Compared to the solid and gaseous phases, liquids are more closely related to biological processes and the life sciences. In fact, it is generally believed that abiogenesis occurred in the liquid environment of the primordial sea which, itself, was formed only when appropriate conditions came to prevail on the young Earth, providing a striking illustration of the marginal character of the liquid state, in contrast with the solid and gaseous phases of the same substances, which exist over much wider ranges of temperature and pressure: the liquid state arises from a delicate balance between packing of molecules and cohesive forces or, more formally, between entropy and energy. The importance of a full quantitative understanding of liquids is only obvious. Following research in simple liquids, a new area of complex liquids emerged for the study of systems which exhibit ow, but whose liquid-like behaviour cannot be explained by the standard one-body picture used in simple liquids, as interatomic forces are significantly different from the hard-sphere type. The term complex liquid can be interchangeably used with complex fluid or soft matter - following P.G. de Gennes. Many examples of complex liquids involve the mixing of different phases, be they fluid or not in their own right, such as solid and liquid (to make up gel or sol), liquid and gas (to make up foam or liquid aerosol), and solid and gas (to make up solid foam or solid aerosol). Under appropriate conditions, these complex liquid examples, known as colloids, will exhibit fluid-like behaviour on the macroscopic scale. Further examples of complex fluids include polymers and liquid crystals. This Thesis focuses on polymers. Specifically, it researches polymers from a theoretical and a computer simulation perspective, in particular their interaction with surfaces in such a way that they become adsorbed. Setting out with a definition, examples of polymers, and a brief discussion of the practical applications of this work, the General Introduction gives an overview of the theoretical progress in the area of polymer adsorption. This sets the context for a subsequent description of the objectives of this Thesis. The General Introduction closes with an outline of the remainder of the chapters that follow.

No description available.

<p>The first two chapters make use of simple, simulated model systems to break down the unique solvation thermodynamics of solutes at the vapor-liquid interface of water and of aggregation processes in the bulk. In particular, attention is paid to the direct solute-solvent energetic and entropic components that dictate the chemical potential. This proves a fruitful approach to understanding the counter-intuitive adsorbtion of ions to the interface. Additionally, the validity of linear response theory is tested in the interfacial region. Further, the contribution of ion surface pinning to the total adsorbtion thermodynamics is explored.</p> <p><br></p> <p>The third chapter studies the solvent-solvent interaction energy in response to changes in solute-solvent interactions. A solvent-solvent coupling scheme is developed to the relationship of solute-solvent interactions and solvent-solvent interactions and allows for more statistically stable access to solvent restructuring energies</p> <p><br></p> <p>The fourth chapter looks at ions of a range of sizes, but with a focus on those smaller than sodium. There smaller cations show a counter-intuitive trend of showing more attraction to the interface, when they are predicted to be more repelled than the larger ions. This is investigated with thermodynamic and hydration structure tools.</p> <p><br></p>

Yes / The hydrophobicity of a drug can be a major challenge in its development and prevents the clinical translation of highly potent anti-cancer agents. We have used a lipid-based nanoemulsion termed Lipid-Oil-Nanodroplets (LONDs) for the encapsulation and in vivo delivery of the poorly bioavailable Combretastatin A4 (CA4). Drug delivery with CA4 LONDs was assessed in a xenograft model of colorectal cancer. LC-MS/MS analysis revealed that CA4 LONDs, administered at a drug dose four times lower than drug control, achieved equivalent concentrations of CA4 intratumorally. We then attached CA4 LONDs to microbubbles (MBs) and targeted this construct to VEGFR2. A reduction in tumor perfusion was observed in CA4 LONDs-MBs treated tumors. A combination study with irinotecan demonstrated a greater reduction in tumor growth and perfusion (P = 0.01) compared to irinotecan alone. This study suggests that LONDs, either alone or attached to targeted MBs, have the potential to significantly enhance tumor-specific hydrophobic drug delivery. / The work was funded by the Medical Research Council (grant number: MR/L01629X MRC Medical Bioinformatics Centre) and the EPSRC (grant number EP/P023266/1 Health Impact Partnership). EPSRC (EP/I000623/1, EP/K023845/1). Laura E. McVeigh was funded by an EPSRC PhD Studentship (EP/L504993/1).

