No description available.

No description available.

Microcalorimetric measurements and contact angle measurements were conducted to assess the surface chemistry of the mineral talc. The contact angles were performed on both flat and powdered samples and the results were used to determine the surface free energy components and parameters (SFEC) using the acid-base theory for solids, according to the van Oss-Chaudhury-Good approach. It was found that the surface hydrophobicity of talc increases with decreasing particle size up to a limit after which hydrophilicity (polarity) increases. The increase in hydrophobicity was attributed to the increase of the delamination of the lamellar talc particles. Delamination is a comminution mechanism that preferentially exposes talc's hydrophobic basal planes, while fracture is another mechanism that breaks the lamellae, rupturing covalent bonds thus exposing more hydrophilic edge surfaces. The decrease in hydrophobicity, beyond a given particle size, could be related to the prevail of fracture over delamination during grinding which generated more hydrophilic edge surfaces. The flow microcalorymetry combined with thin layer wicking allowed the separate estimation of the SFEC at the basal plane and edge surfaces of talc. The results suggested that the basal surface of talc is monopolar basic, while the edge surface is monopolar acidic, which are in agreement with the crystal structure of the mineral. The combination of two particle size distribution techniques, which are based on different physical principles, permitted the quantitative determination of the aspect ratio of highly anisometric particles, such as talc. The same trend obtained using flow microcalorimetry was observed for the evolution of the aspect ratio as a function of particle fineness, i.e. the fracture prevails over delamination after achieving a maximum aspect ratio value of about 35. The agreement between two distinct methods was considered rather encouraging. / Master of Science

Nous avons étudié l'utilisation du phénomène de ségrégation de surface afin de fonctionnaliser des matériaux polystyrène (PS). L'incorporation d'un additif copolymère à blocs est réalisée dans une matrice d'homopolymère de polystyrène sous forme de film ou de particule. Quand les mélanges sont recuits dans un environnement humide le copolymère amphiphile migre à la surface pour réduire la tension de surface du matériau. Nous avons synthétisé au laboratoire trois copolymères à blocs de nature chimique différente: le PS-b-PAA (polyacide acrylique), le PS-b-PGA (polyacide glutamique) et le PS-b-PDMA (polyméthacrylate de diméthylaminoéthyle). Ces copolymères nous permettrons d’accéder à des comportements superficiels variés. Les films sont réalisés par spin-coating et les particules par polymérisation par précipitation. Ces matériaux sont ensuite caractérisés par mesure de l'angle de contact, par XPS, AFM, etc…, afin de déterminer leur fonctionnalité et leur structuration en surface. / We describe the use of surface segregation to functionalize the surface of polymeric materials. The incorporation of an additive (amphiphilic block copolymer) in a homopolymer host initially leads to its homogeneous distribution within the matrix. When annealed, directed by the decrease of the surface free energy, the surface is enriched on the additive. In our laboratory, polystyrene thin films and particles were functionalized by following this approach. We employed amphiphilic block copolymers composed of one PS block to compatibilize with the homopolymer matrix, and a second block which will bring the desired function at the surface. Thus, PS-b-poly(acrylic acid), PS-b-poly(L-glutamic acid) or PS-b-poly(L-Lysine) afford pH sensitivity and PS-b-poly(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) gives pH and thermo sensitivity. Contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, zeta potential measurement or scanning electron microscopy were carried out to characterize the materials and their responsive behavior.

The use of hydrophobic surfaces is important for many processes both in nature and industry. Interactions between hydrophobic species play a key role in industrial applications such as water-cleaning procedures and pitch control during papermaking but they also give information on how to design surfaces like hydrophobic mineral pigments. In this thesis, the influence of surface properties on wetting and interaction forces has been studied. Surfaces with close-packed particles, pore arrays, randomly deposited nanoparticles as well as reference surfaces were prepared. The atomic force microscope (AFM) was utilized for force and friction measurements while contact angles and confocal Raman microscopy experiments were mainly used for wetting studies. The deposition of silica particles in the size range of nano- to micrometers using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique resulted in particle coated surfaces exhibiting hexagonal close-packing and close to Wenzel state wetting after hydrophobization. Force measurements displayed long-range interaction forces assigned to be a consequence of air cavitation. Smaller roughness features provided larger forces and interaction distances interpreted as being due to fewer restrictions of capillary growth. Friction measurements proved both the surface structure and chemistry to be important for the observed forces. On hydrophobic pore array surfaces, the three-phase contact line of water droplets avoided the pores which created a jagged interface. The influence of the pores was evident in the force curves, both in terms of the shape, in which the three-phase contact line movements around the pores could be detected, as well as the depth of the pores providing different access and amount of air. When water/ethanol mixtures were used, the interactions were concluded to be due to ethanol condensation. Confocal Raman microscopy experiments with water and water/ethanol mixtures on superhydrophobic surfaces gave evidence for water depletion and ethanol/air accumulation close to the surface. Force measurements using superhydrophobic surfaces showed extremely long-range interaction distances. This work has provided evidence for air cavitation between hydrophobic surfaces in aqueous solution. It was also shown that the range and magnitude of interaction forces could, to some extent, be predicted by looking at certain surface features like structure,roughness and the overall length scales. / <p>QC 20121011</p>

