O ibuprofeno é um anti-inflamatório com produção anual superior a 15 mil toneladas, cuja concentração em ecossistemas aquáticos atinge a ordem de dezenas de μg L-1. A degradação desse poluente emergente e de outros fármacos por fotocatálise, utilizando a energia solar e nanopartículas de TiO2, é uma opção energeticamente barata e promissora, frente aos tratamentos de água convencionais. Contudo, o nano-TiO2 é toxico e causa perturbações nos ciclos redox dos microecossistemas, provocando diversos impactos à microbiota local. Uma forma eficaz de se evitar esse problema é a imobilização dos fotocatalisadores em filmes finos, evitando a lixiviação desse material para o meio ambiente. Neste contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi a preparação, a caracterização e a aplicação de filmes finos automontados (FFAs) nanoestruturados de poli(ácido acrílico), hidrocloreto de polialilamina e TiO2 por meio da técnica camada por camada. Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia de superfície de resposta e o planejamento experimental para avaliar que parâmetros de deposição levariam às melhores propriedades para a aplicação na fotodegradação de ibuprofeno em meio aquoso. Os FFAs foram então caracterizados por meio de diversas técnicas instrumentais, tais como a microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV), a microscopia de força atômica (AFM), a espectroscopia de absorção no infravermelho (FTIR), entre outras. A solução degradada, por sua vez, foi avaliada por espectroscopia de absorção molecular na região do ultravioleta e visível (UV-Vis), espectrometria de emissão óptica com plasma indutivamente acoplado (ICP-OES) e espectrometria de massas (MS). Em geral, o FFA com as melhores propriedades foi capaz de degradar 50% do IBU. Esse FFA apresentou alta estabilidade em meio aquoso, além de manter sua atividade fotocatalítica por pelo menos três ciclos, sendo que a lixiviação de TiO2 foi menor que 0,5% em massa após a realização desses ensaios. Foi possível também demonstrar que a medida de degradação feita por MS resulta em taxas de redução de IBU maiores que as medidas por UV-Vis, chegando ao valor de 95%, pois enquanto a MS mede apenas a molécula de IBU, a resposta do UV-Vis refere-se ao cromóforo aromático que pode estar presente em subprodutos da degradação. Além disso, a fotossensibilização dos FFAs com cobre aumentou a degradação do fármaco testado para 76%. A partir desses resultados foi possível concluir que os FFAs impedem a lixiviação de fotocatalisador, mantendo a eficiência na degradação de fármacos, com taxas de remoção similares a de outros processos de tratamento avançados. Esses FFAs também podem ser reutilizados, sem a necessidade de processos de separação. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES / Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory with an annual production of more than 15 thousand tons, whose concentration in aquatic ecosystems reaches the order of tens of μg L-1. The degradation of this emerging pollutant and other pharmaceuticals by photocatalysis, using solar energy and TiO2 nanoparticles, is a cheap and promising option, compared to conventional water treatments. However, nano-TiO2 is toxic and causes disturbances in the redox cycles of the micro-systems, causing several impacts to the local microbiota. An effective way to avoid this problem is the immobilization of the photocatalysts in thin films, avoiding the leaching of this material to the environment. In this context, the objective of the present work was the preparation, characterization and application of nanostructured self-assembled thin films (SATFs) of poly (acrylic acid), polyallylamine hydrochloride and TiO2 by the layer-by-layer technique. For that, the surface response methodology and design of experiments were used to evaluate which deposition parameters would lead to the best properties for the application in the photodegradation of ibuprofen in aqueous medium. The SATFs were extensively characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR), among others. The degradation solution was evaluated by molecular absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis) optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and mass spectrometry (MS). In general, the SATF with the best properties was able to degrade 50% of IBU. This SATF presented high stability in aqueous medium, besides maintaining its photocatalytic activity for at least three cycles, and the TiO2 leaching was less than 0.5% in mass after the accomplishment of these tests. It was also possible to demonstrate that the degradation measurement made by MS resulted in IBU reduction rates higher than those measured by UV-Vis, reaching 95%. MS measures only the IBU molecule, while the UV-Vis response refers to the aromatic chromophore, which may be present in by-products of the degradation. In addition, photosensitization of SATFs with copper increased the degradation of the drug tested to 76%. From these results, it was possible to conclude that SATFs prevent photocatalyst leaching while maintaining the efficiency of the IBU degradation, with removal rates similar to those of other advanced treatment processes. These SATFs can also be reused, without the need for separation processes.

