The advent of highly sophisticated drugs designed to interfere with specific cellular functions has created the demand for “intelligent” carriers that can efficiently deliver therapeutic agents in response to a pathophysiogical condition. Nanoscale intelligent systems can maximize the efficacy of therapeutic treatments in numerous ways because they have the ability to rapidly detect and response to disease states directly at the site and sparing physiologically healthy cells and tissues, thereby improving a patient’s quality of life. Nanoparticle fabrication has primarily relied on emulsions, self-assembly and micelles based methods which inherently generate polydisperse spherical particles with little control over particle geometry. Despite significant progress in such drug delivery systems, critical limitations remain in synthesizing nanocarriers with highly controllable architecture (size, shape or aspect ratio) that can, at the same time, impart response-sensitive release mechanisms. These parameters are essential for controlling the in-vivo transport, bio-distribution, and drug release mechanisms. The objective of my dissertation is to employ the nanofabrication technique Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL) to synthesize stimuli-responsive nanocarriers of precise architectures and composition. Applying S-FIL technology, fabrication of nanocarriers of a variety of shapes and sizes (down to 36nm length scale) that are also environmentally responsive by incorporating enzymatically-degradable peptides into the nanocarrier hydrogel matrix, to provide triggered release of encapsulated therapeutic agents in response to specific pathophysiological conditions, has been accomplished. Besides disease-responsive release, the two key properties of an effective nanocarrier are (a) efficient targeting to specific tissues and cells and (b) avoiding rapid clearance and remaining in circulation in the blood stream for a significant amount of time to increase particle uptake in target tissues. These two properties are expected to be dependent on the shape and size of the carriers. Using various shape and size S-FIL fabricated nanoparticles, the effects of particle geometry on intracellular uptake has also been evaluated. In this dissertation, I will present the extensive work that has been done in the fabrication and optimization of the S-FIL nanocarriers, evaluation of the nanocarrier’s in vitro properties, and evaluation of the effects of nanocarrier geometry on intracellular uptake. / text

Microfluidics is an expanding research field that lies at the interface of engineering, physics, chemistry and biology and offers promises in the development in a wide range of applications from point-of-care (POC) diagnostics to regenerative medicine, from drug testing to DNA sequencing. The number of publications in the field has been steadily growing in the last two decades and the trend does not show any sign of slowing down. On top of that, the market value generated by microfluidics is expected to quadruple in the time spam from 2013 to 2023: from 1.59 billion dollars in 2013, it is expected to grow to 8.64 billion dollars in 2023. There are however a series of limitations which prevent the full development of microfluidic technology. As it has already been pointed out in many publications in the last decade, the lack of a killer application capable of really making the difference out of the research labs and the academic playgrounds around the world is an impeding factor to the full-scale development of microfluidcs at an industrial level, also due to the lack of industrial standards. A number of authors, though, are of the opinion that the actual concept itself needs to challanged and that a complete re-thinking of the current technological platform should be done in order to make the breakthrough advance allowing a long-standing promising field to finally realise itself.In this work a completely new concept, based on volume-phase-transition smart-hydrogels, is presented and the foundations for a transistor-like technological platform are laid. A strong focus is therefore based on the basic element itself, i.e. volume-phase-transition smart-hydrogels, and on the possible ways that it might be integrated in microfluidic systems. Furthermore, basic circuits that lay the foundations for a logic system are presented together with other applications that replicate some elementary functions in microelectronics, such as oscillators. Finally, integration of logic gates as well as basic circuits is presented, in order to lay the foundations for chemical integrated microfluidic circuits.

Temperature-responsive hydrogels are polymer particles whose equilibrium size depends on the temperature of the water they are immersed in. Here we present an equivalent circuit model of a temperature-controlled microvalve based on hydrogel particles. The resulting network model consists of three physical subsystems. The thermal subsystem considers the heat capacities and thermal resistances of the layers of the valve and the coupling to the ambient environment. The polymeric subsystem describes the relaxation of the hydrogel particles to the temperature-dependent equilibrium size. The fluidic subsystem consists of the supply channel and a chamber whose cross section varies according to the size of the hydrogel particles. All subsystems are described and coupled within one single circuit. Thus the transient behavior of the valve can be calculated using a circuit simulator. Simulation results for a setup are presented and compared with experiments.