Dissolved oxygen refers to the mass of oxygen that is contained in water. The concentration of dissolved oxygen is an important indicator of the environments water quality. The presence of oxygen in water is desirable therefore it is a positive sign; whereas the absence of oxygen is a sign of severe pollution. An adequate supply of dissolved oxygen is important for waste water treatment processes. Many naturally occurring biological and chemical processes use oxygen, thereby diminishing the dissolved oxygen concentration in the water. The physical process of oxygen transfer or oxygen absorption from the atmosphere acts to replenish the used oxygen. This process has been termed aeration. Aeration is the primary requirement of the biological treatment of water and wastewater treatment. As reported in the literature, the aeration process consumes as much as 60-80% of total power requirements in wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, it is necessary that the design and operation of aeration process should be economized in terms of their energy efficiency. The performance of surface aeration systems is rated in terms of their oxygen transfer rate; hence the choice of a particular surface aeration system depends on its performance and efficiency of oxygen transfer rates. Oxygen transfer rate and the corresponding power requirement to rotate the rotor are very vital parameters for the design and scale-up of surface aerators. Basically two types of operation are in use for surface aeration systems – batch operation and continuous operation. Batch operation involves a single vessel which is filled, aerated then completely emptied. Continuous operation method of operating a biological treatment plant is characterized by a steady input stream (in terms of chemical and biological composition and flow rate, when flow and concentration equalization is practiced), steady process conditions during the treatment steps and by a fairly consistent flow of treated material with only little variation in its composition. The work presented in this thesis consists of two parts. The first one deals with the experimental investigations on the three types of batch surface aeration tanks. A comprehensive design analysis has been worked out and presented on these types of surface aeration systems. In the second category, experimental investigations have been carried out extensively on continuous flow surface aeration systems of different sizes. Analysis has led to the formulation of optimal geometric dimension and the simulation criteria for the design purposes. As far as the first category of investigations is concerned, a substantial work has been reported on batch surface aerators on various issues, during the past several years. Still, a general methodology to scale up or scale down the process phenomena is lacking. In the present work, experiments were done on different shaped batch surface aeration system for generalizing or devising the scale up and scale down criteria for oxygen transfer coefficient and power consumption. Present work through experimental observations established that unbaffled circular tanks are more energy efficient than baffled when used as surface aerator. Power consumption in surface aeration systems is characterized by a fundamental non-dimensional parameter named power number. This number relates drag force to the inertial force in fluid flow system. Power number scaling up of unbaffled surface aerators of square, circular and rectangular shaped tanks is one of the most important contributions of the present work. Design charts have been developed for all the three shape of tanks for the installation as the batch surface aeration systems. Based on the experimental analyses in the present work, it was found that circular shape is the most efficient than any other shape and it is also established that generally a number of smaller sized tanks were more economic and efficient than using a single big tank while aerating the same volume of water. Based on the energy economy analysis, present work suggests the optimal speed range of batch systems of different shaped surface aeration tanks. Different sized rectangular aeration tanks with different aspect ratios (that is length to width ratio) were tested along with a series of square and circular tanks for comparing their relative performances. Present work by doing experiments answered this fact and found that square tank (aspect ratio =1) was more efficient than any other aspect ratio rectangular tanks. Vortexes are inherently present in any type of unbaffled tanks. Present work analyzed the vortex behavior of unbaffled surface aeration systems to determine the critical impeller speed in unbaffled batch surface aeration systems at which oxygen transfer rates are more. The second part of the present work establishes the optimal geometrical parameters of a continuous flow surface aeration systems. These types of operations were found to be least reported in the available literature and there appears to be of no report in the literature on optimal geometrical parameters. Extensive experimental work is reported in the present thesis on the establishment of the optimal geometrical parameters of continuous flow surface aeration systems. From there, simulation criteria are established by maintaining optimal geometrical similarity in different sized continuous flow surface aeration tanks; so that the scale up or scale down criteria can be applied to predict oxygen transfer rates and power number.

