Dataset corresponding to article Alejandra Slagter, Joris Everaerts, Léa Deillon, Andreas Mortensen, Strong silicon oxide inclusions in iron, Acta Materialia, Volume 242, 2023, 118437, ISSN 1359-6454. The dataset contains sample fabrication parameters, scanning electron microscopy images, nanoindentation files, raman spectroscopy files, micromechanical testing files and finite element simulation files related to the mentioned publication.

Dataset corresponding to article Slagter, A., Everaerts, J. & Mortensen, A. Nanoindentation of embedded particles. Journal of Materials Research 38, 1694–1705 (2023). The dataset contains indentation data and finite element models related to the article.

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight offers a route to renewable fuel, but translating this reaction into systems suitable for industrial implementation remains difficult. Photocatalyst sheets can overcome key limitations of common direct water-splitting approaches (photoelectrochemical devices and photocatalyst dispersions), but existing photocatalyst sheets rely on inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles and processing techniques that can be difficult to scale. Here we show that solution-processed organic semiconductors can form water-splitting photocatalyst sheets by simply tailoring the charge extraction layer beneath the light-absorbing film. A single organic semiconductor active layer (deposited as a bulk heterojunction blend) drives either hydrogen or oxygen evolution depending on its underlying molecular contact, yielding photocathode and photoanode half-cells with well-matched photocurrents. Combining both reactions on one substrate using a microdomain-patterned molecular underlayer affords a photocatalyst sheet that achieves unassisted water splitting under simulated sunlight for over 2 h and generates hydrogen at a stabilized rate of 1.3 µmol h −1 cm −2 , which corresponds to a solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 0.1%.

Slow waves during sleep are fundamental for neural homeostasis, metabolic regulation, and waste clearance and are known to be altered in neurodegenerative diseases. Sleep-like slow waves (SLSWs) have been observed in awake, healthy individuals, where they are linked to fluctuations in vigilance and mind-wandering. Whether SLSWs are altered in Parkinson’s disease (PD), and whether such alterations contribute to psychiatric or cognitive complications, remains unknown. In a cohort of 84 nondemented patients with PD and 30 healthy older adults, we found that SLSWs occurred more frequently in patients with PD. Hallucinatory traits in patients with PD were associated with higher SLSW amplitude, especially over frontocentral regions. Moreover, more prominent SLSWs were associated with poorer cognitive functions. We conclude that, whereas slow waves during sleep have positive physiological functions, exacerbated diurnal SLSWs may reflect responses related to PD neuropathology, at the cost of hallucinations and reduced cognitive function.

This review discusses four strategies to alleviate Fermi level pinning and modulate the Schottky barrier at metal–2D semiconductor interfaces. It summarizes contact design limitations and outlines research directions for interface optimization.

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) are naturally occurring, monodisperse nanoparticles composed of proteins and lipids with an average diameter in the range of 20 nm. Their biological functions such as cholesterol trafficking and their roles in various diseases have been extensively studied. However, their properties as nanoparticles are seldom discussed. In this thesis, we investigate the formation of a protein corona on LDL, establish methods for its characterization, and explore the use of LDL-protein complex in cancer detection, biomarker discovery and disease monitoring. First, we show that LDL isolated from human serum or plasma carry a protein corona. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based precipitation followed by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) preserves exchangeable proteins associated with LDL, while density-gradient ultracentrifugation largely removes the soft corona and yields LDL whose protein composition is dominated by ApoB-100. The two isolation strategies produce particles with distinct hydrodynamic size, homogeneity, and protein composition. Furthermore, incubation studies with purified proteins show negligible interaction of LDL with human serum albumin and apotransferrin, while immunoglobulin G exhibits only weak association, indicating that corona formation is selective rather than a consequence of indiscriminate adsorption of abundant plasma proteins. Building on this discovery, we focus on the study of LDL together with their protein corona, that we call protein-rich lipoproteins (ProLips), specifically on their potential in cancer detection. The tool we use is a proteomic comparison between samples from cancer patients and sample from healthy donors. Compared with whole-serum proteomics, ProLips proteomics consistently reveals substantially more differentially expressed proteins and provides clearer separation between healthy individuals and patients with melanoma, colon carcinoma, and liver cancer. The reduced contribution of highly abundant plasma proteins improves the detection of disease-associated proteins. Finally, six proteins as a melanoma-associated biomarker set are identified and validated. At last, we evaluate whether ProLips proteomics can monitor disease progression and treatment response. In a melanoma rat model, ProLips protein profiles distinguish different stages of tumor development. We show that in colorectal cancer patients sampled before, during, and after surgery, temporal changes in ProLips composition reflect surgery-associated remodeling, while persistent deviations after surgery are associated with clinical relapse. In liver cancer patients receiving immunotherapy, ProLips proteomics captures individualized treatment-associated changes, and both TMT- and DIA-based analyses reveal consistent biological trends despite differences in individual proteins identified.

