This project proposes to study electrodynamic wireless power transfer systems operating at very low frequency. The objective is to power devices through conductive media, e.g, medical devices placed in human body, or wireless sensors placed beyond metallic walls. A low frequency magnetic field, generated by a transmitter coil, sets in motion a magnetized electromechanical receiver whose resonance frequency is between 1Hz and 100Hz. The displacement of the resonator induces strain on a piezoelectric material, producing an alternating voltage that can be rectified to power a sensor. In order to design an optimal electrodynamic wireless power transmission system, we will explore the use of nonlinear electromechanical receivers. Due to their properties, these receivers will allow to limit the displacement to a maximum value (in order to limit the stress in the materials), to operate at very low frequency in a reduced volume, and to exhibit particularly interesting behaviors to improve the power density of the system, such as super harmonic orbits and parametric resonances. Optimal design, both from a mechanical point of view (to optimize the potential wells of the receiver and to homogenize the mechanical constraints) and from an electrical point of view (to optimize the waveforms both at the input and output of the receiver) will allow to maximize the power density of the system and to fully exploit the potential of such technology. This multiphysics optimization exploiting the receiver non-linearities will allow the development of high power density wireless power transfer solutions, operating at very low frequencies, allowing remote powering of devices through conductive media.

The RACINE project aims at developing active all-optical nonlinear optical devices based on novel non centrosymmetric dielectric core – plasmonic shell nanoscale sources for Information and Communication Technology. To this purpose, a threefold project has been assembled with the nanoparticle synthesis and structural characterization in a first part, the quantitative determination of the nonlinear optical properties of the nanoparticles in ensemble and single particle measurements in a second step and finally the incorporation of the nanoparticles in an all-optical active optical trap in the final stage. The controlled elaboration of the gold shell onto the dielectric core is performed through silanes or charged polymers surface modification followed by a deposition-precipitation method after gold salt reduction. The characterization will in particular assess the crystal structure of the core as well as the exact location of the surface plasmon resonance in these hybrid systems. High efficiencies for second and third order nonlinear optical processes will then be assessed, benefiting from the use of a non centrosymmetric dielectric core, active for both type of processes, surrounded with a plasmonic shell which locally enhances the electromagnetic fields. The non-resonant and resonant properties of these core-shell Harmonic NanoSources (HNS) will be assessed for nonlinear optics at the level of ensemble and single particle measurements, either dispersed in a matrix or deposited on substrates. Here, we will target Second Harmonic Generation as well as visible-visible Sum Frequency generation for the quadratic processes and Third Harmonic Generation and Kerr effects, the latter based on the nonlinear refraction and absorption of the nanoparticles, for the cubic processes. All these processes will be investigated in readily accessible ensemble measurements before being realized at the single nanoparticle level. The core-shell HNS will then be introduced and trapped into an optical tweezer. Further nonlinear optical characterizations at the single nanosource level will be performed within the trap, this time with an orientational averaging due to the continuous rotation within the trap, a situation not available at the single particle level if the nanoparticles are deposited on substrates or immobilized in the volume of a matrix. The trap will then be moved by lateral or longitudinal displacement of the trapping beam focal point. Because the HNS will be thereby moved out from the focus of the fundamental beam exciting the nonlinear optical processes, the quadratic and cubic nonlinear optical signals will be modulated according to the presence or absence of the nanosource. The latter operation will be obtained with the shaping of the trapping beam using a Spatial Light Modulator. An active all-optical device will thus be built for applications. Using quadratic or cubic effects like second or third harmonic generation we will enable frequency conversion devices whereas the cubic nonlinear optical Kerr effect will allow for light modulation devices.

The project aims at developing enabling technology for waste heat recovery in industrial processes. Their overall efficiency could be improved by converting the waste heat into electricity. The chosen plan consists of implementing clusters of miniature thermodynamic Stirling machines. The core technology is a multiphase piezoelectric smart membrane Stirling engine. It is fabricated using mass production: MEMS machining, assembling and thin film technology. Expected performances allow large fraction of electric energy to be extracted from the low temperature waste heat. The relevance of Stirling cycle for a microminiaturized generator has been demonstrated and basic underlying technologies for its fabrication are available through the project partners’ facilities and capacities. This 42 months work program aims at demonstrating operation and defining opportunity of waste heat recovery using MIcro-STIrling Clusters (MISTIC). The activities will be centered on the development of micro-Stirling generators test prototypes and will include theoretical and experimental analysis of thermal, structural, and fluidic behavior. The partners of the project: SYMME lab. of the Université de Savoie, FEMTO-ST and the international CNRS/UMI-LN2 lab. have demonstrated the required skills and knowledge to complete the work and achieve the objectives. The project will also benefit from the expertise of department of Mechanical Engineering of McGill University especially for MEMS process, modeling and characterization. Requiring a multidisciplinary strategy, the tasks specifically include: 1) The development of thermal isolation frames for micro-devices; 2) The development and characterization of smart membrane structures; 3) The Stirling regenerator optimization; 4) The demonstration of the operation of multiphase micro-Stirling generator; 5) The analysis and selection of industrial applications opportunities. Thus, this project will result in important advances in applied thermal and Power MEMS and heat transfer modeling and optimization.

The challenge of the DURACELL project is to improve the durability of PEM fuel cells by optimizing the mechanical properties of the interfaces within the membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs), where the electrochemical reactions take place. The latter are subjected to complex and variable mechanical stresses depending on the hygrothermal conditions related to the operation of the fuel cell, which can lead to the damage of its components and the shutdown of the system. The initial objective of the project will be to measure, identify and control the manufacturing parameters of the MEA that impact the adhesion between its layers. To that goal, specific mechanical characterizations will be implemented in order to quantify the level of adhesion at the interfaces of MEAs manufactured within the DURACELL project consortium. The measured properties will then be implemented in a numerical model in order to contribute to the prediction of the optimal physical properties of the MEA and its assembly conditions to limit the mechanical damage of its components. These results will be verified by comparing the lifetime of MEAs assembled under these different adhesion conditions, via in situ and ex situ accelerated stress tests (hygrothermal cycling and coupled mechanical/chemical degradation). These different tests will provide a better understanding of the mechanical/chemical degradation synergies that occur in the membrane and at the membrane|electrode|gas diffusion layers interfaces. They will also allow to unbundle the different mechanisms responsible for the degradation of MEAs in a system environment. The analysis of the results of the DURACELL project will lead to recommendations to be shared with the scientific and industrial community to limit the level of mechanical stresses undergone by the different components of a PEMFC, thus contributing to the increase of its life span in operation.

The combination of nano-bio technology with innovative therapeutic approaches have led to many successful proof-of-principle demonstrations in the last decades, which foster the hope for new diagnostic/therapeutic strategies for different types of diseases. However, the translation of this approach from the laboratory bench into clinical practice has often proven unproductive. An important reason for this failure is the lack of well characterized and robustly reproducible nano-probes exerting simultaneously several contrast mechanisms making them amenable both for high resolution (optical) and high penetration (MRI, CTI) imaging techniques. In this project, building up on our previous experience on Harmonic Nanoparticles, we devise to provide and characterize by state-of-the-art techniques a new nanoplatform which incorporates in its core several optical mechanisms (multi-order nonlinear mixing and NIR fluorescence) and which can be also detected by magnetic and CT instrumentation.