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La peau est l’organe le plus grand du corps humain et représente ~10% de la masse corporelle. La bonne qualité de son état et de ses fonctionnalités est primordiale pour la santé d’un individu. La sécheresse cutanée constitue un phénomène commun dans différents dysfonctionnements physiopathologiques. Grâce à ses propriétés de protection de l’organisme vis-à-vis de son environnement, le stratum corneum (SC) est considéré comme le principal élément contrôlant l’hydratation. Ce travail de thèse, associant des développements techniques et méthodologiques, a conduit à la mise en évidence par microspectroscopie Raman confocale, des mécanismes moléculaires impliqués dans les phénomènes de sécheresse cutanée. Le lien moléculaire entre hydratation et stress mécanique du SC ex vivo est décrit de manière approfondie impliquant lipides et protéines tissulaires. Ces travaux ont également porté sur la caractérisation des modifications supramoléculaires responsables des déformations du SC sous stress mécanique. En parallèle, ce travail illustre l’intérêt des spectroscopies vibrationnelles comme outil d’évaluation des mécanismes d’action des produits hydratants.Le caractère non-invasif de la spectroscopie Raman a permis d’exploiter les fortes potentialités de cette technique en transposant in vivo l’utilisation des descripteurs spectraux obtenus ex vivo. Ainsi, nous avons développé une approche in vivo couplant la spectroscopie Raman et la méthode des moindres carrés partiels (PLS) pour la quantification indirecte de différents paramètres physico-chimiques et fonctionnels du SC y compris les lipides et l’eau conduisant à une caractérisation globale du statut physiopathologique du SC. / The skin is the largest organ of the human body, accounting for ~10% of the body weight. The quality of its state and functionality is essential for the human health. Dry skin is a common phenomenon in various physiopathological dysfunctions. The uppermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum assumes the first barrier between organism and environment, it is thus considered as the main element controlling skin hydration. This work, combining technical and methodological developments, led to highlight the molecular mechanisms involved in skin dryness phenomena by confocal Raman microspectroscopy. The molecular link between hydration and mechanical stress of SC ex vivo is described in detail involving lipids and proteins. This work has also focused on the characterization of supramolecular changes related to the deformations of the SC under mechanical stress. In parallel, this work illustrates the effectiveness of vibrational spectroscopy for evaluation of moisturizers mechanisms of action. The non-invasive nature of Raman spectroscopy allowed exploiting the high potential of this technique by transposing spectral descriptors obtained ex vivo to in vivo. Thus, we developed an in vivo approach coupling Raman spectroscopy and partial least squares method (PLS) for indirect quantification of different physico-chemical and functional parameters including the SC lipids and water leading to an overall characterization of the SC physiopathological status.

This study focuses on various aspects of nanocrystals embedded in a dielectric matrix. In the first part of this work, a new approach with the use of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the nanocrystal analysis was developed and presented. Si and Ge nanocrystals embedded in SiO2 matrix were mainly studied. This new approach is based on the analysis of structural variations of SiO2 matrix during the formation of semiconductor nanocrystlas. It is shown that the chemical and structural variations of the host matrix are directly related to the precipitation of nanocrystals in it. This correlation provides valuable information about the presences of nanocrystals in the matrix. In the second part of this work, fabrication of SiC films with and without Si nanocrystals inclusions was studied. With this aim, stoichiometric SiC and Si rich SiC thin films were fabricated by using magnetron co-sputtering and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) techniques. For SiC films, the structural and optical analyses were performed. For Si rich SiC films, the formation conditions of Si nanocrystals were investigated. Post annealing studies were carried out to track the evolution of the SiC matrix and formation of Si nanocrystals at different temperatures. Chemical and structural properties of the SiC host matrix were investigated with FTIR spectroscopy. Optimum conditions for the fabrication of stoichiometric SiC layers were determined. The crystallography of the nanocrystals was investigated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The variation of the atomic concentrations and bond formations were investigated with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Raman spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to verify the formation of Si nanocrystals. We have shown that both single and multilayer Si nanocrystals can be fabricated in the amorphous SiC matrix for applications such as light emitting diodes and solar cells.

