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Microfluidics is a very recent branch of science and technology. The development and the success, it has had in the last 15 years, is mainly due to the concept of lab-on-a-chip. Those miniaturized devices, integrating one or more laboratory functions, have aroused great interest among several research areas as physics, chemistry, biology and bioengineering. When a fluid is confined in a micro or nano scale structure, its behaviour is strongly affected by its interactions with the surrounding surfaces. In this context, the theme of fluid/solid slippage has been widely studied both theoretically and experimentally. Innovative technologies to enhance the surface slippage by specifically designing the solid interfaces have reportedly demonstrated to be an effective way to reduce the fluid/solid friction. To this end, superhydrophobic surfaces have increasingly attracted the interest of the scientific and technological community thanks to the large wall-slippage they present for liquid water. Though their behaviour has been extensively investigated through several theoretical and numerical methods, the experimental approaches are still indispensable to test and understand the properties of these surfaces. However, the lack of a general predicting model is also due to the fact that no one of the several existing experimental techniques has shown up as a very reliable one. Indeed, the reported measurements of slippage still depends on the specific adopted method, thwarting attempts to corroborate the proposed theoretical and numerical schemes. Therefore, it is evident that a more sensitive and effective experimental technique is still missing. This thesis began and developed inside the wider project of setting up an innovative technique to investigate the fluid-solid slippage on superhydrophobic surfaces by means of optical tweezers. Even though this project is still going on, this work reports the steps performed along the long way towards this main goal and it consists of a collection of several researches involving different scientific fields as optics, microscopy, surface science, microhydrodynamics, microfluidics and microfabrication. The researches presented in this work can be separated in two main categories: i) holographic micromanipulation and microscopy, ii) superhydrophobicity.

La microfluidique est une branche récente de la science et de la technologie. Ces quinze dernières années, son développement et son succès ont été principalement dus au concept de labo sur puce (lab-on-a-chip). Ces dispositifs miniaturisés, qu'intègrent plusieurs fonctions de laboratoire, ont été d'un grand intérêt dans différents domaines comme la Physique, la Chimique et la Bio-ingénierie. Lorsque un fluide est confiné dans une structure micro ounanométrique, son comportement est fortement influencé par les interactions avec les surfaces qui l'entourent. Dans ce contexte, la problématique du glissement du fluide sur le solide a été largement étudiée soit théoriquement, soit expérimentalement. Des nouvelles technologies, destinées à augmenter le glissement se sont déjà avérées être une méthode très efficace pour la réduction du frottement fluide/solide. Dans ce contexte, les surfaces superhydrophobes ont sucité l'intérêt de la communauté scientifique et technologique grâce au grand glissement à la paroi qui caractérise ces surfaces. Même si le comportement de ces surfaces a été largement étudié par différentes méthodologies théoriques et numériques, l'approche expérimentale est encore indispensable pour tester et comprendre les propriétés de ces surfaces. Cette thèse a commencé et s'est développée dans un projet plus large qui porte sur la mise en place d'une nouvelle technique pour l'analyse du glissement liquide/solide sur les surfaces superhydrophobes à travers les pièges optiques. Ce manuscrit développe les étapes du projet de recherche qui concernent différents domaines scientifiques comme l'optique, la microscopie, la science des surfaces, la microhydrodynamique, la microfludique et la microfabrication. Les recherches présentées dans cette thèse sont divisées par deux catégories: i) micromanipulation et microscopie holographique, ii) superhydrophobie. / Microfluidics is a very recent branch of science and technology. The development and the success, it has had in the last 15 years, is mainly due to the concept of lab-on-a-chip. Those miniaturized devices, integrating one or more laboratory functions, have aroused great interest among several research areas as physics, chemistry, biology and bioengineering. When a fluid is confined in a micro or nano scale structure, its behaviour is strongly affected by its interactions with the surrounding surfaces. In this context, the theme of fluid/solid slippage has been widely studied both theoretically and experimentally. Innovative technologies to enhance the surface slippage by specifically designing the solid interfaces have reportedly demonstrated to be an effective way to reduce the fluid/solid friction. To this end, superhydrophobic surfaces have increasingly attracted the interest of the scientific and technological community thanks to the large wall-slippage they present for liquid water. Though their behaviour has been extensively investigated through several theoretical and numerical methods, the experimental approaches are still indispensable to test and understand the properties of these surfaces. However, the lack of a general predicting model is also due to the fact that no one of the several existing experimental techniques has shown up as a very reliable one. Indeed, the reported measurements of slippage still depends on the specific adopted method, thwarting attempts to corroborate the proposed theoretical and numerical schemes. Therefore, it is evident that a more sensitive and effective experimental technique is still missing. This thesis began and developed inside the wider project of setting up an innovative technique to investigate the fluid-solid slippage on superhydrophobic surfaces by means of optical tweezers. Even though this project is still going on, this work reports the steps performed along the long way towards this main goal and it consists of a collection of several researches involving different scientific fields as optics, microscopy, surface science, microhydrodynamics, microfluidics and microfabrication. The researches presented in this work can be separated in two main categories: i) holographic micromanipulation and microscopy, ii) superhydrophobicity.

