In this work we examine Ag-Au and Ni-Cu nanoclusters: their structural,compositional, and morphological characteristics are investigated in detail. The clusters are produced by the inert gas aggregation (IGA) method from magnetron sputtered alloy targets, in an UHV compatible system. The design of the system is optimized for production and deposition of the clusters with size in the range 5 nm < D < 10 nm. In order to increase the flux of sub-5 nm clusters in the system, we conducted modeling and experimental studies of cluster motion: the simulations showed that skimmers with wider internal angles might significantly improve the flux of smaller nanoclusters; however, the experimental study revealed a major influence of the background gas on scattering of such nanoclusters which consequently led to the loss of their flux. A comprehensive study of Ag0:85Au0:15 nanoclusters was conducted over a period of more than 2 years. Nanoclusters with sizes in the range 3 nm < D < 10 nm were deposited onto a-C films at various surface coverages and systematically investigated by transmission electron microscopy. We found that Ag-Au nanoclusters initially exhibited icosahedral and decahedral structural motifs, with a very small fraction of face centered cubic nanoclusters present. This may suggest that the source conditions used in the experiments (primarily Ar flow) left Ag-Au nanoclusters kinetically trapped in structures which correspond to local thermodynamic minima, rather than global energetically favoured atomic configurations. When left exposed to ambient conditions, over time Ag-Au nanoclusters exhibited structural, morphological, and compositional changes: core-shell and Janus nanoclusters were observed in aged samples, as well as fragmentation of bigger particles. We attribute these changes to oxidation of the Ag component and increased diffusion of Ag₂O over the substrates. The final morphology of aged nanocluster-based thin films is governed by a combination of diffusion, Ostwald ripening, and the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. High resolution transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of fivefold symmetric structures in Ni-Cu nanoclusters; however, their higher oxidation rate may have influenced the structures from the outset. In addition, when these nanoclusters were exposed to the electron beam, crystalline artifacts (nanochimneys)started to grown on them, with a structure corresponding to the NiO structure. Ni-Cu nanoclusters are subsequently used as catalysts in a pilot study of carbon nanotube synthesis which confirmed that such alloy nanoclusters are catalytically active for single-wall and multi-wall carbon nanotube growth.

Nanoalloys are an exciting new class of materials in the growing field of nanotechnology. Nanoalloys consist of the nanoscale co-aggregation of two or more metals with a potential to form compositionally-ordered phases or superstructures that have properties unlike those of the individual metal clusters or of bulk alloys of the constituent metals. This research seizes the opportunity that the nanoscale domain has to offer, and focuses on the synthesis of iron and cobalt nanoalloys via the simultaneous decomposition of iron cobalt organometallic precursors in a stabilizing environment, accompanied by the thorough characterization of the resulting nanoclusters. Zero-valent FeCo nanoalloys may potentially have interesting uses as magnetic materials. Since these clusters have sizes less than the size of their magnetic domain, the clusters will exhibit single domain magnetism. This magnetism may be observed by the presence of chain structures of FeCo nanoclusters due to the alignment of their single magnetic domains. In order to create a near-atomically homogeneous nanoalloy without preferential aggregation of its metal atom constituents, no clustering and phase separation should take place. In the bulk, alloys of iron and cobalt phase separate over most of the compositional range. Conversely, at the nanoscale, it may be possible to synthesize nanoalloy structures that are not normally favorable at given compositions, by the manipulation of reaction kinetics. In order to produce an atomically mixed nanoalloy, the transformation reactions of the organometallic precursors should display similar kinetic features, i.e. similar reaction rates. Therefore, the reaction kinetics of all the species in the reaction must be similar to avoid competition between them. As a result, kinetic control of the individual transformation reaction rates of each species may be used to modulate the aggregation and phase separation of the different species, and consequently control cluster morphology. This work has provided the framework for the design of synthesis methods that enable the control of the structure of FeCo nanoalloys with careful attention to precursor decomposition kinetics and the correlation between reaction kinetics and nanoalloy morphology.

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) are being investigated as a portable energy conversion device for military and commercial applications. DMFCs offer the potential to efficiently extract electricity from a dense liquid fuel. However, improvements in materials properties and lowering the cost of the electrocatalysts used in a DMFC are necessary for commercialization of the technology. The cathode electrocatalyst is a critical issue in DMFC because the state-of-the-art catalyst, platinum, is very expensive and rare, and its performance is diminished by methanol that crosses over from the anode to the cathode through the Nafion membrane. This thesis investigates the addition of platinum to a palladium-cobalt nanoalloy electrocatalyst supported on carbon black in order to improve catalyst activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and catalyst stability against dissolution in acidic environment without significantly reducing the methanol-tolerance of the catalyst. Platinum was added to the palladium-cobalt nanoalloy catalyst using two synthesis methods. In the first method, platinum was directly alloyed with palladium and cobalt using a polyol reduction method, followed by heat treatment in a reducing atmosphere to form catalysts with 11 and 22 atom % platinum. In the second method, platinum was added to a palladium-cobalt alloy by galvanic displacement reaction to form catalysts with 10 and 22 atom % platinum. The palladium cobalt alloy was synthesized using a polyol method, followed by heat treatment in a reducing atmosphere to alloy the nanoparticles before the Pt displacement. It was found that both methods significantly improve catalyst activity and stability, with the displaced catalysts showing a higher activity than the corresponding alloy catalyst. However the alloy catalysts showed similar resistance to dissolution as the displaced catalysts, and the alloyed catalysts were more tolerant to methanol. The displaced catalyst with 22 atom % platinum (8 wt. % Pt overall) performed similar to a 20 wt. % commercial platinum catalyst in both RDE and single cell DMFC tests. The 10 and 22 atom % Pt displaced catalysts and 22 atom % Pt alloyed all showed higher Pt mass specific activities than a commercial Pt catalyst. / text

