Résumé : Durant les dernières années, l’encapsulation d’îlots pancréatiques endocriniens a reçu une grande attention parce qu’elle pourrait constituer une solution pour diminuer les taux d'échecs des transplantations. Dans le contexte de la perte de la matrice extracellulaire (MEC) native des îlots lors de leur isolation et le rejet de greffes par le système immunitaire du receveur, cette thèse vise à améliorer la compréhension des interactions entre la MEC et les cellules des îlots pancréatiques endocriniens ainsi qu’à étudier les effets de stress apoptotiques associés à des éléments du système immunitaire sur la survie et les fonctions des îlots. Ces études pourraient permettre de raffiner notre compréhension des mécanismes associés au rejet des greffes d'îlots de Langerhans. Dans cette thèse, le premier chapitre constitue une revue de la littérature permettant de mettre en lumière les rôles réciproques de la MEC dans l'action des cellules immunitaires et l'influence de ces rôles sur le diabète de type 1 (DT1) et sur la transplantation d'îlots. Ce premier chapitre a été publié dans la revue Pathologie Biologie. Le premier travail expérimental comprend la culture de cellules d'insulinomes de rat (INS-1) sur des surfaces composées de carboxyméthyl dextrane (CMD) recouvertes de fibronectine, RGD ou YIGSR, un peptide synthétique de la laminine. Dans cette étude, l'effet bénéfique d’éléments de la MEC sur ces cellules productrices d'insuline a été démontré. Les cellules INS-1 ont davantage proliféré sur ces surfaces et sécrétaient plus d’insuline que les cellules INS-1 cultivées sur les surfaces contrôle de CMD, CMD+RGE et dans les plaques à multi-puits de polystyrène vendues pour la culture tissulaire (TCPS). Cette première étude a été publiée dans Acta Biomaterialia. La deuxième étude expérimentale avait pour objectif d’étudier l’effet protecteur de gels de fibrine pour enrober des îlots pancréatiques endocriniens isolés de jeunes porcs et exposés à deux concentrations de peroxyde d'hydrogène (H[indice inférieur 2]O[indice inférieur 2]). L’enrobage dans la fibrine a permis de réduire l'apoptose chez les cellules des îlots et d’améliorer la sécrétion d'insuline par ceux-ci lorsque les résultats étaient comparés à ceux des îlots non-enrobés. Ce travail a été publié dans la revue Islets. Dans la troisième étude expérimentale, des îlots porcins étaient enrobés dans des gels de fibrine et d'alginate et exposés à des monocytes humains pour comparer l’effet de l’enrobage par ces deux matériaux sur la survie et les fonctions des îlots. Les monocytes sécrétaient des concentrations importantes de cytokines TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β en réponse à la fibrine seule et aux îlots. Les cellules des îlots enrobés dans les gels de fibrine et d'alginate étaient moins apoptotiques et sécrétaient plus d'insuline que leurs contrôles respectifs non-enrobés. Cette étude a été acceptée dans la revue Pathologie Biologie. // Abstract : In recent years, the encapsulation of endocrine pancreatic islets has received enhanced attention as it might constitute a solution for islet transplantation failure. In the context of the loss of the native islet extracellular matrix (ECM) and graft rejection by the recipient’s immune system, this thesis aims to improve the understanding of ECM-islet cell interactions and immune system-related implications in islet survival and function in the context of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and islet graft rejection. In the first chapter, a literature review introduces the reciprocal roles of the ECM in immune cell action and the influence of these interactions on T1DM and islet transplantation. The most important ECM components are discussed followed by an overview of immune cells and their possible implication in diabetes. Immune cell integrins and cytokines and their communication with and influence on ECM are highlighted, concluding in a brief discussion of the significance of these interactions for islet transplantation and encapsulation. This review has been accepted for publication by Pathologie Biologie. The first experimental work comprises the culture of rat insulinoma cells (INS-1) on welldefined low-fouling carboxymethyl-dextran (CMD) surfaces covalently grafted with fibronectin, RGD and YIGSR, a synthetic laminin peptide, resulting in higher cell proliferation and insulin secretion of INS-1 cells when compared to the controls CMD, CMD+RGE and tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) plates. With this work, the beneficial effect of ECM cues on insulin-producing cells was proven. This study has been published in Acta Biomaterialia. The second experimental work aimed to study the effect of fibrin gels when used to embed endocrine pancreatic islets isolated from young pigs and exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2]). Fibrin-embedded islets showed less apoptosis and higher relative insulin secretion than islets on TCPS, verifying the protective effect of fibrin towards islets. This study has been published in Islets. In the third experimental study, porcine islets were encapsulated in fibrin and alginate gels and exposed to human monocytes to compare the two materials and to further investigate the immune protective properties of fibrin and alginate. Monocytes secreted high concentrations of TNFα, IL-6, and IL-1β in response to fibrin, but at the same time islets in both fibrin and alginate gels were less apoptotic and secreted more insulin then their TCPS controls. This study has been submitted to Pathologie Biologie.

