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A avaliação da ocorrência de interações hidrofóbicas em substâncias húmicas toma-se importante pois este tipo de interação pode afetar a dinâmica e a reatividade de contaminantes apoIares no ambiente e influenciar no controle biogeoquímico do carbono no solo, podendo contribuir para a mitigação do efeito estufa. Entretanto, devido à heterogeneidade química das substâncias húmicas associada à baixa energia envolvida neste tipo de interação, evidências ou detecções experimentais são difíceis. Neste trabalho avaliou-se a ocorrência de interações hidrofóbicas em substâncias húmicas e também em alguns componentes do solo utilizando a metodologia de marcador de spin, detectável por ressonância paramagnética eletrônica, e a supressão de fluorescência. A utilização de diferentes marcadores de spin (TEMPO, 5-SASL, 16-SASL e 5-MSSL) possibilitou avaliar que a interação estabelecida com o ácido húmico é predominantemente hidrofóbica. A forte imobilização do marcado r 5SASL no ácido húmico foi confirmada pela diminuição dos valores da taxa de difusão rotacional obtida por simulação espectral (109 s-1 em água e 106 s-1 em presença do ácido húmico). Da análise do comportamento espectral do marcador de spin, observou-se que a conformação estrutural do ácido húmico depende, além do pH, da concentração iônica. Em pH 7,5, foi observado que a utilização de concentrações iônicas acima de 0,1 moI L-1 de c1oreto de sódio favoreceu a formação de sítios hidrofóbicos menos expostos ao meio aquoso (internos). O tempo de hidratação e a concentração de ácido húmico também influenciaram na formação destes sítios. Os experimentos com variação de concentração de ácido húmico e de marcador de spin sugeriram que a estruturação de sítios hidrofóbicos internos, observados principalmente abaixo de pH 5, seja devida à agregação de várias estruturas húmicas menores. Embora tenha sido observada a existência de sítios hidrofóbicos no ácido fúlvico, este apresentou maior dificuldade de agregação em comparação ao ácido húmico, o que foi atribuído ao seu caráter mais hidrofílico. Dos experimentos de supressão de fluorescência, observou-se que a interação do pireno foi influenciada pelas características químicas dos ácidos húmicos extraídos de diferentes solos e sistemas de manejo. Os dados mostraram que quanto maior a aromaticidade do ácido húmico maior foi a interação, sugerindo que as interações estabelecidas ocorrem predominantemente por meio de forças de van der Waals. Não se obteve correlações significativas entre a porcentagem estimada de moléculas de marcadores de spin imobilizadas nos sítios hidrofóbicos internos com as características químicas dos ácidos húmicos. Este comportamento sugeriu que estes sítios podem estar mais associados à conformação estrutural do que à composição química dos ácidos húmicos. Também foi analisado o comportamento espectral do marcador de spin na presença de alguns componentes do solo (fração argila, solo tratado com ácido fluorídrico e ácido húmico). Pelos resultados não se observou imobilização do marcador de spin na fração argila (caulinita), diferentemente do que foi observado para o solo tratado com ácido fluorídrico e ácido húmico. As diferenças na imobilização dos marcadores de spin foram atribuídas aos diferentes teores de carbono de cada amostra. / Hydrophobic interactions can play an important role on the dynamics and reactivity of the apoIar organic compounds in the environrnent as well as the organic carbon dynamic in the global system, and eventually contribute to mitigation of greenhouse effect. However, due to the chemical heterogeneity of humic substances and the low energy involved in the hydrophobic interactions experimental evidences are very difficult to be obtained. ln this work, hydrophobic interactions in the humic substances and some soil components were evaluated through spin labeling, detected by electronic paramagnetic resonance, and fluorescence quenching. Using different spin labels (TEMPO, 5-SASL, 16-SASL and 5-MSSL), it was possible to observe that the interactions established with humic acids are mainly hydrophobic. The decrease of the values of the rotational diffusion rates, obtained from spectral simulation, from 109 s-1 Iin water to 106 s-1 in the presence of