Certains agents pathogènes ou cellules tumorales échappent au système immunitaire parce que les cellules immunitaires ne reconnaissent pas les peptides ou protéines présents à leur surface. Les approches thérapeutiques favorisant la reconnaissance de ces peptides ou protéines faiblement immunogènes sont donc très attractives. Pour ainsi forcer l'activation des cellules présentatrices d'antigènes, plusieurs systèmes ont été décrits, à base de liposomes ou de nanoparticules inorganiques. Nous proposons ici d'utiliser un système à base de gouttelettes d'huile. Les micro ou nanogouttelettes d'huile végétale présentent de nombreux avantages par rapport aux microparticules solides inorganiques. Faites de triglycérides naturels, elles sont biocompatibles et biodégradables tout en étant plus robustes que les liposomes. Ce sont des plates-formes idéales pour construire des assemblages multifonctionnels pour la vectorisation. La première partie du projet traite de la synthèse de glycolipides nécessaires pour avoir une reconnaissance des gouttelettes par les lectines présentes dans le système immunitaire (DC-sign). La seconde partie du projet traite de la fabrication des gouttelettes d’huile fonctionnalisées avec les glycolipides précédemment synthétisés et la mise en évidence de leurs interactions avec des lectines. / Some pathogens or tumour cells escape the immune system because the immune cells misrecognize their surface peptides or proteins. Therapeutic approaches, promoting the recognition of these poorly immunogenic peptides or proteins are thus very attractive. The strategy is then to process directly peptides or proteins through cell presentating cells. To this end, some systems have been described, based on liposome or nanoparticles. We propose to use an oil droplet based system. Among the microparticles, vegetal oil microdroplets have numerous advantages over solid microparticles. Made of natural triglycerides, they are biocompatible and biodegradable. They are ideal platforms to build multifunctional assemblies for vectorization. In this project, we aim to design and address lipid (soya oil) droplet to dendritic cells via the lectin DC -sign. The first part deals of the synthesis of glycolipids necessary for the recognition by lectins. The second part presents the fabrication of functionalized oil droplets with previously synthesized glycolipids and their interaction with lectins.

This master's thesis is focused on the study of the consequences of electron beam induced motion of Au-Ge alloy nanodroplets on germanium surface. The text consists of two parts. The theoretical part gives an overview of measurement and fabrication techniques used for the experiments. The description of these techniques is mainly focused on topics needed to understand the ideas behind the experiments and their results. The topics covered here are the Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Electron Beam Lithography. These are followed by an introduction to the gold-germanium material system and the movement of Au-Ge alloy nanodroplets. The practical part gives a roughly chronological guide throughout the whole experimental process, including the search for a suitable sample fabrication method, the surface modification itself and its measurement. Temperature calibration of the heating system is also mentioned.

No description available.

Ce travail est consacré à l’étude de la coalescence de gouttelettes liquides à l’échelle du nanomètre. Nous nous sommes intéressés principalement à l’évolution du changement topologique des gouttelettes à partir de la rupture des surfaces au moment du contact initial jusqu’à la coalescence complète. Nous utilisons la dynamique moléculaire afin de simuler plusieurs types de gouttelettes soit en utilisant le potentiel empirique de type Stillinger-Weber pour des gouttelettes de silicium (l-Si) en 3 dimensions et le modèle Embedded Atom Method pour des gouttelettes de cuivre liquide (l-Cu) en 2d, quasi-2d (disques) et 3 dimensions. Qualitativement, toutes les simulations démontrent une coalescence similaire indépendamment de la dimension de calcul (2d à 3d), de la taille et de la température initiale des gouttelettes. La coalescence évolue par une déformation rapide des surfaces sans mixage important entre les atomes des deux gouttelettes initiales. De plus, nous étudions l’évolution du col de coalescence formé lors du contact initial entre les gouttelettes et, pour les systèmes en 3d, nous observons une transition claire d’un régime visqueux vers un régime inertiel du rayon de ce col, tel que suggéré par des modèles théoriques. Pour les gouttelettes de cuivre nous observons exactement le comportement des prédictions analytiques et confirmons que le premier régime suit un comportement visqueux sans aplatissement local des gouttelettes. La situation est différente pour les gouttelettes de l-Si où nous observons un effet plus grand, par rapport aux prédictions analytiques, du rayon et de la température initiale des gouttelettes sur l’évolution du col de coalescence. Nous suggérons que les paramètres décrivant l’évolution de la coalescence dépendent des propriétés des matériaux utilisés contrairement à la théorie universelle couramment utilisée. / In this work we studied the coalescence of liquid nanodroplets and more specifically the topological deformation from their rupture at the initial contact to the full coalescence. We used molecular dynamics to simulate various liquid droplets: 3 dimension liquid silicon (l-Si) droplets using the Stillinger-Weber potential as well as 2d, quasi-2d (discs) and 3d liquid copper (l-Cu) droplets using the Embedded Atom Model semi empirical potential. All simulations showed similar qualitative coalescence independently of initial size and temperature for 2d, quasi-2d and 3d systems: the topological deformation evolved quickly without any important mixing taking place between atoms from both droplets. Furthermore, we studied the evolution of the radius of the liquid bridge formed between the droplets and demonstrated that it is possible to observe, using molecular dynamics, a transition from a viscous to inertial regime of this bridge, as suggested by analytical models. Studying the l-Cu droplets, we observe exactly the analytical predicted behavior of the coalescence evolution and confirm that the initial regime follows a viscous driven mechanism without any local flattening of the droplets. The results are different with the l-Si droplets where we observe a greater effect, compared to analytical models, of the initial droplets radius and temperature on the bridge evolution. This suggests that the parameters describing the coalescence process are dependent of the properties of the materials used in the coalescence instead of the present universal accepted models.