This dissertation focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of a variety of organic dyes, semiconducting materials, and surface redox-active modifiers of potential interest to organic-based emerging photovoltaics. A discussion of the materials’ optoelectronic properties, their ability to modify and promote electron transfer through an organic/transparent conducting-oxide interface, and finally their effect on the photovoltaic properties of devices utilizing them as light-harvesters is provided where relevant. The first two research chapters discuss mono-chromophoric asymmetric squaraine-based sensitizers and covalently linked, dual-chromophoric, porphyrin-squaraine sensitizers as light absorbers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), in an attempt to address two problems often encountered with DSSCs utilizing this class of near infra-red sensitizers; The lack of panchromatic absorption and aggregation on the surface. Also, this dissertation discusses the design and synthesis of asymmetric perylene diimide phosphonic acid (PDI-PA) redox-active surface modifiers, and reports on the electron-transfer rates and efficiencies across the interface of an ITO electrode (widely used in organic-electronic devices) modified with these perylene diimides. Finally two series of hole-transport materials based on oligothiophenes and benzodithiophenes are reported: optoelectronic properties and preliminary performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices fabricated with them is discussed.

In this thesis, microelectrode arrays of micropumps have been designed, fabricated and characterized for transporting microfluid by AC electro-osmosis (ACEO). In particular, the 3D stepped electrode design which shows superior performance to others in literature is adopted for making micropumps, and the performance of such devices has been studied and explored. A novel fabrication process has also been developed in the work, realizing 3D stepped electrodes on a flexible substrate, which is suitable for biomedical use, for example glaucoma implant. There are three major contributions to ACEO pumping in the work. First, a novel design of 3D “T-shaped” discrete electrode arrays was made using PolyMUMPs® process. The breakthrough of this work was discretizing the continuous 3D stepped electrodes which were commonly seen in the past research. The “T-shaped” electrodes did not only create ACEO flows on the top surfaces of electrodes but also along the side walls between separated electrodes. Secondly, four 3D stepped electrode arrays were designed, fabricated and tested. It was found from the experiment that PolyMUMPs® ACEO electrodes usually required a higher driving voltage than gold electrodes for operation. It was also noticed that a simulation based on the modified model taking into account the surface oxide of electrodes showed a better agreement with the experimental results. It thus demonstrated the possibility that the surface oxide of electrodes had impact on fluidic pumping. This methodology could also be applied to metal electrodes with a native oxide layer such as titanium and aluminum. Thirdly, a prototype of the ACEO pump with 3D stepped electrode arrays was first time realized on a flexible substrate using Kapton polyimide sheets and packaged with PDMS encapsulants. Comprehensive experimental testing was also conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties as well as the pumping performance. The experimental findings indicated that this fabrication process was a promising method to create flexible ACEO pumps that can be used as medical implants and wearable devices. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-05-06 10:57:48.077

Surface chemical gradients are materials that exhibit continuous, gradually varying chemical or physical properties along and across the length of a substrate. As a result, each point on the gradient surface can represent an individual sample. They are broadly classified as chemical and physical gradients depending upon the properties that the gradient exhibits. A physical gradient involves a continuous variation of physical properties such as surface roughness and film porosity on the micrometer scale. Chemical gradients involve a gradual variation of chemical properties such as polarity, acidity and basicity, etc. Such gradients have found various applications in cell adhesion, nanoparticle absorption, etc. Because of the multitude of potential applications of acid-base gradient materials in separation science and biological applications, the main work of this dissertation work is focused on the preparation and fundamental, molecular level investigation of acid-base gradients on siloxane surfaces. In this work, we focused on the preparation and characterization of surface charge gradients. Charged gradients are gradients that contain charged functional groups that are spatially distributed along the length of the substrate. They can interact with each