The shape of hanging elastic cylinders

International audienceDeformations of heavy elastic cylinders with their axis in the direction of earth's gravity field are investigated. The specimens, made of polyacrylamide hydrogels, are attached from their top circular cross section to a rigid plate. An equilibrium configuration results from the interplay between gravity that tends to deform the cylinders downwards under their own weight, and elasticity that resists these distortions. The corresponding steady state exhibits fascinating shapes which are measured with lab-based micro-tomography. For any given initial radius to height ratio, the deformed cylinders are no longer axially symmetric beyond a critical value of a control parameter that depends on the volume force, the height and the elastic modulus: self-similar wrinkling hierarchies develop, and dimples appear at the bottom surface of the shallowest samples. We show that these patterns are the consequences of elastic instabilities

Microemulsion nanocomposites: phase diagram, rheology and structure using a combined small angle neutron scattering and reverse Monte Carlo approach

The effect of silica nanoparticles on transient microemulsion networks made of microemulsion droplets and telechelic copolymer molecules in water is studied, as a function of droplet size and concentration, amount of copolymer, and nanoparticle volume fraction. The phase diagram is found to be affected, and in particular the percolation threshold characterized by rheology is shifted upon addition of nanoparticles, suggesting participation of the particles in the network. This leads to a peculiar reinforcement behaviour of such microemulsion nanocomposites, the silica influencing both the modulus and the relaxation time. The reinforcement is modelled based on nanoparticles connected to the network via droplet adsorption. Contrast-variation Small Angle Neutron Scattering coupled to a reverse Monte Carlo approach is used to analyse the microstructure. The rather surprising intensity curves are shown to be in good agreement with the adsorption of droplets on the nanoparticle surface

Conception et réalisation d'un micro-injecteur matriciel pour la fonctionnalisation des biopuces

The aim of this thesis has been to design and fabricate a matrix of ejectors for in-situ synthesis of oligonucleotides on DNA chip. The approach we propose consists using a matrix of ejectors in order to deposit locally droplets of nucleotides on hybridization cells and to synthesize the required oligonucleotide sequences step by step in parallel. The difficulty of this technique lies on the ability of the micro injector head to eject from any ejector independently from each other. The advantages of the method we propose are the low cost and high flexibility of equipment, and the high density of hybridization units that can be fonctionnalised using this approach. Different actuation principles existing in ejection field have been investigated and finally, the thermal actuation has been chosen. This injection working principle is based on the thermal ink jet printing technique. A heater resistor, in close contact with the liquid to be ejected, generates the nucleation of a gas bubble in the fluid. When the pulse current goes through the heater with a sufficient during and power, the bubble growths until to eject a small droplet through the nozzles of the injectors. The particularity of the matrix of ejectors that we have designed, resides in the ability to actuate any ejector independently without thermal interactions between neighboured heaters. With these considerations, simulations have been realized with FEM simulation under ConventorWare software. The final design integrates on a thin dielectric and stress free membrane, polysilicon heater resistors, and SU8 photopolymerised nozzles. The first characterisations of the devices have shown that ejection occurs with pulse durations and tension intensity from 50µs (25V) to 50ms (5V) and that the ejected volume ranges from 0.1pl to 3nl.Cette thèse porte sur la conception et la réalisation d'un microsystème d'éjection matriciel pour la fonctionnalisation in-situ des puces à ADN. L'objectif est de concevoir et réaliser un système flexible, peu onéreux et performant permettant le dépôt localisé de micro-gouttes de réactifs (nucléotides en solution dans l'acétonitrile en l'occurrence) sur la surface de la biopuce afin de synthétiser les séquences d'oligonucléotides in-situ. Les avantages d'un tel système sont le faible coût de l'équipement, une grande flexibilité dans le choix des séquences synthétisées et la possibilité de réaliser des puces à fortes densités d'unités d'hybridation. Après examen des différentes possibilités d'actionnement, l'éjection par actionnement thermique a été retenue. Le principe s'inspire du jet d'encre thermique mais la difficulté essentielle vient du fait que les éjecteurs sont disposés de façon matricielle avec une très grande densité et doivent être commandables individuellement les uns des autres. La conception du micro-injecteur passe par la compréhension du mécanisme d'éjection et nous a amené à traiter des aspects théoriques de l'ébullition et de l'éjection. Une première structure a été conçue et réalisée, devant répondre au cahier des charges imposé par l'application ainsi qu'à l'impératif d'une bonne reproductibilité de l'éjection. A ces fins, différentes simulations par des méthodes à éléments finis ont été effectuées à partir du logiciel CoventorWare. La structure retenue intègre des résistances chauffantes sur une fine membrane diélectrique et les buses d'éjection sont réalisées en résine photosensible SU8. Les propriétés du dispositifs permettent d'atteindre localement des températures suffisamment importantes pour provoquer la nucléation homogène des bulles gazeuses tout en confinant la chaleur générée autour d'une buse d'éjection, sans interaction thermique avec les voisines. Les éjecteurs réalisés ont été caractérisés et il a ainsi été montré que des g outtel ettes de 0,1pl à 3nl pouvaient être éjectées lorsque la tension d'alimentation varie entre 25V et 5V et l'impulsion électrique d'alimentation durait de 50µs à 50ms