<p>In industrial use of paint systems a swift processing is crucial. Another very important issue is to improve the quality of the final coating. This report investigates the film formation process of powder coatings, specially the spreading of individual powder particles. The obtained results can be used to understand and control the film formation process. In this way the desired levelling can be achieved and thus the desired gloss or other surface characteristics that may be required. This means that the method could be used when evaluating different polymer and additive combinations that could be used to change film formation behaviour or curing time for powder coating systems to suit various substrates. It makes it possible to avoid and minimize different surface defects as orange peel or cratering in the powder coated film.</p><p>We used a reflection optical microscope to better understand the film formation process and especially the spreading of a powder melt on surfaces with various surface energies. The obtained data were: the particle diameter, the area, area ratio and the contact angle of the powder particle as a function of time and temperature. This information can be used to derive the surface tension of any powder melt.</p><p>In this report we evaluate the dependencies of temperature, heat rate and surface energy for powder coatings on different substrates. The method provides information that can be used to optimize the film formation of a specific powder coating/substrate combination. This method can be used to evaluate the powder spreading and levelling on different substrates from a surface tension point of view.</p><p>We found, as expected, that the powder flows out on a hydrophilic surface and is inhibited by a hydrophobic. The increase of the area ratio on a hydrophilic surface was about five times as the initial area coverage and on a hydrophobic surface only two times the initial area coverage. The contact angle between the melted powder particle on the different surface types could be calculated. The melt surface tension could be calculated since three substrates surfaces with various surface energies were used. The melt surface tension was found to be about 18.5 mN/m.</p> / <p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Vid industriell användning av ett färgsystem är det viktigt med en snabb och smidig målningsprocess. En viktig del är att förbättra kvaliteten på den färdiga ytan. Denna rapport undersöker filmbildningsprocessen för pulverfärg, närmare bestämt spridningen av individuella pulverpartiklar. Resultaten från utvärderingen av denna metod kan användas för att bättre förstå och få kontroll över filmbildningsprocessen. Med denna undersökningsmetod kan den önskade utslätningen uppnås och därmed den önskade glansen eller annan yteffekt som kan vara önskvärd.</p><p>Metoden kan användas för att utvärdera olika polymer- och additivkombinationer som kan användas för att ändra filmbildningens uppförande eller bestämma härdningstiden för en pulverfärg att passa ett visst substrat. Metoden gör det möjligt att förhindra och minska olika ytdefekter såsom apelsinskals- eller kratereffekter i pulverfärgens yta.</p><p>Ett optiskt reflectionsmikroskop användes för att bättre kunna förstå filmbildningsprocessen och särskilt spridningen av smält pulver på substrat med olika ytenergier. De mätdata vi fick var partikeldiameter, area, areaförändring och kontaktvinkeln för pulverpartiklar som funktion av tid och temperatur. Ur denna information kunde pulversmältans ytenergier härledas.</p><p>I denna rapport utvärderas pulvrets beroende av temperatur, uppvärmning och ytenergi på olika substrat. Denna metod ger information som kan användas för att optimera filmbildningen av en specifik kombination av pulverfärg och substrat. Denna metod kan också användas för att utvärdera pulverspridning och utjämning av färgfilmen på olika substrat med avseende på ytenergierna.</p><p>Som förväntat flyter pulvret ut på hydrofila ytor och utflytningen ändras på en hydrofob yta. På en hydrofil yta sprider sig partikeln till fem gånger den ursprungliga arean över substratet och motsvarande två gånger för en hydrofob yta. Kontaktvinkeln mellan en smält pulverpartikel på olika sorters substrat från utförda mätningar beräknas utifrån utförda mätningar. Kontaktvinklar mellan pulver och olika substrat kan användas för att beräkna smältans ytspänning. Smältans ytspänning kan beräknas då experiment gjorts på tre sorters ytor med olika kända ytenergier. Smältans ytspänning var 18,5 mN/m.</p><p>Slutsatsen är att det går att observera och utvärdera resultaten av utsmältningsförloppet för pulverfärg med denna metod.</p>

