Conventional techniques that measure the concentration of light elements in metallic materials lack high-resolution performance due to their intrinsic limitation of sensitivity. In that context, scanning microwave microscopy has the potential to significantly enhance the quantification of element distribution due to its ability to perform a tomographic investigation of the sample. Scanning microwave microscopy associates the local electromagnetic measurement and the nanoscale resolution of an atomic force microscope. This technique allows the simultaneous characterization of oxygen concentration as well as local mechanical properties by microwave phase shift and amplitude signal, respectively. The technique was calibrated by comparison with nuclear reaction analysis and nanoindentation measurement. We demonstrated the reliability of the scanning microwave technique by studying thin oxygen-enriched layers on a Ti-6Al-4V alloy. This innovative approach opens novel possibilities for the indirect quantification of light chemical element diffusion in metallic materials. This technique is applicable to the control and optimization of industrial processes.

The mucosal pellicle (MP) is a biological film protecting the oral mucosa. It is composed of bounded salivary proteins and transmembrane mucin MUC1 expressed by oral epithelial cells. Previous research indicates that MUC1 expression enhances the binding of the main salivary protein forming the MP, MUC5B. This study investigated the influence of MUC1 structure on MP formation. A TR146 cell line, which does not express MUC1 natively, was stably transfected with genes coding for three MUC1 isoforms differing in the structure of the two main extracellular domains: the VNTR domain, exhibiting a variable number of tandem repeats, and the SEA domain, maintaining the two bound subunits of MUC1. Semi-quantification of MUC1 using dot blot chemiluminescence showed comparable expression levels in all transfected cell lines. Semi-quantification of MUC5B by immunostaining after incubation with saliva revealed that MUC1 expression significantly increased MUC5B adsorption. Neither the VNTR domain nor the SEA domain was influenced MUC5B anchoring, suggesting the key role of the MUC1 N-terminal domain. AFM-IR nanospectroscopy revealed discernible shifts indicative of changes in the chemical properties at the cell surface due to the expression of the MUC1 isoform. Furthermore, the observed chemical shifts suggest the involvement of hydrophobic effects in the interaction between MUC1 and salivary proteins.

This work aims to synthesize polygalacturonate-based magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (INP-polyGalA). The synthesis consists of the diffusion of both Fe2+ and Fe3+ at a molar ratio of 1:2 through polyGalA solution followed by the addition of an alkaline solution. To form individual nanoparticle materials, the polyGalA concentration needs to be below its overlapping concentration (C*). The synthesized materials (INP-polyGalA) contain about 45 % of organic compound (polyGalA), and they have an average particle size ranging from 10 to 50 nm as estimated by several techniques (DLS, TEM and AFM) and their surfaces are negatively charged in pH range 2 to 7. The synthesized NPs showed magnetic characteristics, thanks to the formation of magnetite (Fe3O4) as confirmed by X-ray diffractions (XRD). Moreover, AFM combined with Infra-red mapping allowed us to conclude that polyGalA is located in the core of the nanoparticles but also on their surfaces. More specially, both carboxylate (COO-) and carboxylic (COOH) groups of polyGalA are observed on the NPs surfaces. The presence of such functional groups allowed the synthesized material to (i) bind through the electrostatic interactions methylene blue (MB) which may have a great potential for r pollution control or (ii) to form hydrogel beads (ionotropic gelation) by using calcium as a crosslinking agent which can be used to encapsulate active molecules and target their release by using an external stimulus (magnetic field).

Significant efforts have been done in last two decades to develop nanoscale spectroscopy techniques owning to their great potential for single-molecule structural detection and in addition, to resolve open questions in heterogeneous biological systems, such as protein–DNA complexes. Applying IR-AFM technique has become a powerful leverage for obtaining simultaneous absorption spectra with a nanoscale spatial resolution for studied proteins, however the AFM-IR investigation of DNA molecules on surface, as a benchmark for a nucleoprotein complexes nanocharacterization, has remained elusive. Herein, we demonstrate methodological approach for acquisition of AFM-IR mapping modalities with corresponding absorption spectra based on two different DNA deposition protocols on spermidine and Ni2+ pretreated mica surface. The nanoscale IR absorbance of distinctly formed DNA morphologies on mica are demonstrated through series of AFM-IR absorption maps with corresponding IR spectrum. Our results thus demonstrate the sensitivity of AFM-IR nanospectroscopy for a nucleic acid research with an open potential to be employed in further investigation of nucleoprotein complexes.

