In this work, the nano-structured components of solid oxide fuel cells have been produced, using radio frequency (RF) solution or suspension plasma spraying processes. The emerging technology of suspension plasma spraying was explored to produce thin and gas tight nano-structured solid oxide fuel cells electrolytes, which in an effort to develop a cost-effective and scalable fabrication technique for high performance solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Glycine-nitrate process (GNP) produced cerium oxide (CeO[subscript 2]) and gadolinium oxide (Gd[subscript 2]O[subscript 3]) nano-powders were used to prepare suspensions and then separately injected to form composite GDC electrolyte coatings. A dynamic mask system has been developed to control the heating effects of a high-temperature plasma deposition process. The experimental results of the nano-structured SOFCs GDC electrolytes production by means of a RF suspension plasma spraying process using the newly proposed mask were compared to the ones without mask. The potential of this deposition technique to improve the electrolyte coating uniformity and to reduce the coating porosity was demonstrated. SOFCs anodes require long triple phase boundary (TPB) and appropriate gas diffusion pass for the fast transport of both fuel and exhaust gases, but the area where gas diffusion passes are especially required would be different from the area suitable for electrochemical reaction in the anodes. Functionally graded anodes in both composition and porosity have been proposed to fulfill the anodic functions in adequate anodic areas. On the basis of the optimized spraying conditions and the laboratory-developed solution feeding system, NiO-GDC functionally graded nanostructure anodes were prepared using solution plasma spraying (SolPS) process. Then the microstructure and material composition of the anodes were analyzed. A graded distribution in contents of both nickel and GDC was confirmed in the coating. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) observation exhibited a continuous variation in porosity from 35% to 9% along the direction across the coating thickness. The functionally graded anodes deposited by SolPS process may minimize the thermal expansion mismatch between SOFC components and increase the length of triple phase boundary, which should lead to the improvement of the anodic performances. The successful fabrication of the functionally graded nano-structural electrodes as well as dense electrolyte coatings represents an opportunity for the Centre de Recherche en Énergie, Plasma et Électrochimie (CREPE) to fabricate the fully integrated nano-structured SOFC using solution and suspension plasma spraying processes.

Dans son ensemble, les techniques de pointe actuelles procurent l'information nécessaire à une analyse approfondie de la cellule, ce qui nécessite cependant l’utilisation d’instruments et de plateformes analytiques différentes. Les biopuces à cellule permettent l’analyse des cellules vivantes en temps réel et constituent donc un outil important pour de nombreuses applications dans la recherche biomédicale telles que la toxicologie et la pharmaceutique.En effet, le suivi en temps réel de la réponse non-seulement physique mais aussi chimique des cellules, obtenue suite à des stimuli externes spécifiques et en utilisant un système d'imagerie cellulaire, peut fournir une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes et des voies de signalisation impliquées dans la réaction toxicologique.Le développement de tels dispositifs multianalytiques pour l'analyse biologique repose essentiellement sur la capacité de produire des surfaces fonctionnelles de pointe permettant une interaction et organisation contrôlée des cellules et d'autres entités telles que par exemple des anticorps ou des nanoparticules. Par conséquent, un grand effort technologique repose sur le développement des techniques permettant la création de motifs fonctionnels sur une surface de nature souvent inerte. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons deux techniques de micro- et nanofabrication permettant la création de motifs de cellules et d’anticorps sur un revêtement non-adhésif composé de poly (oxyde d'éthylène) (« PEO-like ») déposé par plasma. La première approche consiste à immobiliser par physisorption un micro-réseau de molécules adhésives de la matrice extracellulaire (par exemple la fibronectine) en utilisant des techniques d’impression par microcontact et par non-contact. La deuxième approche permet la création de motifs adhésifs sur la surface constitués de nanoparticules d'or (Au NPs) en utilisant des techniques d’impression similaire. L'immobilisation des Au NPs sur le revêtement « PEO-like » ne nécessite pas de modifications chimiques et est réalisé par une technique d'autoassemblage simple et irréversible. Ces surfaces d'or nanostructurées ont été testées pour l’analyse du phénomène de reconnaissance biomoléculaire et en tant que plateforme de culture cellulaire. Finalement, cette plateforme a été intégrée à un microscope plasmonique qui a permis, de façon préliminaire, la surveillance et la visualisation de la motilité d’une cellule unique, cela en temps réel et sans marquage, ainsi que la détection spécifique et sensible de protéines tests / State of the art techniques give as a whole the required information needed for the complete cell analysis but require different instruments and different types of platforms. The concept of cells on-a-chip allowing real-time analysis of living cells is, therefore, an important tool for many biomedical research applications such as toxicology and drug discovery. Monitoring in real-time the physical but also chemical response of live cells to specific external stimuli using live-cell imaging can provide a better understanding of the mechanisms and pathways involved in the toxicological reaction. The development of such multianalytical devices for biological analysis relies essentially on the ability to design advanced functional surfaces enabling a controlled interaction and organisation of cells and other nanostructures (e.g antibodies and nanoparticles). Therefore, a large technological effort is related on the development of advanced patterning techniques. In this thesis, we propose two simple and direct micro- and nano-fabrication techniques enabling the creation of cellular and sensing patterns on a non-adhesive and cell repellent plasma-deposited poly (ethyleneoxide) (PEO-like) coating. The first approach consists in immobilising a microarray of ECM molecules (cell-adhesive proteins, e.g fibronectin) on the cell repellent PEO-like surface by physisorption using microspotting or microcontact printing techniques. The second approach enables the creation of Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) adhesive patterns on the surface using similar spotting techniques. The immobilization of Au NPs on PEO-like coatings does not require any prior chemical modifications and is achieved by a straightforward and irreversible self-assembly technique. These gold nanostructured surfaces have been tested for protein bio-recognition analysis and as a cell culture platform. Ultimately, this platform was integrated to a novel plasmonic microscope which enabled, preliminarily, the label-free monitoring and visualisation of a single cell attachment and detachment in real time, as well as the specific and sensitive detection of test proteins in a cell-free environment