Les matériaux dits de conversion à base de Sb et Sn, utilisés comme électrodes, apparaissent comme des composés particulièrement intéressants compte tenu de leur forte capacité théorique. Le matériau TiSnSb a été récemment développé en tant qu’électrode négative pour batteries lithium-ion. Ce matériau est capable d’accueilir, de façon réversible, 6,5 Li par unité formulaire, ce qui correspond à une capacité spécifique de 580 mAh/g. Dans le domaine des batteries lithium-ion, les propriétés de l’interface électrode/électrolyte (« solid electrolyte interphase », SEI), formant une couche de passivation protectrice à la surface des électrodes sont considérées comme essentielles pour les performances au sens large des batteries. Cet aspect représente le sujet majeur traité dans ce travail de thèse. Dans cet optique, nous avons tout d'abord étudié les propriétés électrochimiques de l'électrode TiSnSb sous divers aspects, dont les effets du régime de cyclage, l’influence de la nature des additifs au sein de l’électrolyte ainsi que l’utilisation de liquides ioniques à température ambiante (RTILs). En particulier, un système d'électrolyte à base de RTILs a été développé et optimisé vis-à-vis des performances électrochimiques. Afin de caractériser l’interface électrode-électrolyte, deux techniques de caractérisation majeures ont été utilisées : la Spectroscopie Photoélectronique à Rayonnement X (XPS) et la Spectroscopie d'Impédance électrochimique (EIS). Cette étude a permis de cibler certains paramètres essentiels liant les aspects performances électrochimiques à la nature de l’interface électrode-électrolyte. / In the past decades, the need for portable power has accelerated due to the miniaturization of electronic appliances. It continues to drive research and development of advanced energy systems, especially for lithium ion battery systems. As a consequence, conversion materials for lithium-ion batteries, including Sb and Sn-based compounds, have attracted much intense attention for their high storage capacities. Among conversion materials, TiSnSb has been recently developed as a negative electrode for lithium-ion batteries. This material is able to reversibly take up 6.5 Li per formula unit which corresponds to a specific capacity of 580 mAh/g. In the field of lithium-ion battery research, the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) as a protective passivation film formed at electrode surface owing to the reduction of the electrolyte components, has been considered as a determinant factor on the performances of lithium-ion battery. Thus it has been a focused topic of many researches. However, little information can be found about the formation and composition of the SEI layer formed on TiSnSb conversion electrode at this time. With the aim to investigate the influences of the SEI layer on the performances of composite TiSnSb electrode, we first studied the electrochemical properties of the electrode from various aspects, including the effects of cycling rates, electrolyte additives, as well as room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). Especially, a RTILs-based electrolyte system was developed and optimized by evaluating its physicochemical properties to be able to further improve the performances of TiSnSb electrode. In order to characterize the SEI layer formed at electrode surface, we performed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This study allowed to target some essential parameters concerning electrochemical performances linked with the nature of the solid electrolyte interphase.*

The design of biomaterials, historically initiated and developed by physicians and engineers, in the last decades has slowly shifted toward a more biochemical based approach. For the replacement, repair and regeneration of tissues scientists are now focusing on materials that stimulate specific biological response at the molecular level. These biomaterials have already shown interesting applications in cell proliferation, differentiation, and extracellular matrix production and organization when the material modifications are designed to elicit specific interactions with cell integrins. In the present work we propose the application of this strategy for the development of blood-compatible materials. We first identified, in the coagulation cascade a key enzyme that constitute a valuable biological target for the development of anti-thrombogenic compounds. Piperazinyl-amide derivatives of N-alfa-(3-trifluoromethyl-benzenesulfonyl)-L-arginine were synthesized as graftable thrombin inhibitors. These inhibitors provided a spacer arm for surface grafting and a fluorine tag for XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) detection. The possible disturbance of biological activity due to a variable spacer-arm fixed on the N-4 piperazinyl position was evaluated in vitro against human alfa-thrombin, in silico by molecular modelling and via X-ray diffraction study. Selected inhibitors, having inhibition potency in the mM range, were grafted on polyesters surface via wet chemistry and photochemical activation treatments. Wet chemistry surface grafting was performed by specific hydroxyl chain-ends activation and resulted in bioactive molecules fixation of 20-300pmol/cm2. The photochemical grafting was performed using a molecular clip providing an aromatic azide, for nitrene insertion into a polymer, and an activated ester for grafting of tag compounds. This grafting technique resulted in a dramatic increase in fixed bioactive signals (up to nmol/cm2). The material blood-compatibilization induced by the surface fixation of the inhibitors, was measured by a static blood clot weight measurement test. The wet chemistry grafting technique resulted in moderate blood-compatibilization while by the photochemical grafting method important decrease in surface blood clot formation was observed. In the latter case, the blood response to material contact was found to be strongly affected by the polyester surface photo-degradation induced by the activation treatment.

