of each method are demonstrated and discussed. Finally, the in situ implementation of the surface pressure method is presented and measurements are made in order to test the limitations of this approach.

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit einer umfangreichen Charakterisierung des Bruchverhaltens von amorph/kristallinen Multilagen (ZrO2/Ti) mit Schichtdicken kleiner als 100nm. Das Bruchverhalten wird systematisch in Abhängigkeit der Schichtdicke der kristallinen Komponente untersucht.  Die Bruchversuche werden senkrecht und parallel zu den Grenzflächen durchgeführt. Diese werden dabei in-situ in einem Transmissionselektronenmikroskop durchgeführt um zusätzlich Informationen bezüglich der mikrostrukturellen Veränderungen während des Rissprozesses zu erlangen.  Der in dieser Arbeit realisierte Bruchversuch zeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass ein Riss kontrollierbar durch das Material getrieben werden kann und zusätzlich die Größe der plastischen Zone direkt sichtbar und zugänglich gemacht wird. Weiterhin können kritische Energiefreisetzungraten anhand der Bildanalyse der Bruchversuche bestimmt werden. Dabei hat sich gezeigt, dass das Bruchverhalten auf der Nanoskala erst über die kombinierte Betrachtung von Energiefreisetzungsraten und der ablaufenden mikrostrukturellen Prozesse während des Bruchs charakterisiert werden kann.  In der Geometrie parallel zu den Grenzflächen wird für die dickeren Titan-Schichtdicken beobachtet, dass sich der Riss in den Titan-Schichten ausbreitet, was anhand der Festigkeitsverhältnisse der einzelnen Schichten und Grenzflächen erklärt werden kann. Lediglich für sehr kleine Titan-Schichtdicken zeigt sich eine Abweichung vom Risspfad hin zur Ausbreitung entlang der Grenzflächen. Auch die quantitativen Energiefreisetzungsraten zeigen ein längenskalenabhängiges Verhalten, welches durch die Festigkeiten der Titan-Schichten sowie durch die Größe der plastischen Zone erklärt werden kann. In der Geometrie der Rissausbreitung senkrecht zu den Grenzflächen zeigt sich das zu erwartende Bruchverhalten. Der Riss breitet sich über die Grenzflächen hinweg aus und in duktilen Titan-Schichten kann eine Rissbrückenbildung beobachtet werden. Bruchversuche in einer Gasatmosphäre bestätigen, dass der Risspfad durch eine Gasatmosphäre beeinflusst werden kann und somit für das gezielte Versagen von Grenzflächen oder auch Materialien in Kompositstrukturen genutzt werden könnte.

A new combustion zone analytical model has been developed in which the combustion front temperature may be calculated. The model describes in the combustion zone, the amount of fuel burned based on reaction kinetics, the fuel concentration and produced gas composition based on combustion stoichiometry, and the amount of heat generated based on a heat balance. Six runs were performed in a 3-inch diameter, 40-inch long steel combustion tube with Jobo crude oil (9-11°API) from the Orinoco Belt in Venezuela. These runs were carried out with air containing three values of oxygen concentration, 21%, 30%, and 40%. The weight percentage of sand, clay, water, and oil in the sand mix was kept constant in all runs at 86.6%, 4.7%, 4.0%, and 4.7% respectively. Injection air rates (3 L/min) as well as the production pressure (300 psig) were kept constant in all runs. The results indicate that the calculated combustion zone temperatures and temperature profiles are in good agreement with the experimental data, for the range of oxygen concentration in the injected air. The use of oxygen-enriched air slightly increased the combustion front temperature from 440°C in a 21 mole % O2 concentration to a maximum of 475°C for air with 40 mole % O2 concentration. Oxygen-enriched air injection also increased the combustion front velocity from 13.4 cm/hr (for 21% oxygen) to 24.7 cm/hr (for 40% oxygen), thus reducing the start of oil production from 3.3 hours (for 21% oxygen) to 1.8 hours (for 40% oxygen). In the field, the use of oxygen-enriched air injection could translate into earlier oil production compared to with not-enriched air injection. The new analytical model for the combustion zone developed in this study will be beneficial to future researchers in understanding the effect of oxygen-enriched in-situ combustion and its implications on the combustion front temperature and combustion front thickness.