Les matériaux à faible énergie de surface (LSEMs) sont conçus pour différentes applications. Parmi celle-ci, les applications sur un support solide pour l’élaboration de surfaces superhydro/oléophobes ainsi qu’à l'interface de 2 milieux distincts pour la synthèse de nouveaux tensioactifs éco-responsables. Actuellement, ces matériaux sont constitués essentiellement de composés fluorés pour leurs propriétés uniques leur conférant à la fois l’hydro- et oléo-phobie ainsi que pour leur stabilité thermique et chimique dans des milieux corrosifs. Ce projet montre que l’élaboration des surfaces superhydro/oléophobes peut être réalisée sans utiliser nécessairement des chaînes perfluorées. Deux approches sont adoptées dans ce processus. La première stratégie est d'étudier l'influence de la longueur de la chaîne fluorée sur la structuration et la mouillabilité de la surface des dérivés du ProDOT. La seconde est d'explorer l'influence d'une chaine hydrocarbonée incorporée au coeur des monomères et d'étudier l'effet du type et de la longueur de ces chaînes sur les propriétés de surface. Dans le cadre de l'application des LSEMs sur les ‘matériaux mous’, deux études ont été réalisées : la première se focalisant sur l'effet de la longueur des chaînes hydrocarbonées sur les tensioactifs hybrides à courte chaine fluorée et la deuxième étudiant l'effet de la tête polaire. Deux séries de sulfates et bisulfates hybrides ont donc été synthétisées et leurs propriétés physico-chimiques étudiées. Ce travail a abouti à des résultats intéressants. / Two types of Low surface energy materials LSEMs can be recognized; those which are firstly applied on solid surfaces to elaborate superhydro/oleophobic surfaces that are micro and nano structured, and secondly at the water/air interface to synthesize new ecofriendly surfactants. LSEMs are essentially made from fluorinated compounds due to their unique properties of being both hydro and oleophobic as well as, their thermal and chemical stability in corrosive media. This project shows that the creation of superhydrophobic materials with high oleophobic properties does not necessarily require the utilization of long and bioaccumulative perfluorocarbon chains. Two approaches were adopted in this field. The first strategy was to develop ProDOT derivatives bearing short fluorinated chains to study the influence of the fluorinated chain length on the surface wettability. The proceeding part was to explore the effect of the introduction of a hydrocarbon tail and study the effect of their type and chain length on the surface properties. Another important aspect of this research involves the application of LSEMs on soft materials like surfactants as alternatives to toxic perfluorinated homologues. This study was done to explore the effect of the variant hydrocarbon chains with a short fluorinated tail of hybrid surfactants as well as the effect of the polar head. In this area, two families of hybrid sulfate and bisulfates were synthesized. Their physico-chemical properties were investigated and interesting results were obtained.

A sustainable supply of fresh water for the human population is a global concern. Intriguingly, about 70% of the total fresh water consumed in the world annually is claimed by agriculture alone; this fraction is even higher in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where natural regeneration of groundwater is the slowest. Thus, there is a serious need for innovative materials and technologies to enhance the efficiency water usage in agriculture. To this end, plastic mulches have been employed across the developed world to minimize evaporative loss of water from top-soils. While plastic mulches are inexpensive, they do require specialized farm machinery for installation and long processing times. On one hand, plastic mulches have proven to increase crop yields, but on the other their non-biodegradability poses serious environmental concerns. In response, development of low-cost bio-/photo-degradable artificial mulches remains an area of intense research. In this thesis, we report on a novel superhydrophobic material exploiting inexpensive simple components to reduce the amount of water required for irrigation in agriculture by suppressing evaporative losses from the top-soil. Our material consists of ordinary beach sand coated with < 20 nm thick layer of paraffin wax. We synthesized and extensively characterized our material and applied them as mulches for tomato and barley plants at the KAUST greenhouse. We found that when a ~5 mm thick layer of superhydrophobic sand was placed onto the top-soil in pots, it dramatically suppressed evaporative losses and significantly enhanced the yields. Our preliminary field-scale experiments with tomatoes and barley crops at the Hada Al Sham site corroborate these results. Our approach might find applications in desert agriculture and other fields and alleviate water stress in the MENA region.