The design of biomaterials, historically initiated and developed by physicians and engineers, in the last decades has slowly shifted toward a more biochemical based approach. For the replacement, repair and regeneration of tissues scientists are now focusing on materials that stimulate specific biological response at the molecular level. These biomaterials have already shown interesting applications in cell proliferation, differentiation, and extracellular matrix production and organization when the material modifications are designed to elicit specific interactions with cell integrins. In the present work we propose the application of this strategy for the development of blood-compatible materials. We first identified, in the coagulation cascade a key enzyme that constitute a valuable biological target for the development of anti-thrombogenic compounds. Piperazinyl-amide derivatives of N-alfa-(3-trifluoromethyl-benzenesulfonyl)-L-arginine were synthesized as graftable thrombin inhibitors. These inhibitors provided a spacer arm for surface grafting and a fluorine tag for XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) detection. The possible disturbance of biological activity due to a variable spacer-arm fixed on the N-4 piperazinyl position was evaluated in vitro against human alfa-thrombin, in silico by molecular modelling and via X-ray diffraction study. Selected inhibitors, having inhibition potency in the mM range, were grafted on polyesters surface via wet chemistry and photochemical activation treatments. Wet chemistry surface grafting was performed by specific hydroxyl chain-ends activation and resulted in bioactive molecules fixation of 20-300pmol/cm2. The photochemical grafting was performed using a molecular clip providing an aromatic azide, for nitrene insertion into a polymer, and an activated ester for grafting of tag compounds. This grafting technique resulted in a dramatic increase in fixed bioactive signals (up to nmol/cm2). The material blood-compatibilization induced by the surface fixation of the inhibitors, was measured by a static blood clot weight measurement test. The wet chemistry grafting technique resulted in moderate blood-compatibilization while by the photochemical grafting method important decrease in surface blood clot formation was observed. In the latter case, the blood response to material contact was found to be strongly affected by the polyester surface photo-degradation induced by the activation treatment.

A core level spectroscopy study of ice and water is presented in this thesis. Combining a number of experiments and spectrum calculations based on density functional theory, changes in the local valence electronic structure are shown to be sensitive to the local H-bonding configurations. Exploiting this sensitivity, we are able to approach important scientific problems for a number of aggregation states; liquid water, the water-metal interface, bulk and surface of hexagonal ice. For the H-bonded model system hexagonal ice, we have probed the occupied valence electronic structure by x-ray emission and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Stepwise inclusion of different types of interactions within density functional theory, together with a local valence electron population analysis, show that it is essential to include intermolecular charge transfer together with internal s-p rehybridizations in order to describe the changes in electronic structure seen in the experiment. The attractive electrostatic interaction between water molecules is enhanced by a decrease in Pauli repulsion. A simple electrostatic model due to charge induction from the surrounding water is unable to explain the electronic structure changes. By varying the probing depth in x-ray absorption the structure of the bulk, subsurface and surface regions is probed in a thin ice film. A pronounced continuum for fully coordinated species in the bulk is in sharp contrast to the spectrum associated with a broken symmetry at the surface. In particular molecular arrangements of water with one uncoordinated OH group have unoccupied electronic states below the conduction band that are responsible for a strong anisotropic pre-edge intensity in the x-ray absorption spectrum. The topmost layer is dominated by an almost isotropic distribution of these species, which is inconsistent with an unrelaxed surface structure. For liquid water the x-ray absorption spectrum resembles that of the ice surface, indicating a domination of species with broken hydrogen bond configurations. The sensitivity to the local hydrogen bond configuration, in particular the sensitivity to broken bonds on the donor side, allows for a detailed analysis of the liquid water spectrum. Most molecules in liquid water are found in two-hydrogen-bonded configurations with one strong donor and one strong acceptor hydrogen bond. The results, consistent with diffraction data, imply that most molecules are arranged in strongly H-bonded chains or rings embedded in a disordered cluster network. Molecular dynamics simulations are unable to describe the experimental data. The water overlayer on the close-packed platinum surface is studied using a combination of core-level spectroscopy and density functional theory. A new structure for water adsorption on close-packed transition metal surfaces is found, where a weakly corrugated non-dissociated overlayer interacts via alternating oxygen-metal and hydrogen-metal bonds. The latter results from a balance between metal-hydrogen bond formation and OH bond weakening. The ultrashort core-hole lifetime of oxygen provides a powerful probe of excited state dynamics via studies of the non-radiative or radiative decay following x-ray absorption. Electrons excited into the pre-edge state for single donor species at the ice surface remain localized long enough for early time solvation dynamics to occur and these species are suggested as strong pre-existing traps to the hydrated electron. Fully coordinated molecules in the bulk contribute to a strong conduction band with electron transfer times below 0.5 femtoseconds. Upon core-ionization, both protons are found to migrate substantial distances on a femtosecond timescale. This unusually fast proton dynamics for non-resonant excitation is captured both by theory and experiment with a measurable isotope effect.