Orientador: Watson Loh / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T09:25:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Vitorazi_Leticia_D.pdf: 8026553 bytes, checksum: 24a29dda2e9119ceaca4900c75603b10 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: Este trabalho contempla estudos de sistemas que se organizam principalmente através de interações eletrostáticas e formam estruturas coloidais em solução aquosa. Uma parte do trabalho se insere na linha de pesquisa de autoassociação de sais complexos de surfatantes iônicos e polieletrólitos. Nesta proposta, há interesse em estudar os sais complexos de surfatantes catiônicos de alquiltrimetilamônio com diferentes tamanhos de cadeia alquila e os copolímeros em bloco, poli(ácido acrílico)-b-poli(acrilamida), de diferentes tamanhos de cadeia no bloco neutro, poli(acrilamida). Os copolímeros em bloco foram preparados por polimerização radicalar controlada viva e as soluções aquosas de sais complexos desses copolímeros e surfatantes foram caracterizadas por técnicas de espalhamento de luz e de raios-X a baixos ângulos. A mistura estequiométrica desses sais complexos forma dispersões coloidais de agregados com estrutura núcleo-casca, cuja estabilidade cinética depende do tamanho do bloco neutro do copolímero. O agregado núcleo-casca possui núcleo com estruturação interna cuja organização e estrutura depende de ambos, tamanho do bloco neutro e do surfatante. Estas estruturas são cúbicas para o surfatante dodeciltrimetilamônio e hexagonais para o cetiltrimetilamônio. O tamanho do agregado núcleo-casca também diminui com o aumento do bloco poli(acrilamida). Em casos extremos, o núcleo é tão pequeno que não se observa formação de núcleo com estrutura interna organizada. Outra parte do trabalho se insere na linha de pesquisa envolvendo estudos calorimétricos e estruturais de agregados formados por espécies poliméricas de carga oposta. Nesta segunda proposta, foi estudada a coassociação entre polieletrólitos: poli(ácido acrílico) e cloreto de poli(dialil dimetil amônio). Para isso, diferentes sequências de adição foram estudadas por medidas de espalhamento de luz, de potencial zeta e titulação calorimétrica isotérmica. Resultados indicaram que diferentes mecanismos de coassociação ocorrem, dependendo da sequência de adição, embora ambos os mecanismos sejam entropicamente favorecidos / Abstract: This work intends to study systems composed by oppositely charged species that forms colloidal structures in aqueous solution through electrostatic interactions. The first part aims at studying complex salts from ionic surfactants and polyelectrolytes. In this topic, the studies with complex salts with different chain lengths of cationic surfactants of alkyltrimethylammonium and neutral block size of block copolymers, poly(acrylic acid)-b-poly(acrylamide) will be considered. The block copolymers were prepared by controlled living radical polymerization. Aqueous solutions of complex salts from these copolymers and surfactants were characterized by light scattering and small angle X-rays scattering techniques. Stoichiometric aqueous mixtures of these complex salts form colloidal dispersions of core-shell aggregates, whose kinetic stability depends on the size of the neutral block copolymer. The core of core-shell aggregates display liquid-crystalline internal structure whose order and type of structure depends on the size of both neutral block and surfactant chain length. Aggregates formed by dodecyl surfactants display cubic phases while those containing hexadecyl ones form hexagonal phases at their internal structures. Smaller aggregates are formed when the poly(acrylamide) block increase. Another part of these studies, aims of understanding the complexation mechanisms of systems formed by electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged polymeric species. The systems are formed by association between the poly(acrylic acid) and poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium) chloride. Different addition sequences were evaluated by light scattering, zeta potential and isothermal titration calorimetry techniques. Results indicated that different mechanisms of coassociation occur depending on the addition sequence, although both mechanisms are entropically favored / Doutorado / Físico-Química / Doutora em Ciências