other or with other species in solution by electrostatic interactions. They can also play a key role in governing the interaction of macromolecules and bacteria on surfaces, the wetting of surfaces, the layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of thin films, reactions in catalysis, and the separation of charged species in chromatography. Therefore, understanding localized interactions between surface functional groups and charged species in solution are particularly relevant to the development of surfaces resistant to biofouling, antimicrobial surfaces, catalytic surfaces, multi-layered composite thin films, and imprinted surfaces for chemical sensing and separations. Thus, it is of great of interest to develop methodologies to create and study heterogeneous and homogeneous charged surfaces with well-defined properties. There have been several different methods developed for the preparation of charged gradients. First a chemical gradient is prepared and then the chemical gradient is converted to charged gradient by a chemical approach. Silane-based methods for the preparation of chemical gradients are among those that are widely used because of the straightforwardness of the chemistry involved and also the availability of silanes with various chemical functionalities. A few of these silane based approaches such as the vapor-diffusion method and liquid diffusion method have been used for various applications so far. Most of these methods are only able to prepare surface chemical gradients for a specific application mainly because of their limitations in terms of gradient-length scale and chemistry involved. In this work, we used a procedure already developed in our lab to prepare chemical gradients from different functionalized alkoxysilanes; we call this procedure the ‘controlled-rate infusion method (CRI)’. This method can be adapted to different substrates and can form gradients at various length-scales, such as few hundred microns to tens of centimeters. The CRI method involves the infusion of an organoalkoxysilane solution into a container with a substrate mounted vertically so that time-dependent exposure along the substrate forms a gradient in chemical functionality from bottom to the top. The most important attribute of this method is that the local steepness of the gradient can be systematically controlled by simply changing the rate of infusion. The steepness of the gradient can also be changed at predefined positions along its length by programming the rate of infusion. CRI can also be used to prepare gradients containing multiple functionalities, termed multicomponent chemical gradients. The different chemical functionalities can be oriented in different directions to produce gradients where functionalities can be oriented along the same or opposed directions producing aligned and opposed multicomponent chemical gradients, respectively. In this work, the multicomponent gradients were converted to charge gradients via chemical reaction with 30% H2O2. Using controlled rate infusion and this technique, aligned or opposed multicomponent charge gradients containing NH3+, SO3- and SiO- groups were prepared. By infusing 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTEOS) and 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTMOS) in the same or opposed direction, gradients containing charged species in different locations relative to each other along the length of the substrate were made. The gradient properties in each case were different and correlated to the way they were prepared i.e., where the gradients were oriented in an aligned or opposed fashion. Surface wettability and local surface charge, etc were found to be entirely different depending on the type of charge gradients (aligned and opposed). In another example, SiO- and NH3+ opposed gradients were prepared by infusing APTEOS on different base layers prepared from tetramethoxysilane (TMOS), phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMOS), dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMOS) or octyltrimethoxysilane (OTMOS) followed by protonation of the surface amines. The gradient profiles and surface wettability were found to be independent of each other and dependent of the type of the base layer. In summary, this dissertation work focuses mainly on the preparation of multicomponent charge gradients and their molecular level characterization by a multitude of different analytical methods including XPS spectroscopy, tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM), zeta potential measurement, and SCA and DCA measurements. CRI has incredible flexibility and adaptability, which was confirmed by extending it to different siloxane base films and creating gradients with different functionalities. Multicomponent charge gradients containing acid and base functionalities can be prepared and optimized for and acid base catalysis reactions such Michael addition as well as aldol, Henry, and Knoevenagel condensations.