humic acid indicated that the spin label was strongly immobilized in the humic acid. The results from the analysis of spectral anisotropy of the spin label showed that conformational aspects of the humic acid are dependent on pH value and ionic strength. For pH around 7.5 and using ionic strength above 0.1 moI L-1 of sodium chloride was noticed an increase in the formation of inner hydrophobic sites. It was noticed that the formation of inner hydrophobic sites also was influenced by hydration time and humic acid concentration. Data obtained using different humic acids and spin label concentration suggested that the inner hydrophobic sites formation (mainly at pH below 5) is due to the aggregation of small humic structures. The existence of inner hydrophobic sites was noticed in the fulvic acid. However, the fulvic acid presented more difficulty to form aggregates, in comparison with humic acid, due to its major hydrophilic characteristic. From data obtained by fluorescence quenching it was observed that the interaction of pyrene was influenced by chemical composition of humic acid samples extracted from different soils and tillage systems. An increase of interactionin samples with higher aromaticity degree was shown, which indicates that the van der Waals forces are prevailing. No correlation between the estimated percentages of spin label molecules immobilized in the inner hydrophobic sites and the chemical characteristics of humic acid samples was obtained. This behavior suggested that the hydrophobic sites in the humic acid are mainly related to structural conformation instead of chemical composition. The mobility trend of spin label in the presence of soil components (clay fraction, fluoridric acid treated soil and humic acid) was also analyzed. No spin label immobilization was noticed in the clay fraction (kaolinite). On the other hand strongly immobilized spin label in the fluoridric acid treated soil and humic acid were observed. The differences in the immobilization were attributed to the carbon content.

Polyethylene oxide polymers are intrinsic to oil spill dispersants used in Macondo well blowout of 2010. We believe that effective thermo-physical modeling of these materials should assist the application of lab-scale results into ocean-scales. Fully defensible molecular scale theory of such materials will be challenging. This thesis is the first step towards that challenge. Molecular dynamics simulations are useful in generating structural and phase behavior data for these versatile polymers. Microstructures of PEO polymers, hydrophobic interactions, direct numerical test of controversial Pratt-Chandler theory, concentration dependence of Flory-Huggins interaction parameter and neutron scattering experiments will be discussed. / acase@tulane.edu

In this thesis we use density functional theory (DFT) to study the solvent mediated interactions between solvophobic, solvophilic and patchy nanostructures namely rectangular cross section blocks. We calculate both the density profiles and local compressibility around the blocks and the results obtained for our model system provide a means to understanding the basic physics of solvent mediated interactions between nanostructures, and between objects such as proteins in water, that possess hydrophobic and hydrophilic patches. Our results give an improved understanding of the behaviour of liquids around solvophobic objects and solvophobicity (hydrophobicity) in general. Secondly, we look into the physics incorporated in standard mean-field DFT. This is normally derived by making what appears to be a rather drastic approximation for the two body density distribution function: ρ(2)(r,r′) ≈ ρ(r)ρ(r′), where ρ(r) is the one-body density distribution function. We provide a rationale for why the DFT often does better than this approximation would make you expect. Finally, we develop a lattice model to understand the nature of the pattern formation exhibited by certain systems of particles deposited on liquid-air interfaces and in particular the nature of the transitions between the different patterned structures that are observed. This is done using Monte Carlo computer simulations and DFT and links the observed microphase ordering with the micellisation process seen e.g. in surfactant systems.

