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Polyesters are an attractive class of polymer that can be readily modified with a wide range of different comonomers, during polymerization or with melt blending, to achieve a wide variety of physical properties. This research primarily focuses on polyesters that incorporate rigid aromatic structures that have excellent potential to enhance thermal and mechanical properties. Copolyesters were prepared through melt polycondensation of diesters and diols in the presence of an exchange catalyst. Monomer incorporation was verified with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular weights were obtained by measuring inherent viscosity (ninh). Physical properties were assessed with thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and rheology. Mechanical properties were assessed with tensile and impact testing. Copolyesters of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were synthesized by substituting dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) with dimethyl 4,4'-biphenyldicarboxylate (4,4'BB) resulting in enhanced glass transition (Tg) temperatures relative to PET while affording melting temperatures (Tm) low enough to allow facile melt processing. Further modification with dimethyl isophthalate (DMI) or dimethyl 3,4'-biphenyldicarboxylate (3,4'BB) slowed crystallization sufficiently to allow biaxial orientation, leading to further studies assessing the permeability of oriented films. Novel amorphous polyesters were synthesized with 3,4'BB or 4,4'BB in combination with neopentyl glycol (NPG), 1,4-cyclohexandimethanol (CHDM) and ethylene glycol (EG). Use of multiple diols produced clear, amorphous copolyesters with Tgs as high at 129 C. A series of novel high temperature(Tm) copolyesters were synthesized from dimethyl 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylate (DMN) and 4,4'BB combined with CHDM. Studies were performed with standard DSC and thin film calorimetry to show the convergence of multiples melting endotherms in an effort to determine their origin. Preliminary work was performed on the modification of poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT), poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PCN) and poly(1,4-cyclohexylenedimethylene 4,4'-bibenzoate) (PCB) with dimethyl p-terphenyl-4,4''-dicarboxylate. / PHD

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-06-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:19:37Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 alves_fr_dr_sjrp.pdf: 2029517 bytes, checksum: f737742cea44bc8699abdd17def3823d (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Estudos de calorimetria diferencial de varredura (DSC) e fluorescência de estado estacionário da sonda Vermelho do Nilo indicam a formação de vesículas de DODAX (X = Cl- ou Br-) em concentrações de surfactantes tão baixas quanto 10 µM. Estas vesículas foram denominadas microvesículas (µV), cuja Tm diminui monotonicamente com a concentração de DODAX até valores de Tm das vesículas tradicionais preparadas em 1.0 mM do surfactante. O efeito do contra-íon (Br- e Cl-) no comportamento termotrópico de fase das vesículas mistas de DODAB-DODAC foi investigado por DSC, condutimetria e espalhamento dinâmico de luz (DLS). Observou-se que a Tm aumenta sigmoidalmente de 45.8 a 48.9 oC com a fração molar de DODAC (xDODAC), com um ponto de inflexão no ponto eqüimolar. A condutividade e o diâmetro hidrodinâmico das vesículas variam muito pouco com xDODAB, indicando que a densidade superficial de carga das vesículas de DODAX é semelhante entre si, e o efeito do contra íon na Tm de DODAX se deve a interações específicas desses contra-íons na interface das vesículas. Medidas de DSC, fluorescência e turbidez de misturas de DODAB-DDAB indicam que as vesículas de DODAB têm maior afinidade por DDAB do que o oposto, resultando na formação de duas populações de vesículas mistas de DDAB-DODAB, com propriedades distintas. Além disso, medidas de fluorescência mostraram que a presença de pequena quantia de DODAB incorporado nas vesículas de DDAB causa um efeito significante na emissão da sonda devido ao aumento do tamanho das vesículas, sugerido por medidas de turbidez. O estudo dos sistemas DODAB/CnTAB/água na concentração total de surfactante igual a 1,0 e 5,0 mM, variando a concentração de CnTAB, e também mantendo a concentração de DODAB fixa em 1,0 mM, revelou uma forte dependência do comprimento da cadeia de hidrocarbonetos... / Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fluorescence of the probe Nile Red studies reveal the formation of DODAX vesicles (X = Br- and Cl-) at surfactant concentrations as low as 10 µM. These vesicles were referred to as microvesicles (mV), whose Tm decreases monotonically with increasing DODAX concentration to the value for the ordinary vesicles at 1 mM. The effect of counterion (Br- and Cl-) on the thermotropic phase behavior of mixed DODAB-DODAC vesicles