Developing new materials with desired properties is a vital component of emerging technologies. Functional hybrid compounds make an important class of advanced materials that let us synergistically utilize the key features of the organic and inorganic counterparts in a single composite, providing a very strong tool to develop new materials with ”engineered” properties. The research presented here, summarizes efforts in the development of facile and efficient methods for the fabrication of three- and two-dimensional inorganic-organic hybrids based on layered oxide perovskites. Microwave radiation was exploited to rapidly fabricate and modify new and known materials. Despite the extensive utilization of microwaves in organic syntheses as well as the fabrication of the inorganic solids, the work herein was among the first reported that used microwaves in topochemical modification of the layered oxide perovskites. Our group specifically was the first to perform rapid microwave-assisted reactions in all of the modification steps including proton exchange, grafting, intercalation, and exfoliation, which decreased the duration of multi-step modification procedures from weeks to only a few hours. Microwave-assisted grafting and intercalation reactions with n-alkyl alcohols and n-alkylamines, respectively, were successfully applied on double-layered Dion-Jacobson and Ruddlesden-Popper phases (HLaNb2O7, HPrNb2O7, and H2CaTa2O7), and with somewhat more limited reactivity, applied to triple-layered perovskites (HCa2Nb3O10 and H2La2Ti3O10). Performing neutron diffraction on n-propoxy-LaNb2O7, structure refinement of a layered hybrid oxide perovskite was then tried for the first time. Furthermore, two-dimensional hybrid oxides were efficiently prepared from HLnNb2O7 (Ln = La, Pr), HCa2Nb3O10, HCa2Nb2FeO9, and HLaCaNb2MnO10, employing facile microwave-assisted exfoliation and post-exfoliation surface-modification reactions for the first time. A variety of surface groups, saturated or unsaturated linear and cyclic organics, were successfully anchored onto these oxide nanosheets. Properties of various functionalized metal-oxide nanosheets, as well as the polymerization of some monomer-grafted nanosheets, were then investigated for the two-dimensional hybrid systems.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

La biofonctionnalisation de surfaces de silice est une étape cruciale dans de nombreux domaines de biotechnologie tels que la biodétection ou la bioséparation. Le contrôle de l’état de surface entre les supports solides des matériaux et les espèces biologiques permet d’améliorer leurs performances de reconnaissance. Dans ce travail, nous avons développés des organosilanes fonctionnels dendritiques de première et de seconde génération pour la modification chimique de surface. Ces organosilanes dendritiques de type RSiX3 (X= Cl ou OMe3 ou OEt3) ont été greffés de manière covalente sur des surfaces de silice ou des surfaces de nanoparticules superparamagnétiques de type core-shell (gamma-Fe2O3/SiO2). La qualité des greffages a été analysée par AFM et TEM. Ils ont également été caractérisés par infrarouge, angle de contact et zêtamétrie. Ces surfaces modifiées par des molécules dendritiques ont montré une capacité à immobiliser des molécules biologiques comme la protéine A ou des anticorps de lapin. / Biofunctionalization of silica surfaces represents a crucial step for many applications in biotechnology such as biosensing and bioseparation. Monitoring the surface modification of the materials supports can improve their performances for the recognition of biological species. In this work, we have developed functional dendritic organosilanes of first and second generation for chemical modification of surfaces. These dendritic organosilanes RSiX3 (X = Cl or OMe3 or OEt3) were covalently grafted on planar silica or on core-shell superparamagnetic nanoparticles surfaces (gamma-Fe2O3/SiO2). The grafted surfaces were analyzed by AFM and TEM. They were also characterized by Infrared, contact angle and zetametry. These modified surfaces by dendritic molecules have shown high ability to immobilize biological molecules such as protein A or rabbit antibodies.