A avaliação da ocorrência de interações hidrofóbicas em substâncias húmicas toma-se importante pois este tipo de interação pode afetar a dinâmica e a reatividade de contaminantes apoIares no ambiente e influenciar no controle biogeoquímico do carbono no solo, podendo contribuir para a mitigação do efeito estufa. Entretanto, devido à heterogeneidade química das substâncias húmicas associada à baixa energia envolvida neste tipo de interação, evidências ou detecções experimentais são difíceis. Neste trabalho avaliou-se a ocorrência de interações hidrofóbicas em substâncias húmicas e também em alguns componentes do solo utilizando a metodologia de marcador de spin, detectável por ressonância paramagnética eletrônica, e a supressão de fluorescência. A utilização de diferentes marcadores de spin (TEMPO, 5-SASL, 16-SASL e 5-MSSL) possibilitou avaliar que a interação estabelecida com o ácido húmico é predominantemente hidrofóbica. A forte imobilização do marcado r 5SASL no ácido húmico foi confirmada pela diminuição dos valores da taxa de difusão rotacional obtida por simulação espectral (109 s-1 em água e 106 s-1 em presença do ácido húmico). Da análise do comportamento espectral do marcador de spin, observou-se que a conformação estrutural do ácido húmico depende, além do pH, da concentração iônica. Em pH 7,5, foi observado que a utilização de concentrações iônicas acima de 0,1 moI L-1 de c1oreto de sódio favoreceu a formação de sítios hidrofóbicos menos expostos ao meio aquoso (internos). O tempo de hidratação e a concentração de ácido húmico também influenciaram na formação destes sítios. Os experimentos com variação de concentração de ácido húmico e de marcador de spin sugeriram que a estruturação de sítios hidrofóbicos internos, observados principalmente abaixo de pH 5, seja devida à agregação de várias estruturas húmicas menores. Embora tenha sido observada a existência de sítios hidrofóbicos no ácido fúlvico, este apresentou maior dificuldade de agregação em comparação ao ácido húmico, o que foi atribuído ao seu caráter mais hidrofílico. Dos experimentos de supressão de fluorescência, observou-se que a interação do pireno foi influenciada pelas características químicas dos ácidos húmicos extraídos de diferentes solos e sistemas de manejo. Os dados mostraram que quanto maior a aromaticidade do ácido húmico maior foi a interação, sugerindo que as interações estabelecidas ocorrem predominantemente por meio de forças de van der Waals. Não se obteve correlações significativas entre a porcentagem estimada de moléculas de marcadores de spin imobilizadas nos sítios hidrofóbicos internos com as características químicas dos ácidos húmicos. Este comportamento sugeriu que estes sítios podem estar mais associados à conformação estrutural do que à composição química dos ácidos húmicos. Também foi analisado o comportamento espectral do marcador de spin na presença de alguns componentes do solo (fração argila, solo tratado com ácido fluorídrico e ácido húmico). Pelos resultados não se observou imobilização do marcador de spin na fração argila (caulinita), diferentemente do que foi observado para o solo tratado com ácido fluorídrico e ácido húmico. As diferenças na imobilização dos marcadores de spin foram atribuídas aos diferentes teores de carbono de cada amostra. / Hydrophobic interactions can play an important role on the dynamics and reactivity of the apoIar organic compounds in the environrnent as well as the organic carbon dynamic in the global system, and eventually contribute to mitigation of greenhouse effect. However, due to the chemical heterogeneity of humic substances and the low energy involved in the hydrophobic interactions experimental evidences are very difficult to be obtained. ln this work, hydrophobic interactions in the humic substances and some soil components were evaluated through spin labeling, detected by electronic paramagnetic resonance, and fluorescence quenching. Using different spin labels (TEMPO, 5-SASL, 16-SASL and 5-MSSL), it was possible to observe that the interactions established with humic acids are mainly hydrophobic. The decrease of the values of the rotational diffusion rates, obtained from spectral simulation, from 109 s-1 Iin water to 106 s-1 in the presence of humic acid indicated that the spin label was strongly immobilized in the humic acid. The results from the analysis of spectral anisotropy of the spin label showed that conformational aspects of the humic acid are dependent on pH value and ionic strength. For pH around 7.5 and using ionic strength above 0.1 moI L-1 of sodium chloride was noticed an increase in the formation of inner hydrophobic sites. It was noticed that the formation of inner hydrophobic sites also was influenced by hydration time and humic acid concentration. Data obtained using different humic acids and spin label concentration suggested that the inner hydrophobic sites formation (mainly at pH below 5) is due to the aggregation of small humic structures. The existence of inner hydrophobic sites was noticed in the fulvic acid. However, the fulvic acid presented more difficulty to form aggregates, in comparison with humic acid, due to its major hydrophilic characteristic. From data obtained by fluorescence quenching it was observed that the interaction of pyrene was influenced by chemical composition of humic acid samples extracted from different soils and tillage systems. An increase of interactionin samples with higher aromaticity degree was shown, which indicates that the van der Waals forces are prevailing. No correlation between the estimated percentages of spin label molecules immobilized in the inner hydrophobic sites and the chemical characteristics of humic acid samples was obtained. This behavior suggested that the hydrophobic sites in the humic acid are mainly related to structural conformation instead of chemical composition. The mobility trend of spin label in the presence of soil components (clay fraction, fluoridric acid treated soil and humic acid) was also analyzed. No spin label immobilization was noticed in the clay fraction (kaolinite). On the other hand strongly immobilized spin label in the fluoridric acid treated soil and humic acid were observed. The differences in the immobilization were attributed to the carbon content.

