Thesis (Ph.D)--Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Tsukruk, Vladimir; Committee Member: Gall, Ken; Committee Member: Griffin, Anselm; Committee Member: Jang, Seung Soon; Committee Member: Thio, Yonathan. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

The removal of higher hydrocarbons from natural gas streams is an important separation that has been identified as a growth area for polymer membranes. An ideal membrane material for this separation would be more permeable to higher hydrocarbons (i.e., C3+ compounds) than to CH₄. This allows the CH₄ rich permeate to be retained at or near feed pressure, thus minimizing the requirement for repressurization followingmembrane separation. A polymer which demonstrates the ability to separate vapor from gases with high efficiency is poly [1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP). PTMSP is a stiff chain, high free volume glassy polymer well known for its very high gas permeability and outstanding vapor/gas selectivity. However, PTMSP is soluble in many organic compounds, leading to potential dissolution of the membrane in process streams where its separation properties are of greatest interest. PTMSP also undergoes significant physical aging, which is the gradual relaxation of non-equilibrium excess free volume in glassy polymers. Crosslinking PTMSP with bis(azide)s was undertaken in an attempt to increase the solvent resistance and physical stability of the polymer. A fundamental investigation into crosslinking PTMSP with a bis(azide) crosslinker was the focus of this thesis. Pure gas transport measurements were conducted with N₂, O₂, CH₄, C₂H6, C₃H₈, and n-C₄H₁₀ over temperatures raging from -20°C to 35°C and pressures ranging from 0 to 20 atm. Mixed gas permeation experiments were conducted using a 98 mol % CH₄, and 2 mol % n-C₄H₁₀ mixture. The mixed gas permeation experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from -20°C to 35°C, and pressures ranging from 4 to 18 atm. Inorganic nanoparticles such as fumed silica (FS) were added to uncrosslinked and crosslinked PTMSP, and the effects of their addition on the transport properties were investigated. Crosslinking PTMSP with bis(azide)s increases its solvent resistance, and crosslinked films are insoluble in common PTMSP solvents such as toluene. At all temperatures, the initial pure and mixed gas permeabilities of crosslinked PTMSP films are less than those of uncrosslinked PTMSP. This decrease in permeability is consistent with the fractional free volume (FFV) decrease that accompanies crosslinking. Pure gas solubility coefficients are relatively unaffected by the crosslinking process, so the decrease in permeability is caused by decreases in diffusivity. The addition of FS nanoparticles increases the initial pure and mixed gas permeabilities of uncrosslinked and crosslinked PTMSP. The pure gas permeabilities and solubilities of all PTMSP films increase when the temperature decreases, while the diffusivities decrease. The rates of change in pure gas transport properties with temperature is similar for all films, so the temperature dependence of pure gas transport properties of PTMSP is unaffected by the addition of crosslinks or FS. The aging of uncrosslinked and crosslinked PTMSP films was investigated by monitoring N₂, O₂ and CH₄ permeabilities and FFV over time. The FFV and permeabilities of crosslinked films decreased over time, so crosslinking did not arrest the physical aging of PTMSP, as has been previously reported, and these differences in aging observations are likely to be a consequence of differences in post film casting thermaltreatments. The addition of 10 wt % polysiloxysilsesquioxanes (POSS) nanoparticles decreases the permeabilities of uncrosslinked and crosslinked PTMSP by approximately 70 %, and the permeability and FFV values of the resulting nanocomposite films were stable over the course of 200 days. In all PTMSP films, the mixed gas permeabilities of n-C₄H₁₀ increase with decreasing temperature, while the mixed gas CH₄ permeabilities decrease with decreasing temperature. As a result, the mixed gas n-C₄H₁₀/CH₄ permeability selectivities increase with decreasing temperatures. The addition of crosslinks and FS nanoparticles to PTMSP decreases the mixed gas n-C₄H₁₀/CH₄ permeability selectivities, and changes in the free volume characteristics of PTMSP caused by crosslinking and FS nanoparticles are thought to reduce the blocking of CH₄ permeation by n-C₄H₁₀. / text

