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ENS Cachan - Institut d'Alembert

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mecanofluoalgue eng

A mechanofluorochromic material is a solid-state fluorescent material that changes its fluorescence when a mechanical stress is applied to it. We propose to use this type of material to measure the mechanical stresses applied to microalgae cells in a microfluidic device, in a context of extraction of compounds of interest. Microalgae are « cell factories » that produce a wide variety of molecules such as biofuels, pigments or w3. The mechanical deformation of their cellular barriers is likely to significantly improve the extraction of these compounds of interest. The objectives of this project are therefore to design a microfluidic device whose channels will be functionalized at the surface by mechanofluorochromic molecules, then to evaluate the performance of this device as a sensor of mechanical stresses at the micrometer scale and finally to use it to measure the mechanical stresses exerted on a microalgae circulating in the microdevice.