Flame synthesis is recognized as a much cheaper and higher throughput process for carbon nanotube/nanofiber (CNT/CNF) production compared to conventional catalytic processes like chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Nanostructured carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes and nanofibers, exhibit superhydrophobic behavior over a range of pH values, including for corrosive liquids. Part of this research reports the development of a rapid on-demand process for the synthesis of superhydrophobic surfaces on silicon (Si) discs using an ethylene-air nonpremixed flame. Such superhydrophobic behavior, combined with increase in effective surface area due to carbon nanostructure (CNS) deposition and corresponding desirable size (nanoscale roughness) attract the growth and attachment of microbial colonies to these CNS-enhanced substrates. This has potentially high-impact application in microbial fuel cells (MiFCs) whereby stainless steel (SS) meshes coated with flame-deposited CNS are used as anodes and the electrons produced by attaching biofilms can generate electricity in a fuel cell. However, despite such and many other applications and promise of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), their production is generally based on empirical principles. There are only a few CNT formation models that predict the dependence of CNT growth on various synthesis parameters. Typically, these do not incorporate a detailed mechanistic consideration of the various processes that are involved during CNT synthesis. Herein, this need is addressed and a model is presented for catalytic CNT growth that integrates various interdependent physical and chemical mechanisms involved in CNT production. It is validated by comparing its predictions with experimental measurements for CVD synthesis of CNTs and a concise parametric study is presented. The results are extrapolated for flame synthesis that is recognized as a desirable cost-effective process for the bulk synthesis of CNTs, as already mentioned. The last part of this dissertation discusses an extension of the CNT growth model to silicon nanowire/nanowhisker (SiNW) synthesis. SiNWs are synthesized by a number of methods — catalysis by a metal (involving vapor-liquid-solid or VLS growth mode), molecular beam epitaxy, thermal evaporation and laser ablation to name a few. Our model pertains to metal-catalyzed VLS growth mode. / Ph. D.

La contamination des matériaux par les bactéries est un processus naturel et spontané pouvant être à l’origine de graves infections. Actuellement, les techniques de lutte contre la biocontamination font appel à l’utilisation de matériaux biocides. Ces méthodes sont cependant sujettes à controverse puisqu’il a été mis en évidence qu’elles pouvaient être toxiques, que leur efficacité pouvait diminuer dans le temps et surtout qu’elles pouvaient participer à rendre les bactéries de plus en plus résistantes. La formation d’un biofilm impliquant l’adhésion des bactéries sur les surfaces, de nouvelles stratégies ont été développées par la conception de surfaces limitant leurs interactions avec les bactéries, telles que les surfaces anti-adhésives superhydrophobes. En effet, dans ce cas, l’adhésion est réduite par la présence d’une couche d’air entre les bactéries et la surface. Dans ce projet, deux matériaux ont été rendus superhydrophobes : un acier inoxydable 316 par électrodéposition de polymères hydrocarbonés ou fluorés dérivés du poly(3,4- éthylènedioxythiophène), et un PET par des traitements plasma successifs d’oxygène, de polypyrrole et de CF4. Le contrôle des paramètres expérimentaux ont permis d’obtenir des surfaces d’hydrophobie et de morphologie variables de façon à pouvoir étudier l’influence de ces propriétés physico-chimiques sur la bioadhésion et la formation de biofilm de trois souches bactériennes : P. aeruginosa, L. monocytogenes et S. aureus. Il a ainsi été mis en évidence, dans les conditions testées, l’importance de la présence de fonctions fluorées associée à une structuration contrôlée pour diminuer la biocontamination de surfaces. / Bacterial surface contamination is a natural and spontaneous process involved in serious infections. Currently, biocidal materials are used to avoid the biocontamination. However, these methods are not sufficient because of their toxicity, their loss of efficiency over time and mainly because they can make the bacteria more resistant.The biofilm formation involving the bacterial adhesion on surfaces, new strategies have been developed with the conception of surfaces reducing their interactions with bacteria, such as superhydrophobic surfaces. In fact, bacterial adhesion could be reduced by the presence of an air layer between superhydrophobic surface and bacteria. In this project, two substrates have been made superhydrophobic: 316 stainless steel by electrodeposition of hydrocarbon or fluorocarbon polymers, derived from poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene), and PET by successive plasma treatments of oxygen, polypyrrole and CF4. The control of experimental parameters led to different water repellency and surface morphologies, and allows the study of the effect of these physico-chemical properties on the bioadhesion and the biofilm formation with three bacteria: P. aeruginosa, L. monocytogenes and S. aureus. Thus, it has been shown the important role of fluorinated chains and controlled surface structures to reduce the surface biocontamination.