were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), conductimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Tm increases sigmoidally from 45.8 to 48.9 oC with DODAC molar fraction (xDODAC), with an inflection point at the equimolarity. The conductivity and the apparent hydrodynamic diameter vary little with xDODAB, indicating that the surface charge density is similar for DODAX, evidencing that the effect of counterion on Tm is due to the counterion specific interactions. DSC, fluorescence and turbidity measurements indicate a higher affinity of DDAB for DODAB vesicles than the reverse, resulting in two populations of mixed DDAB-DODAB vesicles with different properties. Besides, fluorescence measurements show that the presence of a small amount of DODAB in DDAB vesicles causes a pronounced effect on the Nile Red emission, due to the increase in vesicle size, as suggested from turbidity results. The study of DODAB/CnTAB/água systems at 1.0 and 5.0 total surfactant concentration, and varying CnTAB concentrations with constant 1.0 mM DODAB revealed a strong dependence of the chain length n and relative concentration of the surfactante in the properties of mixed DODAB-CnTAB vesicles. This study allowed analyzing the thermotropic phase behavior containing different amount of DODAB, and the mechanism of vesicle-micelle transition with increasing CnTAB concentration, below and above CMC... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Eloi da Silva Feitosa / Banca: Pietro Ciancaglini / Banca: Rosangela Itri / Banca: João Ruggiero Neto / Banca: Vera Aparecida de Oliveira Tiera / Resumo: Estudos de calorimetria diferencial de varredura (DSC) e fluorescência de estado estacionário da sonda Vermelho do Nilo indicam a formação de vesículas de DODAX (X = Cl- ou Br-) em concentrações de surfactantes tão baixas quanto 10 µM. Estas vesículas foram denominadas microvesículas (µV), cuja Tm diminui monotonicamente com a concentração de DODAX até valores de Tm das vesículas tradicionais preparadas em 1.0 mM do surfactante. O efeito do contra-íon (Br- e Cl-) no comportamento termotrópico de fase das vesículas mistas de DODAB-DODAC foi investigado por DSC, condutimetria e espalhamento dinâmico de luz (DLS). Observou-se que a Tm aumenta sigmoidalmente de 45.8 a 48.9 oC com a fração molar de DODAC (xDODAC), com um ponto de inflexão no ponto eqüimolar. A condutividade e o diâmetro hidrodinâmico das vesículas variam muito pouco com xDODAB, indicando que a densidade superficial de carga das vesículas de DODAX é semelhante entre si, e o efeito do contra íon na Tm de DODAX se deve a interações específicas desses contra-íons na interface das vesículas. Medidas de DSC, fluorescência e turbidez de misturas de DODAB-DDAB indicam que as vesículas de DODAB têm maior afinidade por DDAB do que o oposto, resultando na formação de duas populações de vesículas mistas de DDAB-DODAB, com propriedades distintas. Além disso, medidas de fluorescência mostraram que a presença de pequena quantia de DODAB incorporado nas vesículas de DDAB causa um efeito significante na emissão da sonda devido ao aumento do tamanho das vesículas, sugerido por medidas de turbidez. O estudo dos sistemas DODAB/CnTAB/água na concentração total de surfactante igual a 1,0 e 5,0 mM, variando a concentração de CnTAB, e também mantendo a concentração de DODAB fixa em 1,0 mM, revelou uma forte dependência do comprimento da cadeia de hidrocarbonetos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fluorescence of the probe Nile Red studies reveal the formation of DODAX vesicles (X = Br- and Cl-) at surfactant concentrations as low as 10 µM. These vesicles were referred to as microvesicles (mV), whose Tm decreases monotonically with increasing DODAX concentration to the value for the ordinary vesicles at 1 mM. The effect of counterion (Br- and Cl-) on the thermotropic phase behavior of mixed DODAB-DODAC vesicles were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), conductimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Tm increases sigmoidally from 45.8 to 48.9 oC with DODAC molar fraction (xDODAC), with an inflection point at the equimolarity. The conductivity and the apparent hydrodynamic diameter vary little with xDODAB, indicating that the surface charge density is similar for DODAX, evidencing that the effect of counterion on Tm is due to the counterion specific interactions. DSC, fluorescence and turbidity measurements indicate a higher affinity of DDAB for DODAB vesicles than the reverse, resulting in two populations of mixed DDAB-DODAB vesicles with different properties. Besides, fluorescence measurements show that the presence of a small amount of DODAB in DDAB vesicles causes a pronounced effect on the Nile Red emission, due to the increase in vesicle size, as suggested from turbidity results. The study of DODAB/CnTAB/água systems at 1.0 and 5.0 total surfactant concentration, and varying CnTAB concentrations with constant 1.0 mM DODAB revealed a strong dependence of the chain length n and relative concentration of the surfactante in the properties of mixed DODAB-CnTAB vesicles. This study allowed analyzing the thermotropic phase behavior containing different amount of DODAB, and the mechanism of vesicle-micelle transition with increasing CnTAB concentration, below and above CMC... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