Abstract This thesis aims to increase our knowledge about the characteristics of chemical pulp process and wastewaters and how problematic substances, e.g. wood extractives, could be removed effectively and selectively by coagulation–flocculation with either internal or external water treatment. Characterization was performed by investigating kraft pulp bleaching filtrates, as well as wastewater, before (influent) and after (effluent) the activated sludge treatment by means of a range of chemical analyses and by carrying out size fractionation studies. Cationic polyelectrolytes were used to purify oxygen stage bleaching filtrate, and charge analyses (zeta potential, charge quantity) were carried out in order to understand the coagulation phenomenon. In activated sludge treatment, the enhancement of particle removal, either by filtration or using a chemical in the primary clarifier, would lead to savings in aeration costs and result in a more stable process. Microfiltration already with a large pore size (8 µm) removed 30–50% of the wood extractives from the influent. Separate treatment stages for certain wastewater fractions, e.g. debarking plant effluent, would ensure cost-efficiency. After the activated sludge process, the wood extractives were present as particles (18%) and < 3 kDa fraction (82%). β-sitosterol occurred only in particles in the effluent. The release of harmful components into the environment could be decreased by microfiltration (e.g. 0.45 µm) of the final effluent or using a chemical in the secondary clarifier. Interestingly a huge increase in BOD was realized in the 3 kDa fraction of both influent and effluent, which indicated the presence of toxic substances in the larger fractions. After passing the effluent into the water system, there might be a similar jump in the BOD because the effluent is diluted many-fold. This would contribute to the formation of areas with an oxygen deficit. In the coagulation–flocculation studies, effective and selective removal of wood extractives (92%) from the oxygen stage filtrate was obtained with a cationic polyelectrolyte of medium molecular weight and medium charge density at 72 °C and pH 5–6. The multimodal zeta potential distribution gave more information than the average zeta potential. Aggregation of colloidal particles occurred when only one zeta potential was observed. The number of different zeta potentials diminished with decreasing pH and after exceeding a certain polyelectrolyte dosage level.

Les polyélectrolytes sont des polymères avec des unités de répétition ionisables qui dans un solvant polaire, comme l’eau, se dissocient en libérant des contre-ions. Les polyélectrolytes, du fait leur présence dans de nombreuses formulations, de leur rôle dans les processus industriels, les milieux biologiques et environnementaux ont fait l’objet d’un grand nombre d’études. Pour mieux comprendre et exploiter les polyélectrolytes, leurs propriétés en présence d’autres composés doivent cependant être étudiées plus en détail. Dans cette optique, ce travail se concentre sur la modification des propriétés dynamiques de polyélectrolytes courts en présence de nanoparticules de silice. Dans ce but, nous avons conçu un système expérimental de diffuseurs dispersés au sein de suspensions d’obstacles chargés. Les diffuseurs sont des molécules de carboxylate de différentes tailles : des carboxylates simples jusqu’aux polyélectrolytes (polyacrylate de sodium, PAANa) courts. Les obstacles sont des nanoparticules de silice de différentes tailles et charges de surface. L’étude des carboxylates simples a été suggérée par la nécessité de réduire la complexité des diffuseurs. L’autodiffusion des molécules est étudiée principalement par diffusométrie RMN, technique qui permet d’étudier les mouvements browniens de molécules sur une échelle de temps de 10-1000 ms (10-100 μm en échelle spatiale). Ce travail examine également comment la présence de polyélectrolytes modifie les interactions entre particules de silice en utilisant la diffusion de neutrons aux petits angles. / Polyelectrolytes are a particular class of polymers with ionizable repetition units that dissociate in polar solvents (such as water) leading to macro-ions and counterions. Solutions and materials made of polyelectrolytes are extensively used in several formulations and in industrial, biological and environmental processes. For a better insight into these systems, the properties of polyelectrolytes in presence of other particles have to be studied in more detail. This work deals with the modification of the dynamics properties of short polyelectrolytes in presence of charged silica nanoparticles.To study this problem, we design an experimental system made of carboxylate molecules of various sizes, from simple carboxylate (propionate) up to short polyelectrolytes (sodium polyacrylate, PAANa), diffusing in aqueous dispersions of silica nanoparticles of different size and surface charge. Both polyelectrolytes and nanoparticles are negatively charged at high pH. Thanks to the use of simple carboxylates, it is possible to reduce the complexity of the diffusers. The self-diffusion of the molecules is investigated using NMR diffusion experiments, which monitors the Brownian motions of individual molecules on 10-1000 ms timescale (10-100 μm spatial scale). This work also investigates how the presence of polyelectrolytes modifies the phase behaviour of silica particles by using small angle neutron scattering.