The wetting behavior of water on methacrylate copolymer films was studied on anodically oxidized and micro-roughened aluminium surfaces and also on smooth model surfaces. The copolymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate with a methacrylate containing a fluoroorganic side chain led to a considerable decrease of the surface free energy, but not to a superhydrophobic behavior of polymer-coated, micro-roughened aluminium surfaces. However, copolymers containing both hydrophobic and hydrophilic sequences are able to form superhydrophobic films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that an enrichment of the interface between the solid phase and the air by fluorine-containing polymer components was the reason for the strong decrease of the surface free energy. The hydrophilic segments of the copolymers improved the ability to wet the highly polar aluminium surface and to form films of higher density.

This thesis reports both the optimizations of the vanadium oxide (VOx) thin film as an active infrared detector material by the magnetron sputtering deposition method and its use during fabrication of proper resistors for the microbolometers. Vanadium oxide is a preferred material for microbolometers, as it provides high TCR value, low noise, and reasonable resistance, and a number of high-tech companies have used this material to obtain state-of-the-art microbolometer arrays. This material is first used in microbolometers by Honeywell, who provides its recipe with license agreements, and there is not much information in the literature for its deposition recipe. This is the first study at METU for development of vanadium oxide thin film for microbolometers. The VOx material deposition studies started by identifying the deposition parameters of the magnetron sputtering system in order to obtain proper VOx resistors for the readout electronics. The obtained recipe includes high temperature deposition conditions of VOx, however, this causes a diffusion problem on the electrodes, preventing to obtain a good contact to VOx. Also, high oxygen level in the depositions makes a contamination on the electrodes. A number of studies were done to determine a proper electrode material which is proper with the deposition conditions of the VOx. Characterization of the vanadium oxide samples is done by XRD and XPS measurements to see the relation between the phases and resistivity of the vanadium oxide. It is known that V2O5 phase provides a high TCR and resistivity value, and the XRD results show that this phase is dominant in the highly-oxygen doped or annealed resistors. The TCR and noise measurements are done using resistors implemented with the developed VOx film, after the etching processes of the both VOx and the electrodes are optimized. The contamination on the electrodes is prevented by the help of a newly designed process. The TCR measurement results show that annealing of the resistors affect the TCR values, i.e., increasing the annealing duration increases the TCR values of the resistors. Two different resistors with different deposition conditions are annealed to see the effect of annealing, where TCR results of the resistors are -0.74%/K and -0.8 %/K before annealing. The TCR values of these resistors increase to -1.6 %/K and -4.35 %K, respectively, after annealing in same conditions, showing that both the deposition conditions and annealing change the TCR significantly. Although good TCR values are obtained, the noise values of the VOx resistors are much higher than the expected values, which suggest a further study to determine the cause of this noise.

This thesis reports the development of Vanadium Tungsten Oxide (VWO) film as an active detector material for uncooled infrared detectors by using the reactive DC magnetron co-sputtering method. VWO is a doped form of the Vanadium Oxide (VOx) which is known as a prominent material for uncooled infrared detectors with its high TCR, low resistivity, and low noise properties. VOx is a widely preferred material for commercialized uncooled infrared detectors along with its drawbacks. Fabrication is fairly difficult due to its unstable material properties and the need for low process temperatures for a monolithic, CMOS compatible surface micromachining process. Hence, a new material with high performance and easier fabrication is needed. This thesis is the first study at METU on the development of high-performance VWO as an active detector material for uncooled infrared detectors. Deposition studies of VWO primarily started by measuring the effects of deposition parameters upon the magnetron sputtering system. Because the high effectiveness of the tungsten doping has been obtained for the doping level below 10% according to literary information, maximum vanadium (V) deposition rate together with minimum tungsten (W) deposition rate has been initially aimed. TCR of the VWO films has been measured between -2.48 %/K and -3.31 %/K, and the variation of noise corner frequency from 0.6 kHz to 8 kHz has been observed. In addition to these results of VWO, a favorable VOx recipe which has the highest performance done at METU in terms of resistance, TCR, noise and uniformity has also attained during the studies. Structural characterization of VWO is achieved using XPS, XRD, and AFM characterization techniques. Other than the sputtering parameters, post-annealing process and oxygen plasma exposure was examined as well. A general observation of the post-annealing is that it decreases not merely the TCR but also the noise of the deposited film. A short-period oxygen plasma exposure has a constructive effect on the noise behavior. Fabricated vanadium tungsten oxide with sandwich type resistor structure shows very close but better bolometric properties when compared with the yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO), which is another material being studied in scope of other theses at METU. XPS, XRD and AFM characterization methods have been used for the structural characterization of vanadium-tungsten-oxide.

