Structural characterization is essential to understand the formation mechanisms of the nanostructures in thin absorber layers in third generation solar cells and amyloid protein aggregates. Since to the dimension of the precipitated structures is in nanometer scale, electron tomography technique in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been applied as a major tool to analyze the 3D order and distribution of precipitates using the electron tomography technique.  Silicon rich silicon carbide (SRSC) films were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique and annealed in the nitrogen atmosphere for 1 hour at 1100 °C. The spectrum-imaging (SI) technique in Energy filtered TEM (EFTEM) imaging mode was used to develop electron tomography. From the reconstructed sub-volumes, the complex, three dimensional interfacial nanostructure between the precipitated NPs and their parental matrix was observed and explained in terms of thermodynamic concepts. Additionally, the feasibility of raw data 4D electron tomography has been demonstrated using the EFTEM SI dataset. The aggregation process of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) has a great impact on human health. In this thesis, a model system has been taken to study the ultrastructure of the hIAPP aggregates that are present in the fat body tissue surrounding the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. Electron tomography technique on TEM revealed clear crystalline structures in 3D. For the first time, the presence of a 5-fold twinned structure in biology was discovered. An intriguing finding is the filament like interconnection of hIAPP protein granules observed predominantly along the nearest neighbor directions. This suggests the existence of the directional binding forces between two nearest protein granules in addition to dipole-dipole interactions.

Well-defined ultrathin films of palladium, with coverages ranging from submonolayer, ΘPd = 0.5 monolayer (ML), to multilayer, ΘP d = 8 ML, were electrochemically deposited on Pt(111) using potentiostatic and potentiodynamic methods. In both methods, between the coverage regimes studied, the growth of the Pd films follows the Stranski-Krastanov mechanism. The interfacial electrochemical properties associated with the film-to-bulk transition were characterized by conventional voltammetric techniques in combination with low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The voltammetric peaks associated with H-atom adsorption and desorption on terrace sites indicate that the Pd electrodeposit starts to exhibit bulk-like properties at a coverage of 3 ML. Voltammetric cycling, in sulfuric acid solution, between the hydrogen evolution and the double-layer regions, was found to exert minimal influence on the annealing (smoothening) of the electrodeposited Pd films. However, cycling within the same potential region in the presence of bromide anions (at which Br- adsorption/Br desorption takes place) smoothens the initially rough Pd films essentially as well as high-temperature annealing. The influence of chemisorbed bromine on the anodic dissolution of Pd was also studied; this was for comparison with previous work on the anodic dissolution of Pd, in inert electrolyte, catalyzed by chemisorbed iodine. The present studies indicated that a small but measurable amount of bromine was desorbed along with dissolution of the Pd step atoms; bromine at the Pd terrace behaved identically to iodine in that the coverage of iodine is maintained regardless of the amount or origin of the of anodically stripped Pd. Atomically smooth, well-defined ultrathin Pd films were prepared by a constant potential deposition (CPD) method followed by multiple potential cycles, in dilute Brsolution, within the double-layer region and reductive removal of Brads, by simple emersion at a potential just before the hydrogen evolution reaction potential (EHER). A previously adapted method for the same purpose involved the chemisorption of iodine onto ultrathin PdCPD films, from dilute I- solution, followed by reductive desorption of Iads in iodide-free solution at pH 10 and at a potential just before EHER.

No description available.