Les polymères de grande masse molaire sont couramment utilisés comme viscosifiants par l’industrie pétrolière. Ils peuvent se présenter sous la forme d’une poudre qui doit être dissoute dans l’eau le plus rapidement possible avant d’être pompée dans le puits. Cette étude porte sur la compréhension des mécanismes qui entrent en jeu lors de la dissolution de la poudre d’un polyélectrolyte appelé GP. Bien qu’étant solubles dans l’eau, les grains de GP présentent un comportement hydrophobe lorsqu’ils sont mis en contact avec l’eau. Le mouillage est défavorable. Une couche de gel viscoélastique gonfle et bouche les pores entre les grains, provoquant la formation de grumeaux qui augmentent le temps de dissolution. Nous avons montré que c’est la cinétique de gonflement du gel qui contrôle la cinétique de dissolution du GP. Le gonflement du gel est un processus diffusif gouverné par la pression osmotique due à la présence des contre-ions du GP. La reptation ne joue aucun rôle dans le désenchevêtrement des chaines, qui survient uniquement lorsque la concentration en polymère dans le gel devient inférieure à la concentration critique de recouvrement c* du GP. La disparition du gel peut être accélérée en imposant une vitesse d’agitation ω dans le mélange eau/GP qui génère un cisaillement à l’interface gel/solution. La couche de gel est alors érodée lorsque la concentration en polymère dans le gel devient inférieure à la concentration critique d’érosion cer, supérieure à c* et qui augmente avec ω. Nous avons montré que la cinétique de dissolution du GP est alors contrôlée par l’érosion de la couche de gel et que le temps de dissolution varie comme ω à la puissance -1.2. / Polymers of large molar mass are often used as fluids viscosifiers in the Oil and Gas industry. Ideally, the polymer powder must mix with water and totally dissolve as fast as possible before being pumped in the well. This study focuses on the understanding of the mechanisms at stake during the dissolution of a polyelectrolyte called GP. Even if they are hydrosoluble, GP grains exhibit a hydrophobic behavior when they are put in contact with water, which is responsible for a poor wetting. A viscoelastic gel layer forms and clogs the pores between GP grains, leading to the formation of lumps which increases the dissolution time. We demonstrate that the GP dissolution kinetics is controlled by the gel swelling kinetics. Gel swelling is a diffusive process governed by GP counter-ions osmotic pressure. Gel dissolution is not controlled by a reptation process but occurs when the polymer concentration inside the gel reaches c*, the overlap concentration of the GP. Dissolution is accelerated by stirring the polymer/water mix. The shear at the gel/solvent interface is responsible for the gel erosion. Erosion occurs when the polymer concentration inside the gel reaches the critical erosion concentration cer > c*, which increases with the mixing velocity ω. We demonstrate that GP dissolution kinetics is thus controlled by the erosion of the gel layer and that the dissolution time varies as ω to the power -1.2.