Ce travail est consacré à l’étude de la coalescence de gouttelettes liquides à l’échelle du nanomètre. Nous nous sommes intéressés principalement à l’évolution du changement topologique des gouttelettes à partir de la rupture des surfaces au moment du contact initial jusqu’à la coalescence complète. Nous utilisons la dynamique moléculaire afin de simuler plusieurs types de gouttelettes soit en utilisant le potentiel empirique de type Stillinger-Weber pour des gouttelettes de silicium (l-Si) en 3 dimensions et le modèle Embedded Atom Method pour des gouttelettes de cuivre liquide (l-Cu) en 2d, quasi-2d (disques) et 3 dimensions. Qualitativement, toutes les simulations démontrent une coalescence similaire indépendamment de la dimension de calcul (2d à 3d), de la taille et de la température initiale des gouttelettes. La coalescence évolue par une déformation rapide des surfaces sans mixage important entre les atomes des deux gouttelettes initiales. De plus, nous étudions l’évolution du col de coalescence formé lors du contact initial entre les gouttelettes et, pour les systèmes en 3d, nous observons une transition claire d’un régime visqueux vers un régime inertiel du rayon de ce col, tel que suggéré par des modèles théoriques. Pour les gouttelettes de cuivre nous observons exactement le comportement des prédictions analytiques et confirmons que le premier régime suit un comportement visqueux sans aplatissement local des gouttelettes. La situation est différente pour les gouttelettes de l-Si où nous observons un effet plus grand, par rapport aux prédictions analytiques, du rayon et de la température initiale des gouttelettes sur l’évolution du col de coalescence. Nous suggérons que les paramètres décrivant l’évolution de la coalescence dépendent des propriétés des matériaux utilisés contrairement à la théorie universelle couramment utilisée. / In this work we studied the coalescence of liquid nanodroplets and more specifically the topological deformation from their rupture at the initial contact to the full coalescence. We used molecular dynamics to simulate various liquid droplets: 3 dimension liquid silicon (l-Si) droplets using the Stillinger-Weber potential as well as 2d, quasi-2d (discs) and 3d liquid copper (l-Cu) droplets using the Embedded Atom Model semi empirical potential. All simulations showed similar qualitative coalescence independently of initial size and temperature for 2d, quasi-2d and 3d systems: the topological deformation evolved quickly without any important mixing taking place between atoms from both droplets. Furthermore, we studied the evolution of the radius of the liquid bridge formed between the droplets and demonstrated that it is possible to observe, using molecular dynamics, a transition from a viscous to inertial regime of this bridge, as suggested by analytical models. Studying the l-Cu droplets, we observe exactly the analytical predicted behavior of the coalescence evolution and confirm that the initial regime follows a viscous driven mechanism without any local flattening of the droplets. The results are different with the l-Si droplets where we observe a greater effect, compared to analytical models, of the initial droplets radius and temperature on the bridge evolution. This suggests that the parameters describing the coalescence process are dependent of the properties of the materials used in the coalescence instead of the present universal accepted models.