Le phénomène d’électro chimiluminescence (ECL), également appelé chimiluminescence électrogénérée, consiste en la génération de l’état excité d’un émetteur suite à des réactions de transfert d’électrons se produisant initialement à la surface de l’électrode. L’état excité ainsi produit retourne à l’état fondamental en émettant de la lumière. Les réactions ECL se classent principalement en 2 grandes voies mécanistiques: les réactions d’annihilation et les réactions impliquant un co-réactif sacrificiel. Cette dernière voie a conduit à de très nombreuses applications en chimie analytique. Dans ce manuscrit, j’ai présenté mes travaux de thèse qui ont suivis 3 directions complémentaires depuis l’échelle moléculaire jusqu’à l’échelle macroscopique: la recherche de nouveaux luminophores ECL, l’étude de films d’hydrogels stimulables et le développement de nouvelles applications analytiques de l’ECL.Dans une première partie, j’ai étudié les propriétés ECL de 3 types de luminophores organiques. Ces composés ont montré des caractéristiques électrochimiques et ECL remarquables. L’efficacité ECL de ces luminophores organiques peut être modulée enjouant sur leurs structures respectives. Des luminophores de type spirofluorène ont produit une émission ECL très intense et les nanoparticules organiques correspondantes ont pu être utilisées comme nano-émetteurs ECL. L’étude des propriétés électrochimiques, photochimiques et ECL de luminophores cationiques de type triangulène et hélicène a été réalisée et présentée avec un formalisme montrant un «mur» ECL ou une cartographie ECL complète.Dans une seconde partie, la préparation de films d’hydrogels thermo-stimulables à base de poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) ou pNIPAM incorporant des centres redoxRu(bpy)3 a été réalisée sur des électrodes de carbone vitreux (GCE) et aussi sur des fibres de carbone par polymérisation radicalaire induite électrochimiquement. Les études ECL sur les GCEs modifiées ont montré que le facteur principal gouvernant les propriétés ECL est la distance entre les sites Ru(bpy)3. Le dépôt de tels films de pNIPAM-Ru(bpy)3 par électrochimie bipolaire ouvre de nouvelles possibilités pour le développement de micro-objets stimulables hybrides. Dans une dernière partie, comme la chimie analytique constitue un des plus importants attraits de l’ECL, deux applications analytiques sont présentées en utilisant,d’une part, des co-réactifs de type amine modifié par l’acide phénylboronique, et,d’autre part, des faisceaux de fibres optiques recouverts d’or. La réaction de complexation de saccharides par le groupe phénylboronique modifie les propriétés électrochimiques du co-réactif amine en rendant son oxydation à l’électrode inefficace,ce qui provoque la diminution du signal ECL. En changeant la longueur de l’espaceur de ces co-réactifs qui portent deux groupements phénylboroniques, nous avons pu mesurer sélectivement la concentration de D-glucose et de D-fructose. Mon travail a enfin porté sur le développement d’un objet analytique basé sur un faisceau de fibresoptiques doré qui est adressé sans contact par électrochimie bipolaire. L’ECL ainsi générée du système Ru(bpy)32+/TPrA a permis de réaliser un outil activable à distance permettant une mesure déportée via le faisceau. Ce nouvel objet analytique original devrait permettre d’étendre les mesures ECL à des environnements confinés ou dangereux. / Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) involves the energetic