Construction of nanoassemblies from degradable components is desired for packaging and controlled release of active therapeutics, and eventual biodegradability in vivo. In this study, shell crosslinked micelles composed of biodegradable poly(lactide) (PLA) core were prepared by the self-assembly of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer synthesized by a combination of ring opening polymerization (ROP) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Enzymatic degradation of the PLA cores of the nanoparticles was achieved upon the addition of proteinase K (PK). Kinetic analyses and comparison of the properties of the nanomaterials as a function of degradation extent will be discussed. Building upon our findings from selective-excavation of the PLA core, enzyme- and redox-responsive nanoparticles were constructed for the encapsulation and stimuli-responsive release of an antitumor drug. This potent chemotherapeutic, otherwise poorly soluble in water was dispersed into aqueous solution by the supramolecular co-assembly with an amphiphilic block copolymer, and the release from within the core of these nanoparticles were gated by crosslinking the hydrophilic shell region with a reduction-responsive crosslinker. Enzyme- and reduction-triggered release behavior of the antitumor drug was demonstrated along with their remarkably high in vitro efficacy. As cationic nanoparticles are a promising class of transfection agents for nucleic acid delivery, in the next part of the study, synthetic methodologies were developed for the conversion of the negatively-charged shell of the enzymatically-degradable shell crosslinked micelles to positively-charged cationic nanoparticles for the complexation of nucleic acids. These degradable cationic nanoparticles were found to efficiently deliver and transfect plasmid DNA in vitro. The hydrolysis of the PLA core and crosslinkers of the nanocarriers may provide a mechanism for their programmed disassembly within endosomes, which would in-turn promote endosomal disruption by osmotic swelling, and release of active therapeutics from the polymeric assemblies. In the last part, a comparative degradation study was performed between the anionic and cationic micellar assemblies in the presence of two model enzymes, and electrostatic interaction-mediated preferential hydrolysis was demonstrated between the oppositely-charged enzyme-micelle pairs. These findings may be of potential significance toward the design of charge-mediated enzyme-responsive nanomaterials that are capable of undergoing environmentally-triggered therapeutic release, disassembly or morphological alterations under selective enzyme conditions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Karl I. Jacob; Committee Member: Anselm C. Griffin; Committee Member: C. P. Wong; Committee Member: Rina Tannenbaum; Committee Member: William J. Koros; Committee Member: Yonathan S. Thio.

Nesta dissertação, duas resinas reticuladas comerciais (denominadas, AmberliteGT73 e AmberliteIRC748) foram empregadas para suportar partículas de prata. Os grupos tiol da GT73 e ácido iminodiacético da IRC748 presentes nessas resinas foram empregados para a fixação de íons Ag+ a partir de solução aquosa. Posteriormente, os íons Ag+ foram reduzidos pelo emprego de três redutores diferentes em pH alcalino, denominados hidrazina, hidroxilamina e formaldeído (pH  12). A morfologia e a impregnação de prata dos materiais binários assim obtidos foram avaliadas por meio de microscópio eletrônico de varredura equipado com detector de elétrons retro-espalhados (SEM-BSE). O detector de espectrometria de energia dispersiva de raios-X (EDAX) acoplado ao SEM permitiu a observação de partículas de prata. Os espectros de raios-X revelaram a presença do metal nas superfícies interna e externa das microesferas dos compósitos. A quantidade de prata incorporada foi determinada pelo método titulométrico, empregando solução padrão de tiocianato de potássio. As características antibactericidas dos compósitos foram avaliadas em colunas contendo pérolas de resina por onde foram percoladas suspensões da bactéria Escherichia coli auxotrópica AB1157 (tipo selvagem) nas concentrações de 103 a 107 células/mL. A avaliação biocida mostrou que estes materiais foram completamente bactericidas, sendo efetivos na eliminação da bactéria em poucos minutos. Esta ação biocida foi atribuída à combinação da atuação da prata e dos grupos funcionais das resinas / In this work, two different commercial cross-linked resins (namely, Amberlite GT73 and AmberliteIRC748) were employed for anchoring silver. The SH and the N(CH2COOH)2 groups, respectively present on these resins, were used for the Ag+ chelation from aqueous solution. The Ag+ ions were reduced by employing three different reductants, namely hydrazine, hydroxylamine and formaldehyde (under alkaline pH). The produced composites were characterized by thermogravimetry (TG-DTG) and scanning electron microscopy equipped with backscattered scanning electron detector (SEM-BSE). Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) coupled to SEM allowed the observation of submicron particles of silver and chemical microanalysis of emitted X-rays revealed the presence of metal on the internal and external surfaces of the composite microspheres. The amount of incorporated silver was determined by titration. The antibacterial activity of the silver/resin composites were determined towards 103 to 107 cells/mL dilutions of the auxotrophic AB1157 Escherichia coli strain, showing that the networks containing anchored submicron silver particles were completely bactericidal within a few minutes due to the combined action of silver and functional groups of the resins