This communication will demonstrate the existence of a thermodynamic molecular switch in the pairwise, sequence-specific hydrophobic interaction of Ile-Ile, Leu-Ile, Val-Leu, or Ala-Leu over the temperature range of 273-333 K reported by Nemethy and Scheraga in 1962. Based on Chun's development of the Planck-Benzinger methodology, the change in inherent chemical bond energy at 0 K, ΔH°(T0), is 3.0 kcal mol-1 for Ile-Ile, 2.4 for Leu-Ile, 1.8 for Val-Leu, and 1.2 kcal mol-1 for Ala-Leu. The value of ΔH°(T0) decreases as the length of the hydrophobics side chain decreases. It is clear that the strength and stability of the hydrophobic interaction is determined by the packing density of the side chains, with Ala-Leu being the most stable. At , the thermal agitation energy, ∫0T ΔCp°(T)dT, is about five times greater than ΔH°(T0) in each case. Additionally, the thermal agitation energy for the same series, evaluated at , decreases in the same order, that is, as the length of the side chain decreases. This pairwise, sequence-specific hydrophobic interaction is highly similar in its thermodynamic behavior to that of other biological systems, except that the negative Gibbs free energy change minimum at occurs at a considerably higher temperature, 355 K compared to about 300 K. The melting temperature, , is also high, 470K compared to 343 K in a biological system. The implication is that the negative Gibbs free energy minimum at a well-defined >Ts> has it origin in the hydrophobic interactions, which are highly dependent on details of molecular structure. In addition to the four specific dipeptide interactions described, we have shown in our unpublished work the existence of a thermodynamic molecular switch in the interactions of 32 dipeptides wherein a change of sign in ΔCp°(T)reaction leads to a true negative minimum in the Gibbs free energy of reaction, and hence, a maximum in the related Keq. Indeed, all interacting biological systems that we have thus far examined using the Planck-Benzinger approach point to the universality of thermodynamic molecular switches.

Στην εργασία αυτή μελετήθηκε η ρόφηση και η εκρόφηση του παρασιτοκτόνου ατραζίνη (atrazine) σε πρότυπες εδαφικές ουσίες καθώς και σε ένα τυπικό δείγμα εδάφους, τόσο σε αντιδραστήρες διαλείποντος έργου (batch) όσο και σε πληρωμένες κλίνες (bed). Ως πρότυπες ουσίες επιλέχθηκαν η πυριτία (silica-gel, SiO2), η αλούμινα (γ-alumina, Al2O3), το ανθρακικό ασβέστιο (calcite, CaCO3) και το χουμικό οξύ (humic acid). Η ατραζίνη ροφείται σημαντικά στο χουμικό οξύ στην πυριτία και στο έδαφος, όμως βρέθηκε ότι έχει πολύ μεγαλύτερη συγγένεια για το χουμικό οξύ σε σύγκριση με την πυριτία. Η ατραζίνη δεν έδειξε να ροφείται στη γ-αλούμινα και το CaCO3, ανεξαρτήτως από τις πειραματικές συνθήκες που χρησιμοποιήθηκαν. Σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις, η κινητική μελέτη έδειξε δύο διακριτά στάδια: ένα πρώτο γρήγορο στάδιο ρόφησης της ατραζίνης, διαδεχόμενο από ένα δεύτερο πιο αργό στάδιο. Η κινητική της ρόφησης υπακούει ικανοποιητικά στο μοντέλο Elovich. Στα χρονικά πλαίσια που μελετήθηκε η ρόφηση και η εκρόφηση, η διεργασία είναι αντιστρεπτή και η ατραζίνη εκροφείται ποσοτικά. Οι ισόθερμοι ρόφησης της ατραζίνης λήφθηκαν σε διαφορετικές τιμές ιοντικής ισχύος, pH και θερμοκρασίας και υπακούουν στο μοντέλο Freundlich. Σε όλες τις περιπτώσεις που μελετήθηκαν, η αύξηση της ιοντικής ισχύος του διαλύματος προκάλεσε αύξηση της ροφημένης ποσότητας της