This work focuses on the physical properties and crystallization of theophyline co-crystals. Co-crystals of theophylline with oxalic acid, glutaric acid and maleic acid have been investigated. The DSC curves of these co-crystals show that their first endothermic peaks are all lower than the melting temperature of theophylline. The decomposition temperature of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal is at about 230 °C, determined by DSC together with TGA. After decomposition, the remaining theophylline melts at about 279 °C, which is higher than the known melting temperature of theophylline, suggesting a structure difference, ie. a new polymorph may have been formed. The formation of hydrogen bonds in theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal was investigated by FTIR. Changes of FTIR peaks around 3120 cm-1 reflects the hydrogen bond of basic N of theophylline and hydroxyl H of oxalic acid. The solubility of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal and theophylline – glutaric acid co-crystal was determined in 4:1 chlroform – methanol and in pure chloroform respectively. At equilibrium with the solid theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal, the theophylline concentration is only 60 % of the corresponding value for the pure solid theophylline. At equilibrium with the solid theophylline – glutaric acid co-crystal, the theophylline concentration is at least 5 times higher than the corresponding value for the pure solid theophylline. Two phases of theophylline were found during the solubility determination. In the chloroform – methanol mixture (4:1 in volume ratio) the solubility of the stable polymorph of theophylline is found to be about 14 % lower than that of the metastable phase. Various aspects of the phase diagram of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal was explored. Theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal has been successfully prepared via primary nucleation from a stoichiometric solution mixture of the two components in chloroform – methanol mixture. By slurry conversion crystallization, the co-crystal can be prepared in several solvents, and yield and productivity can be significantly increased. Theophylline – glutaric acid can be successfully prepared via both co-grinding of the two components and slow evaporation with seeding. / QC20100608

The purpose of this work is to critically examine the Lauritzen-Hoffman (LH) secondary nucleation barrier model of polymer crystallization. One of the major criticisms of the LH theory was that it predicted divergence of the lamellar thickness and crystal growth rate at finite undercoolings - the so-called “δ𝑙 catastrophe." Within this work, it has been shown that the "δ𝑙 catastrophe" can be eliminated by considering all of the implications of the Hoffman-Miller reptation approach. Combination of this approach and the lattice-strain theory of Hoffman and Miller (which predicts curved face crystals) eliminates two of the major criticisms of the LH theory within a single theoretical framework. Through studies performed in this work, the LH theory has been modified in such a way as to extend its utility to higher undercoolings. Physically meaningful nucleation parameters can be obtained with the modified LH theory if the viscoelastic parameters characterizing the transport of chain segments to the growth front are known a priori. Crystal growth and melting behavior were studied in the case of linear and cyclic polydimethylsiloxanes. An equilibrium melting temperature (T_m) of 250K was determined by the Hoffman-Weeks extrapolation method for a linear PDMS fraction with <M_n>=62,700 g/mol. This value is 12°C higher than that previously cited in the literature. From the kinetic studies, a fold crystal/melt interfacial free energy of 10.2 erg/cm² was determined which corresponds to a work of chain folding of 2.5 kcal/mol. Studies performed on the cyclic PDMS fractions confirmed that the configuration entropy decreases with decreasing molecular weight. Additionally, the studies on the cyclic PDMS fractions have shown that the σ-C_∞ relationship of Hoffman and coworkers fails for cyclic systems. The crystal growth rates, T_m, and lamellar thicknesses of polytetrafluoroethylene have been determined in this work. T_m has been shown to be 331±2°C. By atomic force microscopy and theoretical arguments it has been shown that the lamellar thicknesses of polytetrafluoroethylene, over the temperature range studied, is on the order of 1000Å. These thicknesses correspond to quantization of the folds, from which it was shown that meaningful analysis of the growth rate data is impossible. / Ph. D.