Orientador: Maria Isabel Felisberti / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T09:32:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Robles_SebastianGomez_M.pdf: 2542883 bytes, checksum: 41418f1c146d0909e848014acbd2b608 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: A procura de novos materiais poliméricos oriundos de matérias primas renováveis é de grande importância científica, tecnológica e ambiental, dado que elas podem substituir as de origem na cadeia do petróleo, além de contribuir para a diminuição de gases de efeito estufa e o acúmulo de lixo plástico. Os óleos vegetais são matérias primas renováveis constituídas principalmente de triglicerídeos, cujas características estruturais fornecem uma ampla gama de possibilidades sintéticas para a obtenção de diversos materiais poliméricos, os quais têm apresentado propriedades semelhantes àqueles polímeros convencionais oriundos do petróleo, assim como outras propriedades interessantes como amortecimento mecânico e memória de forma. O grande potencial brasileiro para a produção de óleo de semente de seringueira (OSS), aliado ao fato de que ele não compete com a indústria alimentar, faz deste óleo uma alternativa importante para a obtenção de novos polímeros com benefícios econômicos e ambientais significativos. Neste trabalho foi sintetizada uma série de copolímeros vinílicos de estireno e macrômeros de OSS. Estes macrômeros foram obtidos pela rota sintética constituída de duas etapas: glicerólise do óleo seguida de maleinização para obtenção de monômeros de elevada massa molar e funcionalidade variando entre 2 e 4. Os produtos intermediários desde o OSS até os macrômeros foram caracterizados por CCD, FT-IR, espalhamento Raman e RMN de H e C. Foram obtidos copolímeros de OSS-estireno variando as condições de síntese (temperatura, tempo e composição) visando o estudo do efeito destas variáveis na estrutura e propriedades dos materiais. Os copolímeros sintetizados foram caracterizados por ensaios de intumescimento e extração de solúveis, DMA, TG/DTG, ensaios de degradação hidrolítica e RMN de H e GPC da fração solúvel. Encontrou-se que os copolímeros sintetizados possuem uma estrutura complexa dependente da composição, tempo e temperatura de reação, sendo caracterizada principalmente por uma rede tridimensional com oligômeros e/ou polímeros inseridos nela. Alguns dos polímeros obtidos apresentaram propriedades interessantes para serem aplicados como isolantes acústicos / Abstract: The search for new polymeric materials from renewable raw materials is of great scientific, technological and environmental importance, since they can replace those made from petroleum, and contribute to reducing greenhouse gases and the accumulation of plastic waste. Vegetable oils are renewable resources consisting mainly of triglycerides, whose structural features provide a wide range of synthetic possibilities to obtain various polymeric materials, which have shown similar properties to those of conventional polymers from petroleum, as well as other interesting properties such as damping and shape memory. The great potential of Brazil for the production of rubber seed oil (RSO), coupled with the fact that it does not compete with the food industry, makes this oil an important alternative to obtain new polymers with significant economic and environmental benefits. In this work we synthesized a series of copolymers of styrene and vinyl macromers of RSO. These macromers were obtained by synthetic route consists of two steps: glycerolysis oil followed by maleinization to obtain monomers with high molecular weight and functionality ranging from 2 to 4. Intermediate products from the RSO to the macromers were characterized by TLC, FT-IR, Raman, H NMR and C NMR. Copolymers of RSO and styrene were obtained by varying the synthesis conditions (temperature, time and composition) in order to study the effect of these variables on the structure and properties of the materials. The copolymers were characterized by swelling and extraction of soluble fraction, DMA, TG/DTG, hydrolytic degradation and H NMR and GPC of the soluble fraction. It was found that the copolymers possess a complex structure dependent on the composition, temperature and reaction time and characterized by a three-dimensional network with oligomers and/or polymers inside it. Some of the resulting polymers showed interesting properties to be used as soundproofing / Mestrado / Quimica Organica / Mestre em Química