electron transfer reactions at the electrode with the generation of excited state of emitter, which then relax to the ground state and emit light. These ECL reactions can be divided into two main pathways: the annihilation and sacrificial co-reactant reactions. The latter has found a lot of applications in analytical chemistry. In this thesis, ECL studies towardt hree complementary directions are presented, ranging from the molecular scale tomacroscopic scale : the research of new ECL luminophores, the study of stimuli-responsive hydrogel films, and the development of new ECL assays.Firstly, I have studied three types of organic dyes for ECL investigations. These organic dyes exhibit interesting electrochemical and ECL properties. ECL efficiencies of the organic dyes can be tuned by the modification of the structures. Spirofluorene dyes show strong ECL emission, and thus its fluorescence organic nanoparticles(FONs) prepared in water were used as ECL nano-emitters. We also established an energetic ECL “wall” representation and then move forward creating ECL “map”upon electrochemical, photoluminescence and ECL studies on cationic triangulenes and cationic helicenes dyes, respectively.Secondly, the preparation of thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)(pNIPAM) hydrogel films covalently incorporating Ru(bpy)3 redox centers were achieved on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) or carbon fiber by electrochemically induced free radical polymerization. ECL studies on the modified GCEs have provided the main factor (the average distance of Ru(bpy)3 sites) that governs the ECL process, leading to deciphering the enhanced ECL in the films. The deposition of the films on carbon fiber by bipolar electrochemistry (BPE) has opened new route to for the development of smart hybrid micro objects. Finally, analytical application is one of the most important features of ECL. We presented two different ECL assays using either the phenylboronic acid modified amine based co-reactants or gold coated optical fiber bundle. The binding of saccharides with boronic acid modified tertiary amines makes the oxidation of amines group inefficient, which decreases ECL signal response. By changing linker length of a bis-boronic acid amine co-reactant, we are able to determine D-glucose and D-fructose selectively. We also studied the ECL generation of Ru(bpy)32+/TPrA systemon the gold coated optical fiber bundle in a wireless manner by BPE, then transmission and remote detection at the opposite end of the same object. This methodmay extend the applicability of ECL assays in the confined or hazardous environments. / 电化学发光（ECL）的发生是由于在电极表面通过电子转移反应生成了发光体的激发态跃迁到基态，并伴随着发光。这些电子转移反应可划分为两种主要的途径：正负自由基湮灭反应和共反应物反应。而后者被广泛应用于分析化学领域。在本论文中，我们在电化学发光领域中进行了广泛的研究，具体有三个研究方向：新型电化学发光光团的研究、响应水凝胶膜的制备以及电化学发光分析的研究。首先，我们选择了三种不同类型的有机荧光分子用于电化学发光的研究。这些有机荧光分子展现出许多电化学和电化学发光特性。其中，螺芴荧光分子展现出了非常强的电化学发光。而且用它制备的荧光有机纳米颗粒（FONs）在水相中也可以产生电化学发光。基于对阳离子型三角烯和阳离子型螺烯的电化学、光谱学以及电化学发光的研究，我们分别建立了鉴别电化学发光“墙”和“图谱”。其次，利用自由基电聚合的方法，我们实现了在玻碳电极和碳纤维表面上制备热刺激-响应的聚异丙基丙烯酰胺（p-NIPAM）共价嫁接三联吡啶钌Ru(bpy)3 荧光分子的水凝胶膜。通过对玻碳电极上水凝胶膜的电化学发光的研究，我们发现了控制水凝胶膜中电化学发光的主要因素，从而揭秘了水凝胶膜中电化学发光增强的成因。而且，利用双电极化学（BPE）的方法，我们将此类水凝胶膜的制备应用于碳纤维上，以发展灵敏杂化微米级器件。最后，鉴于化学分析是电化学发光最重要的特征，我们构建两种不同的电化学发光分析体系：一种是基于硼酸化学修饰的三丙胺共反应物；另一种是利用镀金光导纤维。硼酸对糖类的结合弱化了三丙胺的电化学氧化效率，因此影响电化学发光的强度。通过改变双硼酸修饰共混物之间碳链的长度，我们实现了对葡萄糖和果糖的选择性检测。我们还研究了在镀金光导纤维上三联吡啶钌/三丙胺体系的 电化学发光。此研究是在双电极体系进行的，镀金光导纤维无需外部接线，镀金部位产生的发光透过光纤传输的光纤的远端，再进行检测，因此达到了电化学发光的远程检测。这一方法可应用于狭窄危险环境中的电化学发光分析。