<p>This work focuses on the physical properties and crystallization of theophyline co-crystals. Co-crystals of theophylline with oxalic acid, glutaric acid and maleic acid have been investigated.</p><p>The DSC curves of these co-crystals show that their first endothermic peaks are all lower than the melting temperature of theophylline. The decomposition temperature of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal is at about 230 °C, determined by DSC together with TGA. After decomposition, the remaining theophylline melts at about 279 °C, which is higher than the known melting temperature of theophylline, suggesting a structure difference, ie. a new polymorph may have been formed. The formation of hydrogen bonds in theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal was investigated by FTIR. Changes of FTIR peaks around 3120 cm^-1 reflects the hydrogen bond of basic N of theophylline and hydroxyl H of oxalic acid. The solubility of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal and theophylline – glutaric acid co-crystal was determined in 4:1 chlroform – methanol and in pure chloroform respectively. At equilibrium with the solid theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal, the theophylline concentration is only 60 % of the corresponding value for the pure solid theophylline. At equilibrium with the solid theophylline – glutaric acid co-crystal, the theophylline concentration is at least 5 times higher than the corresponding value for the pure solid theophylline. Two phases of theophylline were found during the solubility determination. In the chloroform – methanol mixture (4:1 in volume ratio) the solubility of the stable polymorph of theophylline is found to be about 14 % lower than that of the metastable phase. Various aspects of the phase diagram of theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal was explored.</p><p>Theophylline – oxalic acid co-crystal has been successfully prepared via primary nucleation from a stoichiometric solution mixture of the two components in chloroform – methanol mixture. By slurry conversion crystallization, the co-crystal can be prepared in several solvents, and yield and productivity can be significantly increased. Theophylline – glutaric acid can be successfully prepared via both co-grinding of the two components and slow evaporation with seeding.</p> / QC20100608

The Sutton Chen and quantum Sutton Chen potentials are used in molecular dynamics simulations to describe the structural, thermodynamical, and transport properties of Pd, Ni and their binary alloys in solid, liquid, and glass phases. Static properties including elastic constants, pair distribution function, static structure factor, and dynamical properties consisting of phonon dispersion relation, diffusion coefficient, and viscosity are computed at various temperatures. The melting temperatures for Pd-Ni system are obtained. The transferability of the potentials is tested by simulating the solid and liquid states. The eutectic concentration Pd0.45Ni0.55 is quenched at four different cooling rates. The system goes into glass formation at fast cooling rates, while it evolves to crystal at slow cooling rate. Comparison of calculated structural and dynamical properties with the available experiments and other calculations shows satisfactory consistency.

La qPCR est actuellement la technique de référence en matière de quantification d'ADN. Elle peut être définie comme une amplification exponentielle, cyclique et ciblée de la séquence d'ADN cible. Le caractère exponentiel de la qPCR est à la fois à l'origine de la sensibilité de la méthode mais aussi d'une potentielle variabilité inter-échantillons. Cette variabilité est compensée par le caractère cyclique de la méthode qui entraine une synchronisation de la réaction pour tous les échantillons à chaque cycle. L'amplification ciblée de la séquence choisie traduit quand à elle la spécificité de la méthode. Néanmoins, cette dernière propriété de la PCR reste la moins vérifiée. La spécificité de la qPCR est indiscutable lorsque la cible à détecter se trouve en quantité suffisante (>100 copies environ). En revanche, pour des quantités plus faibles ou en présence d'inhibiteurs, la spécificité diminue ou disparaît (limites de détection et de quantification). Cette perte de spécificité retentit de façon significative sur la précision et la reproductibilité du dosage à réaliser. Cependant, si l'hybridation non spécifique est inéluctable dans ces conditions, l'amplification non spécifique consécutive peut être limitée, voire supprimée au moyen d'amorces de PCR soit plus spécifiques, soit moins susceptibles de générer des différences inter-échantillons. La RT-qPCR, grâce à une étape initiale de transcription inverse (conversion d'un ARN en un ADN complémentaire) permet la quantification des ARN. Cependant, la transcription inverse reste moins reproductible que la PCR, générant des différences inter-échantillons délétères en diagnostic comme en recherche. Au cours de ces