In this work, three different classes of colour converting layers (CCLs) for the down-conversion of blue and green Organic Light Emitting Devices (OLEDs) have been developed. In Chapter 3, the dispersion of organic dyes into polymer matrices via solution processing and solid state methods is presented. Application of hybrid organic-inorganic fluorescent particles, composed of organic fluorescent molecules absorbed into porous supporting materials, is discussed in Chapter 4. This solution allows for the dispersion of the organic molecule into an otherwise non-miscible polysiloxane matrix and resulted in the discovery of unusual optical properties of one of the organic dye (fluorescein disodium salt). This peculiar emission has been studied in more detail during Chapter 5. In addition, the possible use of fluorescent nanodiamonds, produced by gamma radiation, as luminescent materials, has been investigated in Chapter 6.

Considering biocompatibility, the Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSC) based on titanium dioxide should play a major role in the future of solar energy. In this ongoing study, different components and ambient process conditions for the fabrication of were investigated. Titanium dioxide substrate thickness and morphology was found to have a direct impact on the cell efficiency. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the TiO2 nanostructure. Different chemical treatments and electrolytes were also explored towards optimizing the cell performance. A group of porphyrin based organic dyes were synthesized and evaluated. Standard solar cell characterization techniques such as current-voltage and spectral response measurements were employed to evaluate the cell performance.

Transparency and conductivity are highly desirable qualities in materials for modern gas sensors. Polymer gas sensors have been developed in which the polymer acts as a solid electrolyte. However, these types of sensors are opaque, which limits their potential for integration with dichromatic materials. The development of a sensor integrating conductive polymer films and dichromatic materials requires the implementation of a transparent conductive polymer film. The potential of iodine-doped bisphenol-a polycarbonate films containing bis(ethylenedioxy)-tetrathiafulvalene (BEDO-TTF) dye for sensor applications will be tested through characterization of the films at various stages of their fabrication using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), transmission Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Optical Microscopy (OM), and Four Point Probe conductivity measurements (FPP). FTIR results show that there is an interaction between the polycarbonate matrix and the dye-iodine complex. Measured resistivities of the iodine doped films range from 148 Omega-cm to 2.82 kOmega-cm depending on the concentration of the iodine and exposure time. The imaging techniques used show a significant difference in the structure and the surface of the iodine doped-PC-BEDO-TTF films with respect to the bare polycarbonate films or the films mixed with the organic dye. It is also clear that the surface roughness of the prepared conductive films increases with iodine loading. These films have the potential to be used in sensor or photovoltaic applications.

This master's thesis was focused on the study of interaction of some organic azo dyes (model diffusion probes) with cationic biopolymer chitosan. This interactions were realized via diffusion processes in hydrogel media based on thermoreversible agarose. The main aim was study of influence of pH of solution on the diffusion process. Interactions of used dyes are based on electrostatic character. The aminogroup of chitosan interacts with the functional group of chosen dyes (anionic sulfonic group) and thus affects the process of diffusion. The model diffusion compounds were chosen organic anionic dyes Chicago sky blue 6B (C.I. 24 410), Sirius red (C.I. 35 780) and Reactive blue 49 (C.I. 621 526). The important content of this diffusion method is a monitoring of the time progression of diffusion profile by UV-VIS spectrophotometry. The presented work follows the bachelor thesis and shows comprehensive view of the reactivity of chitosan and its behavior in different systems. Unsteady diffusion in cuvettes appears to be a universal method for the study of reactivity of biopolymers and for the study of transport processes in hydrogel media. The diffusion method is universal, easy and cheap.

This thesis deals with development and synthesis of organic chromophores for dye sensitized solar cells. The chromophores are divided into three components; donor, linker and acceptor. The development of efficient organic chromophores for dye sensitized solar cells starts off with one new organic chromophore, D5. This chromophore consists of a triphenylamine moiety as an electron donor, a conjugated linker with a thiophene moiety and cyanoacrylic acid as an electron acceptor and anchoring group. Alternating the donor, linker or acceptor moieties independently, would give us the tool to tune the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the chromophores. The following parts of this thesis regard this development strategy. The contributions to the HOMO and LUMO energy levels were investigated when alternating the linker moiety. Unexpected effects of the solar cell performances when increasing the linker length were revealed, however. In addition, the effect of an alternative acceptor group, rhodanine-3-acetic acid, in combination with different linker lengths was investigated. The HOMO and LUMO energy level tuning was once again successful. Electron recombination from the semiconductor to the electrolyte is probably the cause of the poor efficiencies obtained for this series of dyes. Finally, the development of functionalized triphenylamine based donors and the contributions from different substituents to the HOMO and LUMO energy levels and as insulating layers were investigated. This strategy has so far been the most successful in terms of reaching high efficiencies in the solar cell. A top overall efficiency of 7.79 % was achieved. / QC 20100716