We have investigated the self-assembly of a strong dipolar molecule (LDipCC) on the semiconducting Si(111)-B surface with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), density functional theory (DFT) calculations and STM simulations. Although the formation of an extended two-dimensional network was clearly revealed by STM under ultra-high vacuum, the assignment of a specific STM signature to the different terminal groups from the LDipCC molecular unit required a complete analysis by numerical simulations. The overall observed assembly is explained in terms of STM contrasts associated with the molecular structure of LDipCC and the molecule-surface interactions. To distinguish the relative arrangement of the dipolar molecules within the assembly, a rational combination of experimental results and electronic structure calculations allows us to identify a single adsorbed LDipCC phase in which the molecular dipoles are homogeneously arranged into a parallel fashion on the Si(111)-B surface.

The growth of an extended supramolecular network using dipolar molecules as the building blocks is of great technological interest. We investigated the self-assembly of a dipolar molecule on an Au(111) surface. The formation of an extended two-dimensional network was demonstrated by scanning tunnelling microscopy under ultra-high vacuum and explained in terms of molecule–molecule interactions. This 2D-network is still stable under the pressure of one atmosphere of nitrogen, which demonstrated its interest for the development of submolecular-precisely polyfunctional smart surfaces.

Résumé : Cette thèse porte sur l'investigation, par microscopies à effet tunnel (STM) sous ultra-haut vide (UHV) et à force atomique (AFM) à pression atmosphérique, de réseaux supramoléculaires sur différents types de surfaces, telles que: Au(111), Si(111)-B et HOPG, ainsi que sur l'étude de la synthèse en surface de nanostructures liées de manière covalente. Le premier chapitre présente l'état de l'art des interactions molécule-molécule non covalentes qui régissent l'auto-assemblage supramoléculaire et les méthodes pour obtenir des auto-assemblages covalents. Le deuxième chapitre présente des concepts théoriques, les montages expérimentaux, les procédures de préparation de surfaces propres et des pointes ainsi que les méthodes de des dépôts moléculaires utilisés sous ultra-vide et à pression atmosphérique. Le troisième chapitre est dédié aux résultats obtenus par STM dans le système UHV et à la comparaison de l'étude de l'auto-assemblage supramoléculaire des molécules dipolaires LdipCC sur les surfaces Au(111) et Si (111)-B. Sur la surface Au(111), les molécules LdipCC forment un réseau supramoléculaire poreux étendu qui est régi par des interactions molécule-molécule tandis que sur la surface de Si(111)-B, les molécules LdipCC s'auto-assemblent en un alignement parallèle homogène et étendu de dipôles moléculaires en raison du rôle significatif des interactions molécule-surface.. Le quatrième chapitre est dédié aux résultats obtenus dans les conditions ambiantes et étudiés par AFM en mode « Peak Force Tapping ». Deux types de molécules comportant des chaines alkyles et des groupements éthylène et époxy, ont été étudiés. Nous avons observé des systèmes auto-assemblés en réseaux bidimensionnels sur la surface HOPG. Le réseau supramoléculaire à base d'éthylène a été exposé à un recuit thermique tandis que le réseau supramoléculaire à base d'époxy a été exposé à la lumière UV. Les mécanismes proposés basés sur l'analyse des images AFM en topographie et en d'adhésion suggèrent qu'une réaction de cycloaddition en surface induite thermiquement et une polymérisation initiée par la lumière UV se sont produites sur la surface de HOPG. De cette manière, les réseaux auto-assemblés bidimensionnels sur la surface HOPG ont été convertis en auto-assemblages supra-moléculaires liés de manière covalente.