The aim of the present work is to study by means of thermodynamic measurements, i.e. isotherms of adsorption and desorption of water and Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, the effect of the interlayer cations on the mechanism of adsorption-desorption of water in the case of a montmorillonite exchanged with alkaline-earth metals. For the first time, the net isosteric heat of water adsorption and desorption is determined from isotherms recorded at three temperatures. The net isosteric heat is a very useful parameter for getting more insights into the sorption mechanism since it provides information about the sorption energy evolution which can be complementary to that obtained from structural or gravimetric measurements. The homoionic montmorillonite samples are prepared from purification and cationic exchanged in aqueous solution of the raw material, i.e the reference SWy-2 Wyoming material. XRD at the dry state and elemental chemical analysis confirm that the treatment does not deteriorate the clay structure and yield the expected homoionic composition. The adsorption and desorption isotherms measured at various temperatures show that the nature of the interlayer, i.e. exchangeable, cation changes the adsorbed/desorbed amount of water molecules for a given water relative pressure. The total amount of water adsorbed at = 0.5 follows the cation sequence Ca>Mg>Ba. Although the adsorption isosteric heat also follows the cation sequence Ca>Mg>Ba, that of desorption obeys a slightly different sequence Ca~Mg>Ba. This discrepancy between the adsorption and desorption heat is due to the higher irreversibility of water sorption process in the Ca exchanged montmorillonite. Finally, analysis of the IR spectra recorded at room temperature and under a primary vacuum reveals that the amount of adsorbed water follows the same sequence as that of the isosteric heat of adsorption and shows the coexistence of liquid-like and solid-like water confined in the interlayer space.

Some countries with rich textile industries are nowadays facing water quality issues as a consequence of impacting dye pollution. In addition to their inherent toxicity, dyes induce modification in water acidity or salinity which has harmful consequences on the photosynthesis of aquatic plants. As dye are hardly biodegradable, water treatment is necessary to get ride of them [1], and adsorption treatment appears as a good candidate with efficient low-cost adsorbents, such as clays [2]. As a matter of fact, lamellar materials are widely used for sorbtion of ions and molecules harmful for health and environment. In order to gain in efficiency in the use of such materials, it is essential to get a deeper understanding of the retention mechanisms at the interface solid/liquid. In this work, anionic clays, namely layered double hydroxides (LDH) have been chosen as model compounds in order to study sorption mechanism. The presence of charged layer induce strong anionic exchange capacity in these materials, moreover their composition and structual parameters are easily controled through mastered synthesis process [3]. This study work has been focused on the the mechanisms that can lead to the capture of polluting molecules. Several model dyes have been chosen (MethylOrange - MO, Carmen Indigo - CI et Orange G - OG) for their charge, symmetry and hydrophobicity. Parameters such as the solution concentration and the activity of the solvant, playing with the nature of ions, have also been explored.The work presented here rely on vibrational spectroscopies (Infrared and Raman spectroscopies) sensitive to the intermolecular interaction of the dye with its environment particularly at the interface solid/dye. In parallel, X-Ray Diffraction probes the structural modification in the clay during sorption.The experimental results interpreted though the help of simulations (Monte-Carlo, DFT), lead a fine description of ions sorption at the interfaces with these models lamellar materials.

Bridged silsesquioxane nanomaterials exhibit original mechanical properties thanks to the association of non-covalent and covalent interactions. Thanks to in situ high pressure spectroscopic studies, achieved in diamond anvil cells, the mechanical behavior of these materials was followed as a function of pressure. Figure 1: Schematic representation of bottom-up structuring in organic-inorganic hybrid silica through self-assembling process Vibrational studies on organic models coupled to ab-initio simulations show that H bond response to pressure is strengthening. In hybrid materials the H bond shows its ability to absorb the mechanical constrains by the modulation of H bond interactions. We thus show that the rigidity yielded by the inorganic polymerization is counterbalanced by the presence of the intermolecular H bond network. The hybrid materials have therefore a reversible behavior, thanks to h bonds behaving as molecular springs. For higher pressure ranges inorganic network start to be strongly impacted in a dominant way so that an irreversible loss of long range order within the organic network is observed.In a second time, the influence of the nature of the organic substructure (thiourea versus urea link, aryl versus aliphatic core) on this spring behavior is discussed.

The degree of curing of epoxy composites and coatings is one key parameter to control the reliability of manufacturing processes, particularly in printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing where epoxy buildup composites are partially cured before processing. We show that the reaction of curing of an industrially relevant buildup composite (epoxy-phenol reinforced with silica fillers) can be monitored by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) in the near-infrared range. The accuracy of DRIFT measurements is confirmed by comparison with measurements in transmission mode on reference composite samples. DRIFT is demonstrated to offer an easy and reliable measurement of the epoxy degree of curing on PCB coupons.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes are functionalized with copper hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles for the liquid-solid extraction of cesium from liquid waste and contaminated water. The functionalization process is followed mainly by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Indeed, determining the chemical environment around carbon or nitrogen atoms allows to evidence the formation of covalent bounding. In addition, the signatures of iron and copper ions give information on the effective growth of hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles. Furthermore, the cesium sorption mechanism is investigated by comparing the peak intensities associated to the response of potassium and cesium ions. Finally, based on the liquid chromatography analyzes, the sorption of cesium with the functionalized carbon supports is studied. The main results of this work are the demonstration of both a good selectivity of cesium trapping and a high sorption capacity by hybrid single-walled carbon nanotubes.