Les caoutchoucs, ou plus généralement, les polymères subissent de façon néfaste les agressions du milieu environnant au cours de leur utilisation. Deux facteurs sont connus comme étant parmi les plus importants impliqués lors du vieillissement : l’oxygène atmosphérique et les rayonnements UV-visibles solaire, conduisant au phénomène de photo-oxydation. Sachant que le vieillissement dans ce cas est régi par la pénétration de la lumière et la diffusion de l’oxygène, il y a au cours de l’irradiation formation d’une couche d’oxydation sur les premiers microns de la surface du matériau. L’objectif majeur de cette thèse est de mettre en évidence un lien entre l’évolution de la structure chimique et la perte des propriétés mécaniques dans le cadre de matériaux vulcanisés au cours du photo-vieillissement, en présence de charges telles que le dioxyde de titane et un colorant organique, au moyen d’une approche multi-techniques et multi-échelles.Afin d’y parvenir nous avons tout d’abord simplifié le matériau vulcanisé et nous nous sommes focalisés sur la matrice et les charges. Cette première étape nous a permis de déterminer l’influence des charges sur les mécanismes de photo-oxydation des caoutchoucs non vulcanisés, et nous a servi de base à la compréhension des matériaux vulcanisés plus complexes.Dans la deuxième étude, la caractérisation physico-chimique de la couche dégradée formée au cours de l’irradiation des composites vulcanisés a été effectuée. Nous avons par la suite confronté ces résultats avec la chute des propriétés mécaniques observée au cours du vieillissement. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence une corrélation directe entre la structure chimique liée aux propriétés de la couche oxydée et la chute des propriétés mécaniques. / Rubbers or mostly polymers are exposed to different attacks from the surroundings during their uses. Two factors are known to be among the most important involved during aging: atmospheric oxygen and UV-visible radiation from the sun, leading to the phenomenon of photo-oxidation. Photo-ageing is governed by the light penetration and diffusion of oxygen, which involve the formation of an oxidative layer on the first microns at the surface of the material. The main objective of this thesis is to point out the relationship between the changes in the chemical structure due to the formation of the oxidative layer and the loss of mechanical properties during photo-aging of vulcanised rubber in the presence of fillers such as titanium dioxide and organic dye by means of a multi-techniques and multi-scale approach.To achieve this goal, we first simplified the vulcanized material and we focused only on the matrix and fillers. This first step allowed us to determine the influence of fillers on the mechanisms of photo-oxidation of unvulcanised rubber. This study helped to better understand more complex materials such as vulcanised rubbers. In the second study, we focused on the physic-chemical characterization of the degraded layer formed during irradiation of vulcanised rubber. After that, we compared the results with the loss of the mechanical properties observed during aging. This study highlighted a link between the changes of the chemical structure related to the properties of the oxidized layer and the loss of the mechanical properties.