Les nano-aimants se situent à la limite entre le complexe moléculaire et l’état massif. D’un point de vue fondamental, les effets dus à la taille réduite du système et en particulier les effets de surface sont susceptibles de faire apparaitre de nouvelles propriétés. Ces propriétés peuvent être à l’origine de nouvelles applications dans des domaines comme le stockage d’information magnétique, la catalyse, la biotechnologie, le diagnostic médical ou l’énergie. Dans ce travail, des nanoparticules de 1,5 à 5 nm de diamètre ont été synthétisés par low energy cluster beam deposition (LECBD) puis encapsulées dans différentes matrices. Dans un premier temps, des systèmes modèles à base de nanoparticules de Cobalt fortement diluées dans différentes matrice ont été synthétisés dans l’optique de remonter le plus précisément aux propriétés intrinsèques des nano-aimants. La suite de ce travail a consisté à augmenter la concentration en nanoparticules dans ces échantillons afin de caractériser l’influence des interactions sur le comportement magnétique macroscopique des particules. Enfin, après l’élaboration d’outils permettant de déterminer précisément les propriétés de systèmes modèles, ceux-ci ont été appliqués à des systèmes bimétalliques à fort intérêts théorique et applicatif (FeRh et FeAu). Nous avons montré que, après recuit sous ultra-vide, les nanoparticules d’alliage FeRh en matrice de carbone présentent une transition de phase A1 vers B2 sans trace de pollution ni de coalescence. Cette transition a été mise en évidence structurellement par microscopie électronique à transmission haute résolution et magnétiquement par magnétométrie à SQUID et dichroïsme magnétique de rayons X. / Nanomagnets are at the limit between a molecular complex and the bulk state. From a fundamental standpoint, the effects due to the small size of the system and particularly the increasing surface to volume ratio are likely to bring about new properties. Nanoparticles have found numerous applications in areas such as magnetic information storage, catalysis, biotechnology, medical diagnostics and energy. In this work, nanoparticles of 1.5 to 5 nm in diameter were synthesized by low energy cluster beam deposition (LECBD) and encapsulated in different matrices. As a first step, model systems based on cobalt nanoparticles strongly diluted in different matrices were fabricated in order to study more precisely the intrinsic properties of the nanomagnets. The continuation of this work consisted in increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in order to characterize the influence of interactions on the macroscopic magnetic behavior of the particles. Finally, after the development of tools to accurately determine the properties of model systems, these tools have been applied to bimetallic systems of significant theoretical and applicative interest (FeRh and FeAu). In particular, this work shows that after annealing under ultrahigh vacuum, the FeRh alloy nanoparticles in a carbon matrix show a phase transition A1 to B2 with no trace of pollution or coalescence. This transition has been demonstrated structurally by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and magnetically by SQUID magnetometry and X-ray magnetic dichroism (XMCD).