The advent of microfluidic technology presents many difficulties but also many opportunities for separation science. Leveraging the potential of micro- and nanofluidic geometries is not only a matter of shrinking systems. Miniaturization can shift the relative importance of physical phenomena leading to separation. Theoretical and computational studies into the consequences of miniaturization are vital. Mesoscopic, multi-particle collision dynamics simulations are performed on polyelectrolytes and hard, colloidal solutes. Multiple variations of this simulation algorithm are implemented to achieve versatility for simulating non-equilibrium flows and dispersed solutes. The algorithm is extended to simulate the effects of finite Debye layers on the electro-hydrodynamics of electrophoresing macromolecules and used to study the electrophoresis of charged oligomers, polyelectrolytes and polyampholytes in both free-solution and confined geometries. Multi-particle collision dynamics simulations of hydrodynamic chromatography and field-flow fractionation are also performed to test the predictions of the derived unified, ideal retention theory. This unified, ideal retention predicts the transitions between multiple operational modes, including Faxén-mode FFF. Simulations and the theory show that increases in drag due to hydrodynamic interactions with microfluidic channel walls perturb the retention curves from the ideal predictions at large particle sizes. Further complications to field-flow fractionation including undesirable forces perpendicular to the flow direction, slip at channel walls and rectangular channel geometries are investigated. These theoretical studies lead to the proposal of several novel fractionation techniques, namely adverse-mode FFF, slip-mode FFF and polymer/depletant HC.

Polyelectrolytes of opposite charge in aqueous solution can undergo a liquid-liquid phase separation known as complex coacervation. Complex coacervation of ampholytic proteins with oppositely charged polyelectrolytes is of increasing interest as it results in a protein rich phase that has potential applications in food science, protein therapeutics, protein purification, and biocatalysis. However, many globular proteins do not phase separate when mixed with an oppositely charged polyelectrolyte, and those that do phase separate do so over narrow concentration, pH, and ionic strength ranges. Much of the work that has been done on complex coacervates looks at polymer-polymer systems. While there have been some initial studies showing that proteins can undergo complex coacervation, the major design factor studied to date has been overall protein charge. The tools of genetic engineering, which allow the precise tuning and placement of charge have not been used to more fully understand the design criteria for protein complex coacervation. In this dissertation, we developed a model protein library based on green fluorescent protein (GFP) to study the impact of protein net charge and charge distribution on protein phase separation with polyelectrolytes. We developed a short, ionic polypeptide sequence (6-18 amino acids) that can drive the liquid-liquid phase separation of globular proteins. We characterize the phase behavior of the protein library with a homopolymer and diblock copolymer of similar chemistry to elucidate how protein design impacts macro- and microphase separation. In these phase characterization studies, differences in the nature of phase separation as well as the salt stability of the protein coacervates with the different polymer species are identified. We finally used this model protein library to study the effects of the protein design and phase separation behavior for coacervate-based applications including intracellular protein delivery, purification, and protein stabilization.

Depuis le début du 21ème siècle, les liquides ioniques (LIs) représentent une importante source d'innovation dans la recherche académique et industrielle en chimie puisqu'ils peuvent être synthétisés, modulés puis utilisés dans de nombreuses applications. De par leurs avantages, les LIs font l'objet d'un véritable engouement dans le domaine des matériaux polymères. Ainsi, ce travail décrit la synthèse de sels organiques originaux pour le développement de polyélectrolytes inédits. Pour cela, nous avons développé de nouvelles voies d'accès à des imidazoliums fonctionnalisés par des fonctions époxydes par l’utilisation d'une méthodologie d'oxydation efficace, flexible et transposable sur une échelle de plusieurs grammes. L'analyse thermique de ces sels a dévoilé une excellente stabilité thermique jusqu'à 400 °C et une température de transition vitreuse basse généralement comprise entre -60 °C et -26 °C. A la suite de ces résultats, la stratégie a été élargie aux anions afin de proposer des fonctions époxydes associées à des sulfonimides inédits. Au cours de cette deuxième phase, l'insertion de fonctions époxydes sur l'anion sulfonimide a été réalisée avec succès permettant un accès à différents prépolymères comme un cation/anion triépoxyde. Dans une deuxième partie, nous avons réalisé une étude mécanistique en utilisant un sel monoépoxyde en présence de différentes amines pour identifier les