The emerging technology of wearable robots is gradually transforming our daily life. Up to 2026, many commericallized exoskeleton products have flourished, including those from companies ReWalk, HAL, ULS Robotics, Kenqing Technologies, ready on market to improve wearer's mobility and endurance. Nearly all the market-available exoskeletons are motor-driven, based on bulky external components, rigid transmission elements, or complex control architectures, which decreases wearing willingness. Developing soft wearable robots can well address some of the challenges of hard exoskeletons, improving wearing comfort, unobtrusiveness, and social ac-ceptance. However, to realize soft wearable robots critically depends on soft, thin, compact, and lightweight actuators to deliver sufficient torque (10 ~ 100 Nm) and displacement (5 ~ 30 cm) while maintaining energy-efficiency and reliability. This thesis investigates soft actuators in textile format (textile actuators) to enable unobtrusive actuation on body. This thesis explores the design, modeling, fabrication, experimental characterization, and application scenarios of fabric actuators based on shape memory alloys (SMAs) and electrostatic clutches (ESClutches). This thesis has three contributions to soft wearable robotics. Firstly, by encapsulating ESClutches and commercially available SMA springs into woven fabrics, we developed an energy-efficient fabric actuator (weighing 55 grams) that can lift 40 N mass and consumes milliwatts power for statically holding the mass. Secondly, using mechanics-informed principles, we developed X-Crossing architecture to enable SMA fabrics of 4.5 grams lifting 1 kg mass with 50% contraction, outperforming published SMA fabrics, including knitted and knotted SMA fabric actuators. Thirdly, we developed variable-stiffness mechanics model for X-Crossing SMA fabric actuator. This model predicts the actuator performances and add understandings to the actuator characteristics, including the peak in its performance curves and fundamental limits on actuator contraction. In this thesis, we also demonstrate the applications of developed fabric actuators. The clutchable fabric actuator mounted on the upper limb of a mannequin lifted 2.6 kilograms of mass, reducing 70 % energy consumption by using ESClutches compared to that without using ESClutches. Using this actuator, we demonstrate a waistband with controllable tightness as exoskeleton anchoring for force transmission to body, and using the ESClutches reduces 80% of energy consumption in defined tasks. We also demonstrate the X-Crossing architectured SMA fabric actuator can be well controlled to bend a mannequin elbow to target angles, and this fabric actuator can be fabricated as wrist sleeve to generate compression up to 13 kPa, and then maintain a residual compression pressure of 5 kPa with zero energy cost.

This thesis explores the role of carbon in climate-neutral energy systems. Climate mitigation is often framed as the decarbonization of the energy system, but in reality, in a climate-neutral system, carbon would still be present and circulate through remaining fossil fuels, biomass, CO2, synthetic fuels, chemicals, and negative emission technologies. The interactions between these components lead to complex mechanisms, calling for a systemic vision of carbon flows in the energy system.

To address this challenge, this work develops the Energy-Carbon Cycle Framework, which formalises the coupling between carbon sources and sinks under a neutrality constraint. It shows that residual fossil use is a possible system choice only with sufficient availability of carbon sinks. This concept is then translated into practice within the EnergyScope TD energy system model through a method that tracks the carbon flows between the different energy system technologies.

The proposed method is applied to the French energy system under climate neutrality constraints. This future climate-neutral energy system is compared with the national French strategy and other reference prospective documents. The results propose a clear merit order of lignocellulosic biomass use, in which sacrificing biomass to store carbon to reach climate neutrality is prioritised.

Building on this foundation, the thesis explores the specific case of the aviation sector. It is shown that e-bio-fuels are the most optimal pathway to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), although this optimality is subject to uncertainty, which can favour the e-fuel pathway. The production cost of SAF, the total system cost, and the energy required for their production all depend strongly on the selectivity of the Fischer-Tropsch process towards jet fuel.

This work highlights that domestic production of SAF can reduce the need for flexible gas-based electricity production. These results are evaluated for different uncertainties surrounding the energy system, but the impact of interconnection and the recent downward trend in renewable energy CAPEX significantly reduce the initial values, bringing them to almost no effect.

Energy and carbon exchange between countries forces the expansion of the scope of this work to a European energy system, via the EnergyScope Multi-Cells model. To reduce the computational load of such an expansion, spatial and temporal aggregation methods are proposed and validated, leading to a reduction of the model's solve time by approximately 98 % without major change in energy system behaviour.

This new version of the model allows for uncertainty analysis of the European energy system. The robust decision-making method is used to identify carbon management strategies that are robust to uncertainties across multiple metrics, including total cost and life cycle impact assessment. This method particularly underlines that achieving European climate neutrality requires 339â 1018 MtCO2/yr of geological sequestration.

Overall, this work demonstrates that carbon remains a central component of climate-neutral energy systems. Rather than being eliminated, carbon resources must be understood from a systemic perspective, balancing two main roles: fulfilling the demand for carbonaceous sustainable fuels and enabling the system to reach climate neutrality by offsetting carbon sources with carbon sinks.