In this thesis, quantum dynamical simulations are performed in order to describe the vibrational motion of diatomic molecules in a highly quantum environment, so-called helium droplets. We aim to reproduce and explain experimental findings which were obtained from dimers on helium droplets. Nanometer-sized helium droplets contain several thousands of 4-He atoms. They serve as a host for embedded atoms or molecules and provide an ultracold “refrigerator” for them. Spectroscopy of molecules in or on these droplets reveals information on both the molecule and the helium environment. The droplets are known to be in the superfluid He II phase. Superfluidity in nanoscale systems is a steadily growing field of research. Spectra obtained from full quantum simulations for the unperturbed dimer show deviations from measurements with dimers on helium droplets. These deviations result from the influence of the helium environment on the dimer dynamics. In this work, a well-established quantum optical master equation is used in order to describe the dimer dynamics effectively. The master equation allows to describe damping fully quantum mechanically. By employing that equation in the quantum dynamical simulation, one can study the role of dissipation and decoherence in dimers on helium droplets. The effective description allows to explain experiments with Rb-2 dimers on helium droplets. Here, we identify vibrational damping and associated decoherence as the main explanation for the experimental results. The relation between decoherence and dissipation in Morse-like systems at zero temperature is studied in more detail. The dissipative model is also used to investigate experiments with K-2 dimers on helium droplets. However, by comparing numerical simulations with experimental data, one finds that further mechanisms are active. Here, a good agreement is obtained through accounting for rapid desorption of dimers. We find that decoherence occurs in the electronic manifold of the molecule. Finally, we are able to examine whether superfluidity of the host does play a role in these experiments. / In dieser Dissertation werden quantendynamische Simulationen durchgeführt, um die Schwingungsbewegung zweiatomiger Moleküle in einer hochgradig quantenmechanischen Umgebung, sogenannten Heliumtröpfchen, zu beschreiben. Unser Ziel ist es, experimentelle Befunde zu reproduzieren und zu erklären, die von Dimeren auf Heliumtröpfchen erhalten wurden. Nanometergroße Heliumtröpfchen enthalten einige tausend 4-He Atome. Sie dienen als Wirt für eingebettete Atome oder Moleküle und stellen für dieseeinen ultrakalten „Kühlschrank“ bereit. Durch Spektroskopie mit Molekülen in oder auf diesen Tröpfchen erhält man Informationen sowohl über das Molekül selbst als auch über die Heliumumgebung. Man weiß, dass sich die Tröpfchen in der suprafluiden He II Phase befinden. Suprafluidität in Nanosystemen ist ein stetig wachsendes Forschungsgebiet. Spektren, die für das ungestörte Dimer durch voll quantenmechanische Simulationen erhalten werden, weichen von Messungen mit Dimeren auf Heliumtröpfchen ab. Diese Abweichungen lassen sich auf den Einfluss der Heliumumgebung auf die Dynamik des Dimers zurückführen. In dieser Arbeit wird eine etablierte quantenoptische Mastergleichung verwendet, um die Dynamik des Dimers effektiv zu beschreiben. Die Mastergleichung erlaubt es, Dämpfung voll quantenmechanisch zu beschreiben. Durch Verwendung dieser Gleichung in der Quantendynamik-Simulation lässt sich die Rolle von Dissipation und Dekohärenz in Dimeren auf Heliumtröpfchen untersuchen. Die effektive Beschreibung erlaubt es, Experimente mit Rb-2 Dimeren zu erklären. In diesen Untersuchungen wird Dissipation und die damit verbundene Dekohärenz im Schwingungsfreiheitsgrad als maßgebliche Erklärung für die experimentellen Resultate identifiziert. Die Beziehung zwischen Dekohärenz und Dissipation in Morse-artigen Systemen bei Temperatur Null wird genauer untersucht. Das Dissipationsmodell wird auch verwendet, um Experimente mit K-2 Dimeren auf Heliumtröpfchen zu untersuchen. Wie sich beim Vergleich von numerischen Simulationen mit experimentellen Daten allerdings herausstellt, treten weitere Mechanismen auf. Eine gute Übereinstimmung wird erzielt, wenn man eine schnelle Desorption der Dimere berücksichtigt. Wir stellen fest, dass ein Dekohärenzprozess im elektronischen Freiheitsgrad des Moleküls auftritt. Schlussendlich sind wir in der Lage herauszufinden, ob Suprafluidität des Wirts in diesen Experimenten eine Rolle spielt.