Fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) represent a key component in recent development of ultra-high precision optical resolution techniques. FNDs can accommodate various color centers, including bright silicon-vacancy center (SiV) and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center – extremely photostable crystal lattice defects emitting in near-infrared region. Electron transitions among NV quantum states can be influenced by very weak external electric or magnetic fields, which have been utilized for construction of various types of probes and nanosensors.
For application of FNDs in biological systems and for achieving high target selectivity, a precise control of particles’ bionanointerface is urgently needed. Different synthetic approaches towards bioapplicable FNDs will be presented. Creation of different antifouling polymeric coatings on FNDs, their physico-chemical comparison, bioorthogonal modification with various (bio)molecules using click chemistry, and imaging of cancer cells using these conjugates will be shown. Chemical aspects influencing interactions at FND surface will be discussed.

Nanoplasmonics is an active field of research, based on the use of noble metal nanoparticles. Such nano-objects can behave as efficient nanosources of light or nanosources of heat under illumination at their plasmonic resonance wavelength. Many applications of nanoplasmonics have been developed these last two decades, e. g. in nanochemistry, biosensing, microscopy, biomedicine, magnetic recording, etc.

This presentation will focus on nanoplasmonics using noble metal nanoparticles as nanosources of heat, an area of research called thermoplasmonics. The importance and impact of this field of research will be presented through an overview of all the applications, with a particular and critical focus on photothermal cancer therapy, the most promoted application in thermoplasmonics. Then, some of the applications developed in thermoplasmonics at the Institut Fresnel in Marseille will be presented, from physics to chemistry and cell biology.

Globular proteins are amphiphiles and adsorb to hydrophobic interfaces. Their propensity to change their conformation upon adsorption and to self associate within the interfacial film results in interfacial visco-elasticity and favors foam stabilisation. How is the variability in protein structural and physico-chemical properties reflected in their interfacial behavior? Within the interfacial films, the local protein concentration may reach several hundreds of grams per liter: what can we learn about the interfacial behaviour by studying the structure and osmotic pressure of highly concentrated bulk solutions?

For inertial granular flow near jamming, nearly all of the energy dissipation is due to frictional sliding, rather than inelastic collisions. However, collisions nevertheless send acoustic waves through the system, acting as a source of mechanical noise. Despite its tiny amplitude, we show that this noise controls the scaling of kinetic quantities. A corollary is that, for these quantities, there is no rigid limit. We argue that mechanical noise may be crucial to understand S-shape flow curves and flow instability in slow, inertial granular flow.

Potential CNRS candidate