ατραζίνης. Η ρόφηση της ατραζίνης μειώνεται καθώς το pH του διαλύματος αυξάνεται. Όσον αφορά στην πυριτία, η ρόφηση της ατραζίνης φαίνεται ότι γίνεται κυρίως μέσω δεσμών υδρογόνου με τις υδροξυλομάδες της επιφάνειας. Όσον αφορά στο χουμικό οξύ, το σημαντικότερο ρόλο στη ρόφηση παίζει η διάχυση της ατραζίνης προς το εσωτερικό του στερεού όπου η ρόφηση επιτυγχάνεται κυρίως μέσω υδρόφοβων αλληλεπιδράσεων. Η προσρόφηση της ατραζίνης στην πυριτία αυξάνεται σημαντικά καθώς αυξάνεται η θερμοκρασία του διαλύματος, μια τάση που δεν παρατηρείται κατά τη ρόφηση της ατραζίνης στο χουμικό οξύ. Η θερμοδυναμική ανάλυση έδειξε ότι η ρόφηση στα μοντέλα εδάφους είναι φυσική αφού παρατηρήθηκαν τιμές της ενθαλπίας ρόφησης στην περιοχή των 10 kJ mol-1. Οι λαμβανόμενες ισόθερμοι ρόφησης από τα πειράματα σε πληρωμένες κλίνες ήταν σε καλή συμφωνία με αυτές που λήφθηκαν από τα πειράματα στους αντιδραστήρες διαλείποντος έργου. Η παρουσία χουμικού οξέος στις κλίνες προκαλεί με το χρόνο δραστική μείωση της διαπερατότητας. / Adsorption and desorption of the herbicide atrazine was investigated on the principal inorganic constituents of soil, as well as on a typical Greek soil sample. The studies were conducted both in batch, stirred reactors and in packed beds. Silica-gel (SiO2), γ-alumina (Al2O3) and calcite (CaCO3), were selected as model inorganic substances. Humic acid was selected as a model substance representative of the organic part of soil. Significant adsorption of atrazine was measured on the humic acid, silica and on the soil suspensions in electrolyte solutions. Atrazine exhibited higher affinity for humic acid rather than for silica. Atrazine did not adsorb on γ-alumina and on CaCO3 regardless the experimental conditions (pH range or total solid available for adsorption). In all cases, kinetic results have shown two distinct features: a first, fast sorption step, followed by a second, slow step. The kinetics data of atrazine uptake on both substrates yielded satisfactory fit to the Elovich model. Atrazine was found to be completely desorbed from both the humic acid and the silica substrates. Adsorption isotherms for atrazine were obtained at different values of ionic strength, pH and temperature. The adsorption data gave the best fit to the Freundlich model. In all cases investigated, the amount of adsorbed atrazine increased upon increasing the ionic strength of the solution. The adsorption of atrazine decreased with increasing solution pH. The adsorption of atrazine on silica was primarily dominated by the formation of hydrogen bonds with the surface hydroxyl groups. In the case of humic acid, the diffusion of atrazine to the interior of the solid seemed to play the most significant role. Inside the organic substance particles, sorption took place mainly through hydrophobic interactions. The sorption of atrazine on silica surface increased considerably with increasing temperature, a trend not found in the case of humic acid. The thermodynamic analysis yielded adsorption energy values of the order of 10 kJ mol-1 suggesting physical adsorption. The isotherms obtained from the packed bed experiments were in a good agreement with those obtained from batch experiments. Finally, humic acid grains, mixed with silica in packed beds, were found to change morphology upon hydration which resulted to swelling. The humic substances clogged a large portion of the pores of the packed beds, decreasing drastically their permeability.