It is well known that nanostructures possess unique electronic, optical, magnetic, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties that are often superior to traditional bulk materials. In particular, one dimensional (1D) nanostructured inorganic materials including nanofibres, nanotubes and nanobelts have attracted considerable attention due to their distinctive geometries, novel physical and chemical properties, combined effects and their applications to numerous areas. Metal ion doping is a promising technique which can be utilized to control the properties of materials by intentionally introducing impurities or defects into a material. γ-Alumina (Al2O3), is one of the most important oxides due to its high surface area, mesoporous properties, chemical and thermal properties and its broad applications in adsorbents, composite materials, ceramics, catalysts and catalyst supports. γ-Alumina has been studied intensively over a long period of time. Recently, considerable work has been carried out on the synthesis of 1D γ-alumina nanostructures under various hydrothermal conditions; however, research on the doping of alumina nanostructures has not been forthcoming. Boehmite (γ-AlOOH) is a crucial precursor for the preparation of γ-Alumina and the morphology and size of the resultant alumina can be manipulated by controlling the growth of AlOOH. Gallium (Ga) is in the same group in the periodic table as aluminum. β-Gallium (III) oxide (β-Ga2O3), a wide band gap semiconductor, has long been known to exhibit conduction, luminescence and catalytic properties. Numerous techniques have been employed on the synthesis of gallium oxide in the early research. However, these techniques are plagued by inevitable problems. It is of great interest to explore the synthesis of gallium oxide via a low temperature hydrothermal route, which is economically efficient and environmentally friendly. The overall objectives of this study were: 1) the investigation of the effect of dopants on the morphology, size and properties of metal ion doped 1D alumina nanostructures by introducing dopant to the AlOOH structure; 2) the investigation of impacts of hydrothermal conditions and surfactants on the crystal growth of gallium oxide nanostructures. To achieve the above objectives, trivalent metal elements such as iron, gallium and yttrium were employed as dopants in the study of doped alumina nanostructures. In addition, the effect of various parameters that may affect the growth of gallium oxide crystals including temperature, pH, and the experimental procedure as well as different types of surfactants were systematically investigated. The main contributions of this study are: 1) the systematic and in-depth investigation of the crystal growth and the morphology control of iron, gallium and yttrium doped boehmite (AlOOH) under varying hydrothermal conditions, as a result, a new soft-chemistry synthesis route for the preparation of one dimensional alumina/boehmite nanofibres and nanotubes was invented; 2) systematic investigation of the crystal growth and morphology and size changes of gallium oxide hydroxide (GaOOH) under varying hydrothermal conditions with and without surfactant at low temperature; We invented a green hydrothermal route for the preparation of α-GaOOH or β-GaOOH micro- to nano-scaled particles; invented a simple hydrothermal route for the direct preparation of γ-Ga2O3 from aqueous media at low temperature without any calcination. The study provided detailed synthesis routes as well as quantitative property data of final products which are necessary for their potential industrial applications in the future. The following are the main areas and findings presented in the study: • Fe doped boehmite nanostructures This work was undertaken at 120ºC using PEO surfactant through a hydrothermal synthesis route by adding fresh iron doped aluminium hydrate at regular intervals of 2 days. The effect of dopant iron, iron percentage and experimental procedure on the morphology and size of boehmite were systematically studied. Iron doped boehmite nanofibres were formed in all samples with iron contents no more than 10%. Nanosheets and nanotubes together with an iron rich phase were formed in 20% iron doped boehmite sample. A change in synthesis procedure resulted in the formation of hematite large crystals. The resultant nanomaterials were characterized by a combination of XRD, TEM, EDX, SAED and N2 adsorption analysis. • Growth of pure boehmite nanofibres/nanotubes The growth of pure boehmite nanofibres/nanotubes under different hydrothermal conditions at 100ºC with and without PEO surfactant was systematically studied to provide further information for the following studies of the growth of Ga and Y doped boehmite. Results showed that adding fresh aluminium hydrate precipitate in a regular interval resulted in the formation of a mixture of long and short 1D boehmite nanostructures rather than the formation of relatively longer nanofibres/nanotubes. The detailed discussion and mechanism on the growth of boehmite nanostructure were presented. The resultant boehmite samples were also characterized by N2 adsorption to provide further information on the surface properties to support the proposed mechanism. • Ga doped boehmite nanostructures Based on this study on the growth of pure boehmite nanofibre/nanotubes, gallium doped boehmite nanotubes were prepared via hydrothermal treatment at 100ºC in the presence of