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 CAMARGO_Janine_2017.pdf: 19878018 bytes, checksum: 517c1918bf6801b10fe87b0d806d8a50 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Cellulose is a biopolymer available in abundance in nature, which presents very interesting properties mainly for the textile, packaging and paper industry. However, due to its strongly hydrophilic character, resulting from the presence of a large number of free hydroxyl groups in its molecule, its use in certain areas becomes limited. In order to promote the modification of the wetting characteristic of the cellulose, and make it superhydrophobic, samples of this material were submitted to plasma processes performed in two steps: ablation and film deposition. Initially, the effect of variation of ablation time on the creation of adequate surface topography was studied. For this, the samples were exposed to the oxygen plasma at a pressure of 13 Pa and power of 150 W, varying the treatment time from 5 to 60 minutes. Then, the treated samples were submitted to the process called PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition), in which a film was deposited on the surface from the precursor hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) in the presence of argon, in a ratio of 70 e 30%, respectively. The deposition time was set to 30 minutes and the power applied was 150 W. In a second investigation, the effect of the thickness of the deposited film was studied. In this case, the cellulose samples were previously exposed to the oxygen ablation plasma for 60 minutes and then led to the PECVD process, with the deposition time varying from 5 to 30 minutes. In a third investigation, the duration of the ablation and deposition steps was reduced to 30 and 1 minute, respectively, in order to optimize the methodology. The samples were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), profilometry, static contact angle measurements and hysteresis and sliding angle measurements. The results demonstrated that longer exposure times for the ablation step provide a significant modification in the material, through the creation of nanoscale structures on the surface of the fibers. The deposition step promoted the formation of films with organosilicon character on the cellulose surface, with thicknesses varying between 144 and 910 nm. The combination of the topography created after 30 minutes of ablation with the thin film resulting from the deposition step for 1 minute provided a surface with low receptivity for both polar (? = 150°) and nonpolar (? ~ 120°) liquids, whose wettability property remained stable with treatment aging time. The low values obtained for hysteresis (9°) and sliding angle (7°) confirm the creation of a superhydrophobic roll-off surface. / A celulose é um biopolímero disponível em abundância na natureza e que possui propriedades bastante interessantes principalmente para a indústria têxtil, de embalagens e papel. No entanto, devido ao seu caráter fortemente hidrofílico, proveniente da presença de um grande número de grupos hidroxila livres em sua molécula, sua utilização em determinadas áreas se torna limitada. Com o objetivo de promover a modificação da característica de molhabilidade da celulose, de modo a torná-la superhidrofóbica, amostras deste material foram submetidas a processos a plasma realizados em duas etapas: ablação e deposição de filme. Inicialmente, estudou-se o efeito da variação do tempo de ablação na criação da topografia adequada da superfície. Para isto, as amostras foram expostas ao plasma de oxigênio a uma pressão de 13 Pa e 150 W de potência, variando-se o tempo de tratamento de 5 a 60 minutos. Em seguida, as amostras tratadas foram submetidas ao processo denominado PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition), no qual foi depositado um filme sobre a superfície das mesmas, a partir do precursor hexametildisiloxano (HMDSO) na presença de argônio, numa proporção de 70 e 30%, respectivamente. O tempo de deposição foi fixado em 30 minutos e a potência aplicada foi de 150 W. Numa segunda investigação, foi estudado o efeito da espessura do filme depositado. Neste caso, as amostras de celulose foram previamente expostas ao plasma de ablação com oxigênio durante 60 minutos e posteriormente ao processo de PECVD, variando-se o tempo de deposição de 5 a 30 minutos. Numa terceira investigação, o tempo de duração das etapas de ablação e deposição foi reduzido para 30 e 1 minuto, respectivamente, com o intuito de otimizar a metodologia. As amostras foram caracterizadas por Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV), Espectroscopia de Energia Dispersiva (EDS), Espectroscopia de Absorção no Infravermelho por Transformada de Fourier (FTIR), perfilometria, medição de ângulo de contato estático e medição de histerese e ângulo de deslizamento. Os resultados demonstraram que maiores tempos de exposição à etapa de ablação proporcionam uma modificação significativa no material, por meio da criação de estruturas em nanoescala na superfície das fibras. A etapa de deposição promoveu a formação de filmes de caráter organosilicone sobre a superfície da celulose, com espessuras variando entre 144 e 910 nm. A combinação entre a topografia criada após 30 minutos de ablação e o filme de menor espessura resultante da etapa de deposição durante 1 minuto, possibilitaram a obtenção de uma superfície de baixa receptividade tanto a líquidos polares (? =150°) quanto apolares (? ~120°), cuja propriedade de molhabilidade se manteve estável com o tempo de envelhecimento. Os baixos valores de histerese (9°) e ângulo de deslizamento (7°) obtidos confirmam a criação de uma superfície superhidrofóbica do tipo “roll-off”.