Les systèmes microbioélectrochimiques exploitent le métabolisme de microorganismes particuliers afin de catalyser des réactions d'oxydoréduction. Ces microorganismes organisés en biofilms à l'anode ou à la cathode sont en général des bactéries dites électroactives et peuvent être exploités dans une multitude d'applications. Une revue bibliographique des aspects fondamentaux et applicatifs de ce domaine est présentée. La génération d'électricité couplée à l'épuration d'eaux usées à l'anode de piles à combustible microbiologiques a été étudiée. Des bioanodes développées à partir d'acétate (substrat non fermentescible) sont capables de s'adapter et de dégrader le glucose et le lactose (substrats fermentescibles). Leur adaptation et leurs performances dépendent de la maturité du biofilm, du substrat et du renouvellement régulier de l'anolyte. Les propriétés physico-chimiques de la surface des électrodes ont été modulées afin de promouvoir la connexion de biofilms. A l'anode, nous avons étudié le greffage covalent d'acides phényle boroniques susceptibles de se complexer avec des glucides de la membrane externe des bactéries. Cette fonctionnalisation permet de réduire le temps de formation des biofilms et d'en améliorer les performances électriques sur graphite et sur nanotubes de carbone à parois multiples. A la cathode, les modifications de surface connues sur les bioanodes n'ont pas démontré d'influence sur les performances des biocathodes. Les différentes phases du développement de biocathodes catalysant la réduction du dioxygène à haut potentiel ont été étudiées. Le suivi de biocathodes réduisant le CO2 en acides organiques montre une production séquentielle d'acides organiques à chaîne aliphatique de plus en plus longue. / Microbial electrochemical devices use the metabolism of particular microorganisms to catalyze redox reactions. The microorganisms organized as biofilms onto anodes and cathodes are usually bacteria defined as electroactive and can be harnessed in electrochemical devices for several applications. A review of the fundamental and practical aspects of this field is presented. The simultaneous generation of electricity coupled to pollutant removal was studied at the anode of microbial fuel cells. Bioanodes developed with acetate (non-fermentable substrate) can adapt to the degradation of fermentable substrates (glucose and lactose). Their adaptation and performances depend on biofilm age, nature of the substrate and regular replacement of anolyte. The physico-chemical properties of electrode surfaces were tuned in order to promote microbial connection. At the anode, we investigated the covalent grafting of phenylboronic acids functionalities that are expected to bind with saccharides of the external membrane of bacteria. This functionalization leads to faster biofilm connection and higher performances of bioanodes on graphite and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. At the cathode, the grafting of chemical functionalities that already proved beneficial to bioanodes did not influence the performances of biocathodes. Different development phases of biocathodes catalyzing O2 reduction at high potential were studied. The monitoring of biocathodes catalyzing CO2 reduction showed a successive generation of organic acids with increasing aliphatic chain length.