Conception et réalisation d'un micro-injecteur matriciel pour la fonctionalisation des biopuces

TOULOUSE3-BU Sciences (315552104) / SudocSudocFranceF

3D geometry of hyperelastic hydrogels studied with fast x-ray tomography

International audienceIn this paper we present geometrical measurements made on aqueous polyacrylamide gels withlab-based micro-tomography, one of the most convenient ways of accessing a quantitative measurement of thefascinating shapes that these materials make when hanging under their own weight

Ordering, Instabilities and Textures in Graphene BasedLiquid Crystalline phases

International audienceTo date, aqueous stable graphene flakes solutionscan be obtained by simple REDOX reactions.1–5 Most of the current applications regardinggraphene require ordered nanostructuredcomposites materials. Liquid crystal phases orderingrepresent an opportunity to arrange theminto macroscopic assemblies with long-rangeordering. 1,2 Preparing organized materials andthin films from these dispersions then requires agood control of the liquid crystal ordering duringthe deposition and the drying of the films. As amatter of fact, it turns out that graphene flakeseasily align at high shear.3,4 On the other hand,Graphene Flakes Liquid Crystals (GFLC) exhibita very interesting behaviour at low shear or undersmall displacements, thin films often showspeculiar patterns (such as the periodic texturesshown in Fig.72-72). We have shown how tocreate and stabilize large-sized periodic texturesin GFLC. The patterns have been characterizedunder optical and electronic microscopies. Theirstability can be explained by the competition betweenthe anchoring field of the substrate andthe presence of a yield stress resulting fromthe peculiar elastic and rheological properties ofthe GFLC. Our findings also clarify why longstandinghypotheses on the presence of exoticphases1 at large concentrations are present inthe literature.References[1] Zakri, C.; Blanc, C.; Grelet, E.; Zamora-Ledezma, C.; Puech, N.; Anglaret, E.; Poulin, P. Philosophical Transactions of theRoyal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 2013, 371, 20120499..[2] Zamora-Ledezma, C.; Puech, N.; Zakri, C.; Grelet, E.; Moulton, S. E.; Wallace, G. G.; Gambhir, S.; Blanc, C.; Anglaret, E.;Poulin, P. The journal of physical chemistry letters 2012, 3, 2425–2430..[3] Poulin, P.; Jalili, R.; Neri, W.; Nallet, F.; Divoux, T.; Colin, A.; Aboutalebi, S. H.; Wallace, G.; Zakri, C. Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences 2016, 113, 11088–11093..[4] Zamora-Ledezma, C.; Jeridi, H.; Anglaret, E.; Blanc, C. Orientations and periodic textures in graphene liquid crystals. 27thInternational Liquid Crystal Conference (ILCC2018). 2018..[5] Xu, Z.; Gao, C. Nature communications 2011, 2, 571