Le but de ce travail de thèse est d'identifier les mécanismes moléculaires mis en jeu lors du frottement de polymères liquides sur une paroi solide.Dans une première partie, nous avons étudié l'influence de la température T sur le glissement de fondus. Grâce à la technique de vélocimétrie par photoblanchiment, nous avons mesuré la longueur de glissement de PDMS pour plusieurs températures et vérifié l'hypothèse de Navier, qui permet de définir le coefficient de frottement interfacial k comme le rapport entre la viscosité et la longueur de glissement. Loin de la température de transition vitreuse, k augmente exponentiellement avec 1/T, tendance que nous avons vérifiée par une mesure indépendante pour des lentilles de PDMS réticulé. Ainsi, le mécanisme de frottement d'un fondu de polymère est un processus thermiquement activé. La comparaison des énergies d'activation du frottement et de la viscosité prédit le sens de variation de la longueur de glissement avec la température.Le second volet de notre travail s'est focalisé sur l'identification des mécanismes moléculaires du frottement de solutions semi-diluées de polymère. Les expériences de glissement pour des solutions de PS dans le DEP nous ont permis de mettre en évidence un régime transitoire de glissement des solutions, correspondant à une mise en glissement du fluide. Nous avons proposé un modèle de glissement d'un fluide de Maxwell en accord quantitatif avec les expériences.Dans le régime de glissement stationnaire, nous avons étudié l'influence de la fraction volumique φ en polymère sur le frottement des solutions. En régime newtonien, la loi d'échelle mesurée pour k φ en fonction de la fraction volumique met en évidence la dépendance du coefficient de frottement interfacial avec l'écart à la température de transition vitreuse des solutions. Nous attribuons le frottement des solutions de PS dans le DEP au frottement des blobs sur la paroi et non à la formation d'une couche déplétée en polymère.Enfin des expériences de réflectivité de neutrons nous ont permis d'observer directement l'interface solide / solution de polymère. Nous avons mis en évidence l'existence d'une couche adsorbée en polymère. Nous avons mesuré son profil de concentration en fonction de la distance à la paroi. L'interdigitation des chaînes libres et de surface affecte le glissement des solutions. / The aim of this work is to identify the molecular mechanisms driving the friction of liquid polymers on a solid substrate.First, we studied the effect of the temperature T on the slippage properties of PDMS melts. Using a velocimetry technique based on photobleaching, we measured the temperature dependence of the slip length of PDMS and checked the validity of Navier’s hypothesis, which defines the friction coefficient k as the ratio between the bulk viscosity to the slip length. Far above the glass transition temperature, k(T) increases exponentially with 1/T, a result that we confirmed with an independent measurement of k for the friction of crosslinked PDMS lenses. The friction mechanism of melts is a thermally activated process. The comparison of the activation energies for the friction and for the viscosity allows one to predict if the slip length increases or deacreases with temperature.We then focused our work on the identification of the friction mechanisms of semi diluted polymer solutions. Based on slip experiments of PS in DEP solutions, we evidenced a transient onset of slippage regime. Considering the viscoelasticity of the fluid and its friction properties, we developed a mechanical model of friction of a Maxwell-like fluid that well describes our experimental data.In the stationary slippage regime, we studied the influence of the polymer volume fraction φ on the slippage of solutions of polymer. In the Newtonian regime, the measured scaling law for k φ as a function of the volume fraction highlights the dependence of the friction coefficient on the distance to the glass transition temperature of the solution. Thus, the friction of the PS in DEP solutions can be attributed to the friction of blobs on the surface, rather than to the existence of a depletion layer.We directly observed the solid / polymer solution interface thanks to neutron reflectivity: these experiments reveal the formation of an adsorbed polymer layer and we could measure its concentration profile close to the solid wall. The interdigitation between volume and surface polymer chains plays a key role in the slippage of the solutions.

No description available.

The defect structure, atomic structure, and energy of the interphase boundaries between an fcc matrix and a lath-shaped bcc precipitate in Ni-45 wt% Cr were investigated. The interfacial structure on the side facet of the precipitate consists of regular structural ledges and misfit dislocations. No regular defect structure can be found on the habit plane, or broad face, of the lath except for atomic-scale structural ledges. High resolution electron microscopy (HREM) observations show the (12¯1)_f habit plane is coherent and is a good matching interface. Based upon conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations, the orientation of the habit plane results from advancing growth ledges on the conjugate plane of the Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation relationship. Using embedded atom method (EAM) simulations, the interfacial energy of the (12¯1)_f habit plane is calculated and the simulated interphase structure is compared with the HREM observations. The simulated interface represents a major portion of the observed interface. The calculated interfacial energy of the (12¯1)_f habit plane is 210 mJ/m², lower than typical grain boundary energies indicating this habit plane is a low-energy interphase boundary. A non-Bain lattice correspondence is identified and employed to predict the (12¯1)_f habit plane successfully, although a Bain correspondence is more successful at predicting the elongation direction for the precipitate. Geometric matching is proposed to be responsible for determining the orientation of the precipitate habit plane and the growth direction. Lattice correspondence-based approaches such as the invariant line model and the phenomenological theory of martensitic crystallography can mimic aspects of geometric matching, but they do not accurately reflect the transformation mechanism during precipitation of bcc laths from an fcc parent. / Ph. D.