The Swedish city of Uppsala is growing and will be expanded. To manage the increase in traffic, a tramway is being planned. It is vital to make the construction and the tramway tracks sustainable. This is explored to study carbon dioxide emissions related to tramway track materials as well as their wear and service life. This project investigates sustainability, the tramway track constituents, rail steel, the rails' wear, rail surface treatments that could minimize wear and increase service life, materials surrounding the rails, and the production of the most used materials in tramway tracks. A literature study is conducted to compare different options for materials and treatments. The municipality of Uppsala's climate goals, technical standards and regulations, articles and studies about the mentioned topics, amongst other sources, are considered and compared. The results include a rough estimation of the material consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Asphalt tracks have the lowest emissions of the different surrounding material options. The steel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions for the vignole rails are less than for grooved rails and the concrete consumption for grass tracks is slightly less compared to edilon tracks. It is also possible to switch from regular perlitic rail steel to bainitic rail steel when needed. Laser hardening, UNSM, and thermal plasma hardening decrease the rails' wear (rates) considering increased surface hardness. / Uppsala är en växande stad och därför ska Södra staden byggas ut. Spårvagnstrafik planeras för att hantera den kommande trafikbelastning. Det är viktigt att göra konstruktionen av spårvägen till spårvagnen så hållbar och miljövänlig som möjligt. Detta utreds i denna rapport för att undersöka koldioxidutsläpp från spårvägens material samt dess slitage och livslängd. Rapporten undersöker hållbarhet, hur spårvägarna ser ut och dess olika delar, rälstål, rälernas slitage, ytbehandlingar till rälarna som kan minimera slitage och öka livslängden, samt tillverkningen av de mest förekommande materialen i spårvagnars spårvägar. En litteraturstudie genomförs för att jämföra olika materialvals- och behandlingsalternativ. Uppsala kommuns klimatmål, tekniska standarder och regelverk, artiklar och studier om de nämnda ämnena, bland andra resurser, används och jämförs. Studiens resultat inkluderar en grov uppskattning av materialåtgången och koldioxidutsläpp. Det blir minst koldioxidutsläpp från asfaltsspår när det gäller de omgivande materialen. Stålåtgången och koldioxidutsläppen för vignolräler är mindre än för gaturäler och betongåtgången blir lite mindre för grässpår jämfört med edilonspår. Det är även möjligt att byta från vanligt perlitiskt rälstål till bainitiskt rälstål vid behov. Laserhärdning, UNSM och termisk plasma härdning minskar rälernas slitage med avseende på framförallt ökningar av ythårdhet.

Cristais piezelétricos de quartzo (PQC\'s) com configuração de eletrodo separado e superfície quimicamente modificada foram utilizados para obtenção de um sensor para boro. Uma cela de detecção foi construída, de maneira que um eletrodo de aço inoxidável era mantido a uma pequena distância (0,3 mm) da superfície do PQC, da qual foi removido o eletrodo de ouro original. Foi verificado,por espectroscopia de impedância, medidas de freqüência de oscilação e simulações de espectros de impedância do circuito equivalente da cela, que as propriedades físico-químicas (condutividade, permissividade, densidade e viscosidade) das soluções influenciam de modo diferenciado as freqüências características da cela (ressonância e oscilação). Com o intuito de tomar a superfície sem eletrodo do PQC seletiva a boro, foram experimentadas várias estratégias de modificação química, as quais tinham por objetivo imobilizar polióis (manitol e N-metilglucamina) através de reações de silanização ou deposição de polímeros modificados. Os melhores resultados foram obtidos com o recobrimento do PQC com um filme fino (0,1 a 0,5 µm) de um polímero resultante da modificação da poliepicloridrina com N-metilglucamina (NG). O sensor para boro foi avaliado em um sistema de análises por injeção em fluxo (FIA), em que a solução transportadora era uma solução de etilenodiaminotetraacetato disódico (EDTA) 50 mmol/L (pH 8,5). Observou-se que o mecanismo de resposta desse sensor era predominantemente não-gravimétrico, devido a um aumento de rigidez do filme de recobrimento, causado pela complexação do boro pelos grupos NG ancorados