Le collage direct consiste en la mise en contact de deux surfaces suffisamment lisses et propres pour qu'une adhésion puisse se créer sans ajout de matière à l'interface. Ce procédé réalisable à l'échelle industrielle trouve son intérêt dans l'empilement de structures ou de matériaux pour la microélectronique ou les microtechnologies. Il s'avère alors important de maîtriser ce procédé et cela passe notamment par la compréhension des mécanismes physico-chimique se produisant lors du collage. Le but de ce travail de thèse est donc l'étude des mécanismes mis en jeu dans le collage hydrophobe de silicium et le collage hydrophile d'oxydes de silicium déposés.Dans cette étude, des procédés de collage direct hydrophobe de plaques de silicium (100) reconstruit ont été développés, ainsi que des collages de surfaces hydrophiles d'oxyde de silicium déposés préparées par des activations plasma azote ou oxygène ou par un procédé de polissage mécano-chimique. Le comportement de toutes ces structures a été étudié à plusieurs stades du procédé, en particulier lors des traitements thermiques de consolidation de l'interface de collage. Pour ce faire, différentes techniques de caractérisation ont été mises en oeuvre comme la mesure d'énergie de collage, l'observation de la défectivité par microscopie acoustique, la spectroscopie infrarouge et la réflectivité des rayons X. Cela a ainsi permis de suivre la fermeture de l'interface de collage en température d'un point de vue chimique et mécanique et des mécanismes de collage ont alors pu être proposés pour toutes les structures étudiées. Des recommandations ont également pu être faites pour l'obtention de collages d'oxydes de silicium déposés efficaces et de qualité. / Direct wafer bonding refers to a process by which two mirror-polished wafers are put into contact and held together at room temperature by adhesive force, without any additional material. This technology feasible at an industrial scale generates wide interest for the realization of stacked structures for microelectronics or microtechnologies. In this context, a precise understanding of bonding mechanisms is necessary. Consequently, the aim of this work is to study the bonding mechanisms for hydrophobic silicon reconstructed surfaces and hydrophilic deposited silicon oxides surfacesIn this study, bonding of hydrophobic silicon reconstructed surfaces and bonding of hydrophilic deposited silicon oxides prepared either by plasma activation or chemical-mechanical polishing were analyzed, as a function of post-bonding annealing temperature. For this, several characterization techniques have been used: bonding energy measurement, acoustic microscopy in order to observe defectivity, infrared spectroscopy and X-Ray reflectivity. Thus the bonding interface closure has been analyzed from a chemical and mechanical point of view and bonding mechanisms have been proposed for the studied bonded structures. Finally the study of deposited silicon oxide bonding prepared either by plasma activation or by chemical-mechanical polishing has lead to some recommendations for efficient and high quality deposited silicon oxides bonding.

L'objet de cette thèse consiste en la construction de nouveaux exemples de surfaces (ou hypersurfaces) minimales dans les espaces euclidiens R^3, R^n x R avec n>2 ou dans l'espace homogène S^2 x R. Nous prouvons l'existence de surfaces minimales dans R^3 arbitrairement proches d'un polygone convexe. Nous prouvons également l'existence d'hypersurfaces minimales de type Riemann dans R^n x R, n>2. Celles-ci peuvent être interprétées comme étant une famille d'hyperplans horizontaux (des bouts) reliés les uns aux autres par des morceaux de caténoïdes déformés (des cous). Nous donnons un résultat général pour ce type d'objet quand il est périodique ou bien quand il a un nombre fini de bouts horizontaux. Cela se fait sous certaines hypothèses de contraintes sur les forces intervenant dans la construction. Nous finissons en donnant plusieurs exemples, notamment l'existence d'une hypersurface de type Wei verticale qui n'existe pas en dimension 3. Nous donnons aussi la preuve de l'existence d'une surface minimale de type Riemann dans S^2 x R telle que deux bouts sphériques sont reliés entre eux alternativement par 1 cou et 2 cous. Là aussi, nous mettons en évidence le rôle joué par les forces lors de la construction. De même que dans le chapitre précédent, la méthode repose sur un processus de recollement. Nous donnons une description très précise de la caténoïde et la surface de Riemann dans S^2 x R. Enfin, nous établissons l'existence dans R^n x R d'hypersurfaces de type Scherk lorsque n>2 / This thesis is devoted to the construction of numerous examples of minimal surfaces (or hypersurfaces) in the $3$-Euclidean space, R^n x R with n>2 or in the homogeneous space S^2 x R . We prove the existence of minimal surfaces in R^3 as close as we want of a convex polygon. We prove the existence of minimal hypersurfaces in R^n x R, n>2, whose have Riemann's type. These ones could be considered as a family of horizontal hyperplanes (the ends) which are linked to each other by pieces of deformed catenoids (the necks). We provide a general result in the case simply-periodic together with the case of a finite number of hyperplanar ends. Our construction lies on some conditions associates with the forces that characterize the different configurations. We end with giving some examples ; in particular, we exhibit the existence of vertical Wei example that does not exists in the 3-dimensional case. We also prove the existence of the analogous of the Wei example in S^2 x R. The surface is such that two spherical ends are linked by 1 neck and 2 necks alternatively. Here again, we highlight the role that the forces play in the construction. Moreover, like in the previous chapter, the method lies on a gluing process. We give an accurate description of the catenoid and the Riemann's minimal example in S^2 x R. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of Scherk type hypersurfaces in R^n x R when n>2

No / This article describes how an insight into the chemical and physical cues that affect bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation can provide ideas for creating successful antifouling or antimicrobial surfaces. To facilitate the design of new materials, the role of physical and chemical properties on bacterial adhesion is reviewed. The current approaches to reduce bacterial adhesion to various polymeric surfaces are discussed, as well as how multidisciplinary research on surface design and engineering may have an impact on both fundamental and applied microbiological science and technology.