<p>The structural and thermodynamic properties of a crystal-melt interface in</p> <p>elemental magnesium have been investigated using molecular dynamics (MD)</p> <p>simulations with an embedded atom method description of the interatomic potential.</p> <p>Three low index interfacial orientations, (0001), (1101) and (1120), have been studied.</p> <p>From fine-grained atomic density profiles, the structural interfacial widths show obvious anisotropy and the variation of interatomic planar spacing as a function of distance through the crystal-melt boundary is established. Mainly from the coarse-grained density profiles, the effective 10-90 width of the interface region, defined as the intrinsic width, in each orientation has been determined. In addition, the interfacial stresses are obtained from an integration of the interfacial stress profiles and the results show significant anisotropy, which is possibly related to the anisotropy of occupation fraction profiles. Finally, from a determination of the excess energy and interfacial stress of the solid-liquid interface and from previous published results for the interfacial free energy at the melting point, the Gibbs-Cahn integration is employed to derive an estimation of the temperature dependence of the interfacial free energy at non-equilibrium temperatures. All of the crystal-melt interfacial properties for magnesium are compared with simulation data from other elemental metals and alloys, as well as from other model systems such as Lennard- Jones and hard spheres.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Ce travail de thèse est une contribution à l’étude des émulsions de Pickering qui ont vu unregain d’intérêt ces dernières années. Bien que l’effet Pickering ait été décrit depuis plus d’un siècle,des études plus systématiques pour comprendre l’activité des particules solides aux interfacesliquide/liquide n’est que partiellement entrepris, surtout en cours de déformation. Plusieurs questionsrestent d’actualité et, en premier, la localisation même des particules à l’interface et le mécanismed’adsorption associé.L’approche proposée dans ce travail de thèse s’inscrit dans cette optique avec en particulier laconsidération d’un événement élémentaire d’une émulsion : une goutte isolée dans une matrice etexaminée suite à un saut de déformation en cisaillement dans un dispositif de cisaillement contrarotatifdéveloppé à PCI. De manière générique, le but est de comprendre la relation entre le comportement dela goutte et la rhéologie complexe (en volume ou en surface) apportée par la dynamique de particulessolides aux interfaces liquide/liquide mobiles. Plusieurs paramètres ont été étudiés en commençant parl’affinité chimique des particules solides avec les phases liquides, la rhéologie des phases liquides, laconcentration et la taille des particules solides ; et pour finir, une attention particulière a été portée àl'effet de la déformation macroscopique et l’âge de la goutte.Plus particulièrement, la mise en évidence de la synergie entre la déformation macroscopiqueet l’âge de la goutte, sur la dynamique d’adsorption des particules à l’interface liquide/liquide et lastructuration de l’interface composée, a permis de proposer une méthodologie pour la modulation de« l’effet mémoire induite par la déformation » lors de la relaxation de la goutte en modifiant lasurface des particules par adsorption de tensioactifs choisis. Ainsi, il a été possible de figer les gouttesliquides dans des formes anisotropes contrôlées. Ce phénomène a été corrélé à une transition liquidesolidede l’interface composée mise en évidence par des mesures des modules rhéologiquesinterfaciaux. Ces derniers ont été, par ailleurs, reliés quantitativement à l’anisotropie des gouttesfigées. / This thesis is a contribution to the study of Pickering emulsions that have seen a renewedinterest in recent years. Although the effect Pickering has been described for over a century, moresystematic studies to understand the activity of solid particles at liquid/liquid interfaces is onlypartially undertaken, especially during flow. Several issues are still relevant and, in particular, thelocation of particles at the interface and the involved adsorption mechanism.The approach proposed in this thesis is to consider an elementary event of an emulsion: asingle droplet in a matrix undergoing a strain jump in a shear flow. This experiment was performed ina counter-rotating shear device developed at PCI. Generically, the aim is to understand the relationshipbetween the behavior of the droplet and the bulk and interfacial rheology induced by the dynamics ofsolid particles at a liquid/liquid interfaces. Several parameters were studied starting with the chemicalaffinity of solid particles with the liquid phases, the rheology of the liquid phases, the concentrationand the size of solid particles, and finally, special attention was paid to the effect of macroscopicdeformation and the age of the interface.More specifically, the demonstration of synergy between the macroscopic strain and the age ofthe interface, the dynamic adsorption of particles at the liquid/liquid interface and the structure of theinterface, allowed to propose a methodology for the modulation of the "memory effect induced by thedeformation" during the relaxation of the droplet by changing the particle surface using the adsorptionof a selected surfactants. Thus, it was possible to freeze the liquid drops in a controlled anisotropicshapes. This phenomenon was correlated to a liquid-solid transition of the interface demonstrated byrheological measurements of the interfacial moduli. These were, moreover, quantitatively related tothe anisotropy of frozen droplets.

Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Anwendbarkeit eines hochmodernen 100 kHz BB-VSFG-Spektrometers, das kürzlich im SALSA Photonics Lab entwickelt wurde, für die Analyse der Grenzflächenstruktur von Alkylketten, des sie umgebenden Wassers und der Phosphatkopfgruppen von Phospholipidschichten. Zunächst wurden Phospholipid-Doppelschichten, die mehrere Komponenten enthalten, bei Laserwiederholraten von 5, 10, 50 und 100 kHz mit konstanter Pulsenergie untersucht. Die BB-VSFG-Spektren legen nahe, dass die Phospholipid-Doppelschichten während der Messungen ohne wärmeinduzierte Veränderungen stabil waren. Darüber hinaus bot die Erhöhung der Laserwiederholungsrate eine praktikable Möglichkeit, Spektren in kurzen Datenerfassungszeiten zu erhalten, ohne dass das Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis beeinträchtigt wurde. Die extrem kurze Aufnahmezeit von 500 ms, die hohe spektrale Auflösung und alle verwendeten Pulsparameter sorgen dafür, dass bei Messungen unter Umgebungsbedingungen keine thermisch bedingten Photoschäden auftreten. Es wurde eine systematische Untersuchung von ein- und zweikomponentigen Phospholipid-Monoschichten in Abhängigkeit von der Oberflächenspannung und dem Mischungsverhältnis für verschiedene Kombinationen an Polarisationen durchgeführt und die Abhängigkeit der Schwingungsspektren untersucht. Die Struktur von Alkylketten und umgebendem Wasser wurde anhand derselben Modellsystemen analysiert. Bislang nicht beobachtete Schwingungsbanden und Spektren von Monolagen mit geringer Oberflächenbedeckung wurden mit einem bisher nicht erreichten Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis gemessen und beschrieben. Die Struktur von Phospholipid-Monolagen mit identischen Kopfgruppen und unterschiedlichen Ketten wurde analysiert und verglichen. Die Spektren bestätigten die Anwesenheit von Wassermolekülen in der Nähe der Phosphat- und Cholingruppen der Phospholipid-Monolagen. / This thesis focuses on the applicability of a state-of-the-art 100 kHz BB-VSFG spectrometer recently developed at the SALSA Photonics Lab and on the analysis of the interfacial structure of alkyl chains, surrounding water, and the phosphate head groups of phospholipid layers. First, multi-component phospholipid bilayers were studied at laser repetition rates of 5, 10, 50, and 100 kHz at constant pulse energy. The spectra suggest that the phospholipid bilayers were stable during the measurements with no heat-induced distortions. Moreover, an increase in the laser repetition rate provided a feasible route to obtain spectra in short data acquisition times without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio. The extremely short acquisition time of 500 ms, the high spectral resolution, and all applied pulse parameters ensured no thermal induced photodamages occur during the measurements. A systematic study of one- and two-component phospholipid monolayers as a function of surface tension and mixture ratio at different polarization combinations was performed and the dependence of the vibrational spectra was explored. The structure of alkyl chains and surrounding water was analyzed using the same model systems. Vibrational modes that were previously unseen and spectra of monolayers at low surface coverage were reported for the first time with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio. The structure of phospholipid monolayers containing identical head groups and different chains was analyzed and compared. The order of the phospholipid molecules as a function of the composition of the monolayers was inferred from the spectral data. The influence of the hydration and/or changes in the orientation of the phosphate group was visible from the spectra as well.