travaux, je propose des méthodes originales améliorant de façon significative différentes étapes de ces techniques. Premièrement, je propose une amélioration de la standardisation de l'étape de transcription inverse capable de diminuer de façon significative la variabilité inter-échantillons ; l'utilisation d'un volume constant d'extrait d'ARN pour chaque échantillon améliore considérablement la précision de la quantification d'ARN messagers. Deuxièmement, je propose une modification des amorces par incorporation de résidus d'acides nucléiques bloqués (LNA) ; cette modification permet d'augmenter la spécificité des amorces aux limites de la détection. Enfin, je propose une méthode simple et économique permettant la mesure directe de la température de fusion (Tm) dans les conditions réelles de la PCR. Ce paramètre, considéré comme capital pour la réalisation des dosages par qPCR, est généralement obtenu par des méthodes prédictives peu précises. De plus, cette méthode doit permettre de déterminer précisément les paramètres thermodynamiques des amorces (∆G, ∆H et ∆S) et ainsi avoir accès d'une part au pourcentage réel d'amorces hybridées en fonction de la température et d'autre part d'identifier la susceptibilité des amorces aux inhibiteurs. / QPCR is currently the gold standard for DNA quantification of DNA. It can be defined as an exponential, cyclic and targeted amplification of a known DNA sequence. The exponential character of qPCR is both the cause of the sensitivity of the method but also a potential variability between samples. This variability is offset by the cyclical nature of the method that causes a synchronization of the reaction for all samples in each cycle. The targeted amplification of the selected sequence translates the specificity of the method. Nevertheless, this last property of PCR remains the least tested. The specificity of qPCR is unquestionable when the target to detect is sufficient (> 100 copies). However, for smaller quantities or in the presence of inhibitors, the specificity decreases or disappears (limits of detection and quantification). This loss of specificity will have a significant effect upon the accuracy and reproducibility of the assay to be performed. However, if non-specific hybridizations are unavoidable in these conditions, consecutive nonspecific amplification may be limited or eliminated using more specific PCR primers or less likely to produce inter-sample differences. RT-qPCR allows RNA quantification because of an initial step of reverse transcription (conversion of an RNA into a complementary DNA). However, reverse transcription is less reproducible than PCR, generating harmful inter-sample differences both in diagnosis and in the research field. In this work, I propose innovative methods improving significantly different steps of these techniques. First, I propose an improved standardization of the reverse transcription step that can significantly reduce the variability between samples; using a constant volume of RNA extract for each sample substantially improves mRNA quantification accuracy. Second, I propose a primers modification by incorporating Locked Nucleic Acid residues (LNA); this modification increases the specificity of the primers to the limits of detection. Finally, I propose a simple and economical method for direct measurement of the melting temperature (Tm) in real PCR conditions. This essential parameter in the achievement of qPCR assays is generally obtained by predictive methods with low accuracy. Furthermore, this method should determine the thermodynamic parameters of the oligonucleotide sequence (∆G, ∆H and ∆S), on the one hand allowing access to the actual percentage of annealed primers according to the temperature and on the other hand, to identify the primers susceptibility in the presence of inhibitors.

Fluorescenční in situ hybridizace (FISH) je široce používaná metoda pro detekci určité sekvence DNA na chromozomech. Cílem práce je porovnání tří různých chemických sloučenin (formamidu, ethylenkarbonátu a sodných kationtů) používaných ve směsích pro in situ hybridizaci. Složení těchto směsí ovlivňuje renaturaci DNA a je důležité porovnat jejich fyzikální vlastnosti. Práce je rozdělena do dvou hlavních částí. První část se zabývá otázkou termodynamických parametrů používaných pro experimenty FISH, jako je teplota tání, entalpie přechodu DNA ze dvoušroubovice na vlákno nám dává přehled o energii potřebné k tomto přechodu a interakcích mezi bázemi a každou složkou směsi. Kromě toho hodnoty entropie určují poř uvnitř směsi - systém DNA. Druhá část porovnává intenzitu fluorescenčního signálu při optimalizovaných teplotách tání sondy použité pro in situ hybridizaci. Jako sonda byla použita sub-telomerní repetice X43.1, která je umístěna na Y chromozomu rostlinného modelového organismu Silene latifolia. Směs obsahující formamid má nejlepší výkon při delším postupu hybridizace, zatímco ethylenkarbonát poskytuje vyšší intenzitu signálu, a proto je vhodnější pro rychlé FISH protokoly.