PEO surfactant without adding any fresh aluminium hydrate precipitate during the hydrothermal treatment. The effect of dopant gallium, gallium percentage, temperature and experimental procedure on the morphology and size of boehmite was systematically studied. Various morphologies of boehmite nanostructures were formed with the increase in the doping gallium content and the change in synthesis procedure. The resultant gallium doped boehmite nanostructures were characterized by TEM, XRD, EDX, SAED, N2 adsorption and TGA. • Y doped boehmite nanostructures Following the same synthesis route as that for gallium doped boehmite, yttrium doped boehmite nanostructures were prepared at 100ºC in the presence of PEO surfactant. From the study on iron and gallium doped boehmite nanostructures, it was noted both iron and gallium cannot grow with boehmite nanostructure if iron nitrate and gallium nitrate were not mixed with aluminium nitrate before dissolving in water, in particular, gallium and aluminium are 100% miscible. Therefore, it’s not necessary to study the mixing procedure or synthesis route on the formation of yttrium doped boehmite nanostructures in this work. The effect of dopant yttrium, yttrium percentage, temperature and surfactant on the morphology and size of boehmite were systematically studied. Nanofibres were formed in all samples with varying doped Y% treated at 100ºC; large Y(OH)3 crystals were also formed at high doping Y percentage. Treatment at elevated temperatures resulted in remarkable changes in size and morphology for samples with the same doping Y content. The resultant yttrium doped boehmite nanostructures were characterized by TEM, XRD, EDX, SAED, N2 adsorption and TGA. • The synthesis of Gallium oxide hydroxide and gallium oxide with surfactant In this study, the growth of gallium oxide hydroxide under various hydrothermal conditions in the presence of different types of surfactants was systematically studied. Nano- to micro-sized gallium oxide hydroxide was prepared. The effect of surfactant and synthesis procedure on the morphology of the resultant gallium oxide hydroxide was studied. β-gallium oxide nanorods were derived from gallium oxide hydroxide by calcination at 900ºC and the initial morphology was retained. γ-gallium oxide nanotubes up to 65 nm in length, with internal and external diameters of around 0.8 and 3.0 nm, were synthesized directly in solution with and without surfactant. The resultant nano- to micro-sized structures were characterized by XRD, TEM, SAED, EDX and N2 adsorption. • The synthesis of gallium oxide hydroxide without surfactant The aim of this study is to explore a green synthesis route for the preparation of gallium oxide hydroxide or gallium oxide via hydrothermal treatment at low temperature. Micro to nano sized GaOOH nanorods and particles were prepared under varying hydrothermal conditions without any surfactant. The resultant GaOOH nanomaterials were characterized by XRD, TEM, SAED, EDX, TG and FT-IR. The growth mechanism of GaOOH crystals was proposed.

Les maladies neurodégénératives représentent un défi sociétal majeur. Trouver des outils pour mieux comprendre et diagnostiquer ces maladies est donc nécessaire. La spectroscopie infrarouge (IR) et Raman semblent être de bons candidats puisqu’elles peuvent caractériser l’état physiopathologique d’un échantillon. Le but de cette thèse a été d’appliquer ces méthodes à l’étude de peptides modèles, de tissus cérébraux et de liquides céphalorachidiens (LCR). Dans le cadre de l’étude des tissus cérébraux, la spectroscopie IR et Raman ont été couplées à la microscopie afin de combiner des informations spectrales et spatiales. Cela a permis de mieux comprendre la formation et le rôle des plaques amyloïdes dans la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA). Egalement, cela a permis de montrer l’intérêt d’utiliser ces méthodes dans des études futures pour suivre l’effet de différents traitements contre la sclérose en plaques. Concernant l’étude des LCR, la spectroscopie IR en mode ATR et la spectroscopie Raman exaltée de surface ont été utilisées afin de mettre en évidence des marqueurs spectroscopiques de la MA et de la maladie à corps de Lewy qui pourraient permettre un diagnostic plus précoce de ces maladies et un diagnostic différentiel entre ces deux. / Neurodegenerative diseases represent a major societal challenge. So, it is necessary to develop new tools for a better understanding and diagnosing of these diseases. Infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies seem to be good candidates since they can characterize the physiopathological conditions of a biological sample. The purpose of this thesis was to apply these methods to the study of model peptides, brain tissues and cerebrospinal fluids (CSF). As a part of brain tissue analysis, IR and Raman spectroscopy were coupled to microscopy in order to combine spectral and spatial information. This methodology improved our understanding of the formation and the role of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Moreover, it allowed to demonstrate the potential of these approaches in future studies on the effect of various treatments against multiple sclerosis. Concerning the study of CSF, IR-ATR and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy were applied to identify spectroscopic markers of AD and Lewy body disease that could enable early diagnosis of these diseases and discrimination between them.