ao polímero. Além disso, o sensor apresenta uma característica bastante interessante que é a retenção do boro, o que possibilita uma diminuição do limite de detecção (LD) em FIA, por meio do aumento do volume de amostra injetado. Para remover o boro do filme sensor, era injetada uma solução de manitol 1 mol/L. Para volumes injetados de 160 e 1000 µL de solução de borato foram alcançados LD\'s de 2 e 0,3 /-lmol/L, respectivamente. É possível detectar até 3 ng do analito presentes no volume de amostra injetado. O efeito de vários prováveis íons interferentes (Mg 2+, Ca2+, Al3+, Cr3+, Mn2+, Fé3+, Co2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Sn2+, Pb2+, HPO42-, SiO32-, F-, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, CH3COO-, CO32-, VO3-, Sb(OH)6- AsO4-, AsO3-, SeO3-, SeO4- e Ge(OH) 62-)foram avaliados, porém apenas o íon germanato apresentou significativa interferência, tanto que o sensor também foi considerado adequado para a determinação dessa espécie. A adição de sulfeto à amostra eliminou completamente a interferência do germânio. A não interferência dos íons metálicos é devida à complexação dos mesmos por EDTA presente na solução transportadora. Foi constatado que a presença de polióis, em alta concentração, na amostra afeta a resposta do sensor, uma vez que esses compostos competem com o filme sensor pelo analito. Os resultados obtidos com o sensor encorajaram a construção de um equipamento automatizado de FIA, o qual foi empregado com sucesso na determinação de boro em amostras de águas minerais, sucos de uva, vinagre, vinho e amostra certificada de água de rio. / Piezoelectric quartz crystals (PQC\'s) with electrode-separated configuration and chemically modified surface were used to develop a boron sensor. A detection cell was built in such a way that a stainless-steel electrode was held at a short distance (0.3 mm) from the PQC surface, whose original gold electrode was removed. By using impedance spectroscopy, oscillation frequency measurements, and simulations of impedance spectra of the cell equivalent circuit, it was observed that the physico-chemical properties (conductivity, permissivity, density and viscosity) of the solution affect in different ways the characteristic frequencies of the cell (resonance and oscillation). In order to make the electrodeless PQC surface selective to boron, several chemical modification strategies were tested with the aim of anchoring poliols (manitol and N-metilglucamine) via silanization reactions or deposition of modified polymers. Best results were obtained with PQC coated with a thin film (0.1 to 0.5 µm) of a polymer, which was the product of the polyepichlorohydrin modification with N-methylglucamine (NG). The sensor was evaluated in a flow injection analysis system (FIA), which used a carrier solution containing disodic ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) 50 mmol/L (pH 8.5). It was observed that the mechanism of detection of this sensor is predominantly nongravimetric, owing to an increase in the stiffness of the covering film, because of the complex formation involving boron and the NG groups, which were incorporated in the polymer. Moreover, the sensor shows an interesting characteristic that is the boron retention, which allows decreasing the limit of detection (LOD) of the FIA method by increasing the injected sample volume. Boron is eluted from the sensor film with 1 mol/L manitol solution. For 160 and 1000 µL volumes of borate solution, the LOD\'s were 2 and 0.3 µmol/L, respectively. It is possible to detect down to 3 ng of boron in the injected sample volume. The effect of several ions (Mg 2+, Ca2+, Al3+, Cr3+, Mn2+, Fé3+, Co2+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, Sn2+, Pb2+, HPO42-, SiO32-, F-, Cl-, SO42-, NO3-, CH3COO-, CO32-, VO3-, Sb(OH)6-\' AsO4-, AsO3-, SeO3-, SeO4- e Ge(OH) 62-) was evaluated. Only the germanate ion showed a significant interference, thus, the sensor can also be suitable for this species. However, this interference can be eliminated by the addition of sulfide to the sample. The non-interference of the metal ions is due to the complex formation with EDTA present in the carrier solution. Polyols at high concentration in the samples affect the sensor response, because these compounds compete with the sensor film for the analyte. An automated FIA equipment was built and successfully applied for determination of boron in samples such as mineral water, grape juice, vinegar, wine, and a standard reference material (river water).