In this thesis, carbon supported platinum nanoparticles have been prepared by using PtCl4 as a starting material and 1-octanethiol, 1-decanethiol, 1-dodecanethiol and 1-hexadecanethiol as surfactants for methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol oxidation reactions. The structure, particle sizes and surface morphologies of the platinum were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XRD and TEM results indicate that all prepared catalysts have a face centered cubic structure and are homogeneously dispersed on the carbon support with a narrow size distribution (2.0 to 1.3 nm). X-ray photoelectron spectra of the catalysts were examined and it was found that platinum has two different oxidation state, Pt (0) and Pt (IV), oxygen and sulfur compounds are H2Oads and OHads, bounded and unbounded thiols. The electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties of those catalysts were investigated towards C1 to C3 alcohol oxidations by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The highest electrocatalytic activity was obtained from catalyst I which was prepared with 1-octanethiol. This may be attributed to decrease in the ratio of bounded to unbounded thiol species and increase in Pt (0)/Pt (IV), H2Oads/OHads ratios, electrochemical surface area, CO tolerance and percent platinum utility.

This article has been published online on 21st May 2014, in Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vac (Vol.32, Issue 4): http://scitation.aip.org/content/avs/journal/jvsta/32/4/10.1116/1.4878815?aemail=author DOI: 10.1116/1.4878815 This article may be accessed via the issue's table of contents at this link: http://scitation.aip.org/content/avs/journal/jvsta/32/4?aemail=author The surface chemistry of the bis(tri-n-butylphosphane) copper(I) acetylacetonate, [(nBu3P)2Cu(acac)], and the thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Cu2O using this Cu precursor as reactant and wet oxygen as co-reactant on SiO2 substrates are studied by in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Cu precursor was evaporated and exposed to the substrates kept at temperatures between 22 °C and 300 °C. The measured phosphorus and carbon concentration on the substrates indicated that most of the [nBu3P] ligands were released either in the gas phase or during adsorption. No disproportionation was observed for the Cu precursor in the temperature range between 22 °C and 145 °C. However, disproportionation of the Cu precursor was observed at 200 °C, since C/Cu concentration ratio decreased and substantial amounts of metallic Cu were present on the substrate. The amount of metallic Cu increased, when the substrate was kept at 300 °C, indicating stronger disproportionation of the Cu precursor. Hence, the upper limit for the ALD of Cu2O from this precursor lies in the temperature range between 145 °C and 200 °C, as the precursor must not alter its chemical and physical state after chemisorption on the substrate. 500 ALD cycles with the probed Cu precursor and wet O2 as co reactant were carried out on SiO2 at 145 °C. After ALD, in situ XPS analysis confirmed the presence of Cu2O on the substrate. Ex-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry indicated an average film thickness of 2.5 nm of Cu2O deposited with a growth per cycle of 0.05 Å/cycle. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigations depicted a homogeneous, fine, and granular morphology of the Cu2O ALD film on SiO2. AFM investigations suggest that the deposited Cu2O film is continuous on the SiO2 substrate.

In spite of their high abundance and importance, aqueous systems are enigmatic on the microscopic scale. In order to obtain information about their geometrical and electronic structure, simple aqueous solutions have been studied experimentally by photo- and Auger electron spectroscopy using the novel liquid micro-jet technique in conjunction with synchrotron radiation. The thesis is thematically divided into three parts. In the first part we utilize the surface sensitivity of photoelectron spectroscopy to probe the distributions of solutes near the water surface. In agreement with recent theoretical predictions we find that large polarizable anions, such as I- and ClO4-, display enhanced surface propensities compared to smaller rigid ions. Surface effects arising from ion-ion interactions at higher electrolyte concentrations and as function of pH are investigated. Studies of linear mono-carboxylic acids and benzoic acid show that the neutral molecular forms of such weak acids are better stabilized at the water surface than their respective conjugate base forms. The second part examines what type of information core-electron spectra can yield about the chemical state and hydration structure of small organic molecules in water. We demonstrate that the method is sensitive to the protonation state of titratable functional groups and that core-level lineshapes are dependent on local water hydration configurations. Using a combination of photoelectron and X-ray absorption spectroscopy we also show that the electronic re-arrangement upon hydrolysis of aldehydes yields characteristic fingerprints in core-level spectra. In the last part of this thesis we study ultrafast charge delocalization dynamics in aqueous solutions using resonant and off-resonant Auger spectroscopy. Intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) is found to occur in a number of core-excited solutions where excess energy is transferred between the solvent and the solute. The rate of ultrafast electron delocalization between hydrogen bonded water molecules upon oxygen 1s resonant core-excitation is found to decrease upon solvation of inorganic ions. The presented work is illustrative of how core-level photoelectron spectroscopy can be valuable in the study of fundamental phenomena in aqueous solutions.