Les nanoalliages à base de matériaux ferromagnétiques sont intéressants car ils peuvent être à la base d’une technologie de stockage haute densité innovante. En particulier, l’alliage CoPt présente une phase ordonnée fortement anisotrope. Dans ce travail, des nanoparticules de 1,5 à 5 nm de diamètre ont été synthétisées dans un bâti ultra-vide par "Mass Selected Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition " puis déposées avec une faible énergie et enrobées dans une matrice de carbone amorphe.Après une caractérisation des couches d’agrégats en matrice de carbone par microscopie électronique en transmission (MET), la structure des nanoparticules est étudiée par MET en mode haute-résolution et comparée `a des simulations d’images. Cette approche originale permet de mettre en évidence la mise en ordre des nanoparticules et de quantifier le paramètre d’ordre d’une particule unique. La diffraction des rayons X en incidence rasante (GIXRD) permet, grâce `a des modélisations d’arriver `a la même conclusion :après un recuit sous ultra-vide de 2 h à 650°C, les nanoparticules d’alliage CoPt en matrice de carbone présentent une transition de phase A1 vers L10 sans trace de pollution ni de coalescence.Une étude magnétique des mêmes échantillons par magnétométrie à SQUID et dichroïsme magnétique des rayons X (XMCD) permet de confirmer que les nanoparticules, après un tel traitement thermique,subissent un changement de propriétés magnétiques allant dans le sens d’une mise en ordre chimique même pour des très petites tailles (de diamètre 1,8 nm). / CoPt nanoalloy are interesting: because of the huge anisotropy of the bulk phase it representsa good candidate for high-density magnetic storage applications. In this work CoPt nanoparticles are synthesizedunder ultra high vacuum conditions using “Mass Selected Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition”in the size range of 1.5 to 5 nm in diameter and co-deposited in an amorphous carbon matrix.After a characterization of the nanoparticle layers in the carbon matrix using conventional transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM) the nanoparticle structure is studied using high resolution TEM togetherwith image simulation. This novel technique brings to light the phase transition of the alloy between thechemically disordered phase A1 and the ordered one L10. In the same time, the long-range chemicalorder parameter can be measured for an individual nanoparticle. The grazing incidence X ray diffractionspectra together with spectra modelisations provide the same conclusion after an annealing of 2 h at650°C the nanoparticles undergo a phase transition without any pollution or coalescence.A magnetic characterization using SQUID magnetometry and X ray magnetic circular dichro¨ısm(XMCD) confirms that after annealing the nanoparticles even for small sizes (1.8 nm) display a changein their magnetic properties corroborating the structural measurements.

Le nanoalliage cuivre-or (CuAu) pour la catalyse hétérogène fait l'objet d'un intérêt grandissant de la communauté scientifique. En effet, l'alliage de l'or, réputé être un élément stabilisateur, avec le cuivre, réputé très actif notamment vis-à-vis de l'oxygène, offre de très grandes possibilités, tant dans les réactions d'oxydation tel que l'oxydation du monoxyde de carbone, mais aussi dans les réactions d'hydrogénation, telle que l'hydrogénation sélective du butadiène. L'un des processus déterminant dans les réactions d'oxydation et d'hydrogénation est le processus d'adsorption et de dissociation des molécules d'O2 et de H2 par le catalyseur. Afin d'avoir une meilleure compréhension des processus mis en jeu, il est nécessaire d'identifier les sites actifs où a lieu l'adsorption et la dissociation éventuelle des molécules, mais aussi des mécanismes mis en jeu lors de ces processus. Mais aujourd'hui, il n'existe pas de consensus général, dans la communauté scientifique, concernant la localisation des sites actifs. C’est dans ce contexte que s’inscrit ce travail de thèse, mené au laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques (MPQ) au sein de l'équipe Microscope électronique Avancée et NanoStructures (Me-ANS) dirigé par le professeur Christian Ricolleau. Les deux problématiques majeures auxquelles nous nous sommes intéressées sont (i) la stabilité structurale et morphologique des nanoparticules de Cu, Au et de Cu-Au dans le vide et en température et ce sur différents supports tels que le nitrure de silicium amorphe et le rutile-TiO2, (ii) la stabilité structurale et morphologique des nanoparticules de Cu, Au et de Cu-Au supportées sur rutile-TiO2, sous atmosphère de gaz oxydant (O2) et réducteur (H2). Les objectifs étant d'identifier les sites d'adsorption éventuels des molécules d'O2 et de H2 par les catalyseurs, et de mieux comprendre les mécanismes qui conduisent à l'évolution morphologique de ceux-ci en milieu réactif. / : Copper-gold nanoalloy (CuAu) for heterogeneous catalysis is of increasing interest in the scientific community. Indeed, the alloy of gold, known to be a stabilizing element, with copper, known to be very active with respect to oxygen particularly, shows interesting catalytic properties, in oxidation reactions such as oxidation of carbon monoxide, but also in hydrogenation reactions, such as the selective hydrogenation of butadiene. One of the rate determining step in oxidation and hydrogenation reactions is the process of adsorption and dissociation of O2 and H2 molecules by the catalyst. In order to have a better understanding of the processes involved, it is necessary to identify, the active sites where the eventual adsorption and dissociation of the molecules takes place, but also the mechanisms involved during these processes. However today, there is no general consensus in the scientific community towards the location of the active sites. It is in this context that this thesis work, conducted in the laboratory Materials and Quantum Phenomena (MPQ) within the team Advanced Electron Microscope and NanoStructures (Me-ANS) led by Professor Christian Ricolleau. The two major issues we have been interested in are (i) the structural and morphological stability, in vacuum and with temperature, of Cu, Au and Cu-Au nanoparticles deposited on different substrates such as amorphous silicon nitride and rutile -TiO2 nanorods, (ii) the structural and morphological stability of Cu, Au and Cu-Au nanoparticles supported on rutile-TiO2 under oxidizing (O2) and reducing (H2) atmospheres. The main goals being to identify the possible adsorption sites of the O2 and H2 molecules by the catalysts, and to better understand the mechanisms that lead to the morphological evolution of these NPs in a reactive medium.