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Der Ansatz des Konnektivismus und die rasante Verbreitung von Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) haben eine anhaltende Debatte um die Chancen, Schwierigkeiten und Perspektiven offener Lernnetzwerke in der Hochschulbildung ausgelöst. Die Diskussion reicht dabei vom befürchteten Verlust des Einflusses der Dozierenden als Gewährleister einer kritischen und vielseitigen Auseinandersetzung mit Themen und Lerninhalten, über die lernerseitigen Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche und gewinnbringende Beteiligung an konnektivistischen Kursangeboten, bis hin zur Frage, inwiefern offenes, vernetztes Lernen im institutionell verfestigten Rahmen der Hochschule überhaupt realisiert werden kann. Verlässliche Daten über konnektivistisch ausgerichtete MOOC-Angebote (sogenannte cMOOCs) mit vorrangig studentischer Beteiligung gibt es kaum, da diese im deutschsprachigen Raum bisher vor allem in non-formalen Settings bzw. im Weiterbildungsbereich angeboten und genutzt wurden. Dieser Beitrag stellt zentrale Ergebnisse der Durchführung und Evaluation eines cMOOC mit hauptsächlich studentischen Teilnehmenden vor, der im Sommersemester 2013 und Wintersemester 2013/14 in Kooperation zwischen drei deutschen Universitäten (Dresden, Chemnitz, Siegen) durchgeführt wurde. Der Fokus liegt auf der Frage, in welchem Ausmaß offenes, vernetztes Lernen im Rahmen eines Hochschulkurses ermöglicht werden kann und Lernergebnisse sich identifizieren lassen. Hierzu erfolgt eine Kombination quantitativer und qualitativer Evaluationsdaten.

Der Ansatz des Konnektivismus und die rasante Verbreitung von Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) haben eine anhaltende Debatte um die Chancen, Schwierigkeiten und Perspektiven offener Lernnetzwerke in der Hochschulbildung ausgelöst. Die Diskussion reicht dabei vom befürchteten Verlust des Einflusses der Dozierenden als Gewährleister einer kritischen und vielseitigen Auseinandersetzung mit Themen und Lerninhalten, über die lernerseitigen Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche und gewinnbringende Beteiligung an konnektivistischen Kursangeboten, bis hin zur Frage, inwiefern offenes, vernetztes Lernen im institutionell verfestigten Rahmen der Hochschule überhaupt realisiert werden kann. Verlässliche Daten über konnektivistisch ausgerichtete MOOC-Angebote (sogenannte cMOOCs) mit vorrangig studentischer Beteiligung gibt es kaum, da diese im deutschsprachigen Raum bisher vor allem in non-formalen Settings bzw. im Weiterbildungsbereich angeboten und genutzt wurden. Dieser Beitrag stellt zentrale Ergebnisse der Durchführung und Evaluation eines cMOOC mit hauptsächlich studentischen Teilnehmenden vor, der im Sommersemester 2013 und Wintersemester 2013/14 in Kooperation zwischen drei deutschen Universitäten (Dresden, Chemnitz, Siegen) durchgeführt wurde. Der Fokus liegt auf der Frage, in welchem Ausmaß offenes, vernetztes Lernen im Rahmen eines Hochschulkurses ermöglicht werden kann und Lernergebnisse sich identifizieren lassen. Hierzu erfolgt eine Kombination quantitativer und qualitativer Evaluationsdaten.

A stimuli-responsive microgel is a three-dimensional polymer network that is able to absorb and expel a solvent (commonly water). These materials are unique in the fact that their sponge-like behavior can be actuated by environmental cues, like temperature, ion concentration, pH, and light. Because of the dynamic properties of these materials they have found applications in drug-delivery systems, micro-assays, selective filtration, artificial muscle, and non-fouling surfaces. The most well-known stimuli-responsive polymer is Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) or PNIPAAm and it experiences a switchable swelling or deswelling over a critical temperature ( Tc=~32°C). Below the critical temperature, the gel begins mixing with the surrounding solvent and swells; above this temperature, the opposite is true. The unconstrained hydrogel will continue to swell in all directions until equilibrium is established between its propensity for mixing with the surrounding solvent and the elastic restoring forces of the gel matrix. The strength of the elastic restoring forces is dependent on the interconnectedness of the polymer network and is therefore a function of crosslink density. An increase in crosslink density results in a decreased swelling and vice versa. If the hydrogel is mechanically constrained to a surface, it can experience various wrinkling and buckling conformations upon swelling, as the stresses associated with its confinement are relieved. These conformation characteristics are a strong function of geometry (aspect ratio) and extent of swelling (i.e. crosslink density). In order to capitalize on the utility of this material, it is imperative that its volume transition is well characterized and understood. Toward this end, pNIPAAm gels have been created with 1x10-7 to 2x10-³ mol/cm³ crosslink density and characterized. This was done by first examining its bulk, unattached swelling ability and then by evaluating its microscale properties as a surfaceconfined monolithe. The latter was achieved through the use of confocal microscopy and copolymerization with a fluorescent monomer. This method allows for a detail analysis of the deformations experienced (bulk-structural bending and surface undulating) and will ultimately lend itself to the correlation between crosslink density and the onset of mechanical phenomena.