Les processus photocatalytiques à la surface d’oxydes métalliques semi-conducteurs font l’objet d’intensesrecherches au niveau mondial car ils constituent des alternatives efficaces, respectueuses de l’environnement etpeu coûteuses aux méthodes conventionnelles dans les domaines de la purification de l’eau et de l’air, et de laproduction « verte » d’hydrogène. Cependant, certaines limitations pour atteindre des efficacitésphotocatalytiques élevées ont été mises en évidence avec les matériaux semiconducteurs classiques du fait de larecombinaison rapide des porteurs de charge générés par illumination. Le développement de photocatalyseurs àbase d’héterostuctures obtenues par dépôt de métaux à la surface de matériaux semiconducteurs ou parassociation de deux semiconducteurs possédant des bandes d’énergie bien positionnées devrait permettre delimiter ces phénomènes de recombinaison via un transfert de charge vectoriel. Dans ce contexte, trois typesd’hétérostructures telles que des nanomatériaux à base d’hétérojonction semiconducteur n/semiconducteur n(SnO2/ZnO), metal/semiconducteur n (RuO2/TiO2 and RuO2/ZnO) et semiconducteur p/semiconducteur n(NiO/TiO2) ont été synthétisées avec succès par différentes voies liquides. Leur composition, leur texture, leurstructure et leur morphologie ont été caractérisées par spectroscopies FTIR et Raman, par diffraction des rayonsX, microscopie électronique en transmission (MET) et porosimétrie de sorption d’azote. Par ailleurs, unecombinaison judicieuse des données issues de mesures effectuées par spectroscopie UV-visible en réflexiondiffuse (DRS) et par spectroscopies de photoélectrons X (XPS) et UV (UPS) a permis de déterminer lediagramme d’énergie des bandes pour chaque système étudié. Les catalyseurs ainsi obtenus ont conduit à desefficacités photocatalytiques plus élevées qu’avec le dioxyde de titane P25 pour la dégradation de colorantsorganiques (bleu de méthylène, l’orangé de méthyle) et la production d’hydrogène. En particulier, lesnanocomposites RuO2/TiO2 et NiO/TiO2 contenant une quantité optimale de RuO2 (5 % en masse) et de NiO(1% en masse), respectivement, ont conduit aux efficacités photocatalytiques les plus importantes pour laproduction d’hydrogène. Ces excellentes performances photocatalytiques ont été interprétées en termesd’alignement adéquat des bandes d’énergies des matériaux associé à des propriétés texturales et structuralesfavorables. Ce concept de photocatalyseurs à base d’hétérojonctions semiconductrices d’activité élevée devrait àl’avenir trouver des débouchés industriels dans les domaines de l’élimination de l’environnement de composésorganiques indésirables et de la production « verte » d’hydrogène. / Photocatalytic processes over semiconducting oxide surfaces have attracted worldwide attention aspotentially efficient, environmentally friendly and low cost methods for water/air purification as well as forrenewable hydrogen production. However, some limitations to achieve high photocatalytic efficiencies havebeen found due to the fast recombination of the charge carriers. Development of heterostucture photocatalystsby depositing metals on the surface of semiconductors or by coupling two semiconductors with suitable bandedge position can reduce recombination phenomena by vectorial transfer of charge carriers. To draw newprospects in this domain, three different kinds of heterostructures such as n-type/n-type semiconductor(SnO2/ZnO), metal/n-type semiconductor (RuO2/TiO2 and RuO2/ZnO) and p-type/n-type semiconductor(NiO/TiO2) heterojunction nanomaterials were successfully prepared by solution process. Their composition,texture, structure and morphology were thoroughly characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ramanspectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2 sorption measurements. On the other hand, asuitable combination of UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) data provided the energy band diagram for eachsystem. The as-prepared heterojunction photocatalysts showed higher photocatalytic efficiency than P25 TiO2for the degradation of organic dyes (i.e. methylene blue and methyl orange) and the production of hydrogen.Particularly, heterostructure RuO2/TiO2 and NiO/TiO2 nanocomposites with optimum loading of RuO2 (5 wt %)and NiO (1 wt %), respectively, yielded the highest photocatalytic activities for the production of hydrogen.These enhanced performances were rationalized in terms of suitable band alignment as evidenced by XPS/UPSmeasurements along with their good textural and structural properties. This concept of semiconductingheterojunction nanocatalysts with high photocatlytic activity should find industrial application in the future toremove undesirable organics from the environment and to produce renewable hydrogen.