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this work we investigate the use of the Potts Cellular Model in simulations of the water droplets on flat hydrophobic and pillarlike surfaces surrounded by gas. Eight tests were chosen to validate the model, based on experimental and theoretical results: (1) the measurement of the contact angle on a flat hydrophobic surface; (2) the transition from Cassie to Wenzel states; (3) the measurement of the contact angle on the pillar-like structured surface in Wenzel and Cassie states; (4) the dependence of the contact angle on the roughness of the surface; (5) the measurement of the contact angle hysteresis; (6) the difference in angle hysteresis between Wenzel and Cassie states (7) the sliding of a droplet on inclined surfaces; and (8) the relationship between angle hysteresis and the velocity of the droplets on inclined surfaces. Our results are agree with the experimental and theoretical results suggesting that the Cellular Potts Model can be used as a tool in the theoretical studies these systems. / Neste trabalho investigamos a utilização do Modelo de Potts Celular na simulação de gotas de água sobre superfícies hidrofóbicas lisa e estruturada em pilares que pode apresentar comportamento superhidrofóbico em contato com gás. Oito testes foram escolhidos para validar o modelo, baseados em resultados experimentais e teóricos conhecidos: (1) a medida do ângulo de contato da gota sobre a superfície lisa; (2) a transição do regime Cassie para o regime Wenzel; (3) a medida do ângulo de contato da gota sobre a superfície estruturada; (4) a dependência do ângulo de contato com a rugosidade da superfície; (5) a medida da histerese do ângulo de contato; (6) a diferença na histerese do ângulo nos regimes Cassie e Wenzel; (7) ângulo crítico de deslize sobre superfícies lisas; (8) a relação entre a histerese e velocidade de deslize da gota. Nossos resultados concordam com os resultados experimentais sugerindo que o modelo de Potts Celular pode ser usado como uma ferramenta no estudo teórico destes sistemas.

Des revêtements sol-gel nanocomposites TiO2-SiO2 ont été réalisés à partir de mélanges d'une suspension nanocristalline de TiO2 anatase et de sols polymériques de silice. Ces revêtements présentent une superhydrophilie naturelle, persistante et photo-régénérable. La présence de charges localisées aux interfaces granulaires TiO2-SiO2 est une des hypothèses permettant d'expliquer cette superhydrophilie naturelle. Toutefois des effets de morphologie (rugosité, porosité de surface) sont également connus pour influencer le mouillage. Des études ont été menées pour mettre directement en évidence l'effet intrinsèque des interfaces granulaires. Les études se sont recentrées sur l'effet extrinsèque de paramètres morphologiques susceptibles d'influencer la mouillabilité des revêtements nanocomposites selon des modèles thermodynamiques des surfaces connus. De nouveaux protocoles de synthèse par voie sol-gel ont été mis au point afin d'analyser i/ en quoi la superhydrophilie naturelle et photo-induite des revêtements TiO2-SiO2 pouvait être influencée par des effets de morphologie et de composition, et ii/ en quoi une exacerbation de ces effets via des structurations artificielles pouvaient encore accroître la superhydrophile de surface. Une extrapolation de ces protocoles a également permis d'étudier des revêtements superhydrophobes. / Sol-gel TiO2-SiO2 nanocomposites coatings have been deposited from a suspension of anatase TiO2 nanocristallites mixed with different polymeric silica sols. These coatings show a natural and persistent superhydrophilicity, which can also be photo-regenerated. This outstanding property can probably be explained by electrical charges localized at TiO2-SiO2 granular interfaces. Yet, some morphological features (roughness, surface porosity) may also influence wetting properties. Studies have firstly been carried out to directly evidence the intrinsic effect of those electrical charges. The studies have then been focused on the extrinsic effect of morphological parameters than can influence the composite wettability, according to thermodynamic models. New sol-gel protocols were carried out to better understand in which extent i/ the natural and photo-induced wetting properties of composite coatings may be influenced by composition and morphological features, and ii/ artificial structuration of the coating surface may enhance their superhydrophilicity. Those structuration protocols have been extrapolated to the study of superhydrophobic coatings.