Understanding turbulence in magnetically confined fusion plasmas is a major element in the reliable design and operation of fusion power plants. Turbulence produces interacting fluctuations ranging from the Larmor radius to the size of the machine, which are notoriously difficult to model. In particular, despite recent advances, the interaction of microturbulence, i.e. turbulence on the scale of the Larmor radius, with macroturbulence, on the scale of the machine size, is not well understood. In order to describe the microturbulence, usually a gyrokinetic ordering is imposed, where the amplitude of the turbulent fluctuations is assumed to be small and separated from the background ($\delta$-f approach). On the other hand, in order to describe the macroturbulence, a drift-kinetic ordering is usually imposed, where the turbulent fluctuations are assumed to have a large spatial extent and large amplitude, with no separation between equilibrium and fluctuating quantities (full-f approach). In this thesis, we combine both orderings and self-consistently derive a comprehensive full-f drift-kinetic and $\delta$-f gyrokinetic model. The standard two-fluid drift-reduced Braginskii model and the $\delta$-f gyrokinetic model are retrieved in the appropriate limits. Then, we use an orthogonal Hermite-Laguerre basis expansion to efficiently include collisions and obtain a numerically efficient model.

Simulations are carried out, first, for a higher-order drift-kinetic model in a linear plasma device showing clear limitations of this model. Simulations using the comprehensive full-f drift-kinetic and $\delta$-f gyrokinetic model are then carried out in the same geometry. A hybrid spectral and finite difference numerical scheme is implemented and the simulations show that the limitations seen in the extended drift-kinetic model are removed. Microturbulence is not present at the large ion-ion collision frequency, however, when collisions are suppressed, the gyrokinetic fields are seen to affect the turbulence.

Stepping up in complexity, we carry out simulations of the comprehensive full-f drift-kinetic and $\delta$-f gyrokinetic model in a tokamak geometry. We use two different levels of resistivity corresponding to increasing the input power. At low power, the simulations share several similarities with the simulations in the linear plasma device. At high power, the formation of a transport barrier at the plasma edge through an increase in the radial electric field is observed while the gyrokinetic fields are dominating the turbulence in the core of the device through universal modes.

Finally, we focus on the boundary conditions of the model. In the vicinity of solid walls, a Debye sheath forms where the quasi-neutrality assumption is violated. Therefore, any global simulation must impose boundary conditions at the sheath entrance. We consistently derive sheath boundary conditions in the case of perpendicular incidence of the magnetic field with the wall. Simulations with these boundary conditions are carried out in a linear plasma device geometry. The sheath boundary conditions are shown to have an impact on the particle balance and equilibrium state of the plasma.

As semiconductor-based optoelectronics advances toward the miniaturisation of existing technologies and the realisation of emergent applications such as single-photon emission, novel materials able to meet these requirements are highly sought after. Two-dimensional semiconductors are compelling candidates in this context: their atomic thickness gives rise to unique properties absent in the bulk, making them attractive for applications ranging from ultrathin transistors to quantum photonic devices. Among these, the family of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors has established itself as particularly promising, combining optical bandgaps spanning the visible to near-infrared range with strong light-matter interaction and chemical stability.

A fundamental requirement for large-scale deployment of these materials is the control and reproducibility of their optoelectronic properties. In particular, TMDs exhibit complex, thickness-dependent band structures and phonon dispersions, and their reported properties show significant discrepancies, particularly concerning optical emission and Raman scattering. This is further complicated by the sensitivity of TMDs to external perturbations - including strain, dielectric screening, and charge transfer from the chemical environment - a consequence of their extreme surface-to-volume ratio. Although this sensitivity advantageously provides multiple mechanisms to tune optoelectronic properties, these factors are largely unavoidable in fabricated samples, rarely fully accounted for in the literature, and often act simultaneously on the same observable, making cause-effect disentanglement particularly challenging.

In this work, I first provide a rigorous assessment of the vibrational modes of 1 to 5 layer and bulk WSe2 using multi-wavelength Raman spectroscopy, including 785 nm excitation reported for the first time. This resolves discrepancies in the literature regarding the number of detectable modes and the assignment of several key peaks, and establishes a comprehensive multilayer phononic reference for WSe2. Extending phonon cascade observations from the monolayer to all layer thicknesses further confirms the generality of strong electron-phonon coupling during early carrier relaxation.

I then introduce a framework to disentangle the factors influencing optical emission by correlating parameters extracted from photoluminescence, Raman and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy maps. The approach is applied systematically to the same WSe2 monolayer, interfaced simultaneously with substrates of different chemical and dielectric nature, and tracked through successive post-fabrication steps. This reveals that the optical response is affected by the interplay of photonic, dielectric, doping, morphological, and chemical factors, and that their relative importance is governed as much by fabrication conditions as by intrinsic material properties. This directly rationalises a broad range of contradictory observations in the literature and demonstrates that multi-parameter, spatially resolved analysis is essential for their correct interpretation.

The results presented in this thesis contribute a phononic reference for vibrational studies of WSe2, a framework for understanding discrepancies in the TMD optical literature, and a methodological foundation for optically assessing the reproducibility of engineered TMD properties, in view of integrating these materials into next-generation optical devices.