Ces dernières années, les matériaux fonctionnels hybrides ont commencé à être employés pour des applications de la haute technologie, allant des senseurs bio/médicaux, à la production d’énergie renouvelable. Pour cette raison, ils sont devenus le centre de plusieurs études dans le domaine des sciences des matériaux. Simultanément, des molécules conjuguées ont été examinée intensément à cause de leurs propriétés venant de leurs longs systèmes π, allant de la possibilité de conduire l’électricité, à leur capacité d’absorber la lumière dans une grande fenêtre spectrale. Le travail de cette thèse se concentre sur l’introduction de tels systèmes dans deux sortes de matériaux hybrides, les dispositifs photovoltaïques pour la production d’électricité (en particuliers les cellules solaires à pigment photosensible) et de carburants alternatifs (hydrogène), et pour les hydrogels biocompatibles sensibles aux stimuli (capables de conduire l’électricité et de réagir sous irradiation), et sur l’étude de leur influence sur les caractéristiques du matériau final. / In recent years hybrid functional materials began to be employed in a series of technologically advanced applications spanning from bio/medical sensors, to renewable energy generation. For this reason, they became the focus of several studies in the field of materials science. At the same time, conjugated molecules have also been intensively investigated, due to the properties arising by the presence of long π-conjugated systems, from the possibility to conduct electricity to the ability to absorb light in a wide range of wavelengths. This PhD work focused on the introduction of such systems in two different kinds of hybrid materials, namely photovoltaic devices for the production of electricity (in particular Dye Sensitzed Solar Cells) and alternative fuels (hydrogen), and biocompatible stimuli-responsive hydrogels (capable to conduct electricity and to react upon irradiation), and on the study of their influence on the characteristics of the final material.

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) is a promising efficient low-cost molecular photovoltaic device. One of the key components in DSCs is the dye, as it is responsible for the capture of sunlight. State-of-the-art DSC devices, based on ruthenium dyes, show record efficiencies of 10-12 %. During the last decade, metal-free organic dyes have been extensively explored as sensitizers for DSC application. The use of organic dyes is particularly attractive as it enables easy structural modifications, due to fairly short synthetic routes and reduced material cost. Novel dye should in addition to the light-harvesting properties also be compatible with the DSC components. In this thesis, a series of new organic dyes are investigated, both when integrated in the DSC device and as individual components. The evaluation methods consisted of different electrochemical and photoelectrochemical techniques. Whereas the light-harvesting properties of the dyes were fairly easily improved, the behavior of the dye integrated in the DSC showed less predictable photovoltaic results. The dye series studied in Papers II and IV revealed that their dye energetics limited vital electron-transfer processes, the dye regeneration (Paper II) and injection quantum yield (Paper IV). Further, in Papers III-VI, it was observed that different dye structures seemed to alter the interfacial electron recombination with the electrolyte. In addition to the dye structure sterics, some organic dyes appear to enhance the interfacial recombination, possibly due to specific dye-redox acceptor interaction (Paper V). The impact of dye sterical modifications versus the use of coadsorbent was explored in Paper VI. The dye layer properties in the presence and absence of various coadsorbents were further investigated in Paper VII. The core of this thesis is the identification of the processes and properties limiting the performance of the DSC device, aiming at an overall understanding of the compatibility between the DSC components and novel organic dyes. / QC 20100730

Photocatalytic processes over semiconducting oxide surfaces have attracted worldwide attention aspotentially efficient, environmentally friendly and low cost methods for water/air purification as well as forrenewable hydrogen production. However, some limitations to achieve high photocatalytic efficiencies havebeen found due to the fast recombination of the charge carriers. Development of heterostucture photocatalystsby depositing metals on the surface of semiconductors or by coupling two semiconductors with suitable bandedge position can reduce recombination phenomena by vectorial transfer of charge carriers. To draw newprospects in this domain, three different kinds of heterostructures such as n-type/n-type semiconductor(SnO2/ZnO), metal/n-type semiconductor (RuO2/TiO2 and RuO2/ZnO) and p-type/n-type semiconductor(NiO/TiO2) heterojunction nanomaterials were successfully prepared by solution process. Their composition,texture, structure and morphology were thoroughly characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ramanspectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N2 sorption measurements. On the other hand, asuitable combination of UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) data provided the energy band diagram for eachsystem. The as-prepared heterojunction photocatalysts showed higher photocatalytic efficiency than P25 TiO2for the degradation of organic dyes (i.e. methylene blue and methyl orange) and the production of hydrogen.Particularly, heterostructure RuO2/TiO2 and NiO/TiO2 nanocomposites with optimum loading of RuO2 (5 wt %)and NiO (1 wt %), respectively, yielded the highest photocatalytic activities for the production of hydrogen.These enhanced performances were rationalized in terms of suitable band alignment as evidenced by XPS/UPSmeasurements along with their good textural and structural properties. This concept of semiconductingheterojunction nanocatalysts with high photocatlytic activity should find industrial application in the future toremove undesirable organics from the environment and to produce renewable hydrogen.