principaux sites actifs lors de la polymérisation. Grace à ces informations, nous avons confirmé la stabilité de l’imidazolium et la très bonne réactivité de l’époxyde vis-à-vis de diverses amines conduisant à une meilleure compréhension de l'architecture globale du réseau. A partir de ces travaux, un réseau époxy inédit a été mis en œuvre en collaboration avec le laboratoire d'ingénierie des matériaux polymères (IMP) de l'INSA de Lyon. Pour cela, un sel diépoxyde a été sélectionné puis copolymérisé avec un durcisseur diamine (Jeffamine D230) afin de concevoir des réseaux époxy/amine flexibles présentant des propriétés très intéressantes par rapport aux réseaux époxy classiques. / Since the beginning of the 21th century, Ionic liquids (ILs) have been an important source of innovation in chemical academic and industrial research because they can be synthesized, modulated and used then in many applications. Because of their advantages, ILs are of great interest in the field of polymer materials. Thus, this work describes the synthesis of original organic salts to develop innovative polyelectrolytes. For this, we have developed new routes to access to imidazolium salts functionalized by reactive epoxide functions thanks to the development of an effective and flexible oxidative methodology, feasible on a large scale. The thermal analysis of this salts revealed a very good thermal stability up to 400°C and a low glass transition temperature between -60 °C and -26 °C generally. Following these results, the study was extended to anions to provide epoxides associated with novel sulfonimides. During this second phase, the insertion of epoxide functions on the sulfonimide anion was successfully carried out allowing access to different prepolymers such as a triepoxide cation/anion. In a second part, we carried out a mechanistic study using a monoepoxide salt in the presence of different amines to identify the main active sites during the polymerization. According to this information, we have confirmed the stability of the imidazolium and the very good reactivity of the epoxide with various amines leading to a better understanding of the overall architecture of the network. From this work, a novel epoxy network was prepared in collaboration with the polymer materials engineering laboratory (IMP) of INSA of Lyon. For this, a diepoxide salt was selected and copolymerized in the presence of a diamine hardener (Jeffamine D230) in order to design flexible epoxy/amine networks having very interesting properties in comparison with conventional epoxy networks.

Title: Linear semiflexible polyelectrolytes in solutions Author: Petra Bačová Department: Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague Supervisor: Doc. Ing. Zuzana Limpouchová, CSc. Supervisor's e-mail address: zl@vivien.natur.cuni.cz Consultant: Mgr. Peter Košovan, PhD. Abstract: In this thesis I used the Molecular dynamics simulations for study of charged polymers (polyelectrolytes) and their behaviour in solutions. Wide range of polyelectrolytes are se- miflexible and in contrast to neutral polymers it is possible to influence their stiffness by changing the properties of solution as for example ionic strength. The chain flexibility may be characterized by the persistence length. Thesis explains how to express the persistence length from orientational correlation function which shows the double exponential decay. Two contributions to chain stiffness are discussed and the interest is concentrated around electrostatic persistence length which seems to be scale dependent. An effect of added salt on the chain conformation is studied. Salt is treated implicitly within the Debye-Hückel approximation. The results are confronted with OSF theory and the conclusions of vari- ational calculations of Maghi and Netz. The presented thesis describes the conformational behaviour of polyelectrolytes in salty solutions,...

The study shows strong influence of the conformation of the main chains of polythiophenes in solutions on their spectroscopic properties. The conformational changes affect strength of interactions between neighboring chains and lead to the formation of aggregates of stacked polythiophene chains. Stacked chains show red shift of the optical absorption and lead to visible vibronic structure of absorption bands. Multilayered systems prepared by periodic adsorption of the cationic and anionic polythiophene polyelectrolytes on various substrates show proportionality of the overall layer thickness to the number of coatings, which allows a control of the layer thickness. Adsorption of the conjugated polyelectrolytes on the anatase form of titanium dioxide show better penetration of the anionic polythiophene to porous anatase. The adsorption of polymer into the mesoporous structure is not complete: maximum adsorption of PTTA (poly(thiophene-3-ylacetic acid)) adsorbed on anatase do not correspond to the inner surface of mesoporous anatase. Alternating adsorption from the solutions of polythiophene with anionic and cationic side groups on mesoporous anatase allows preparation of the Graetzel-like photovoltaic cell provided that the adsorption process starts with the anionic polythiophene and the layers are deposited...