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The aim of this thesis work was to investigate theadsorption of surfactants to different nonpolar interfaces.Particularly, the effects of the polar group and the nature ofthe hydrophobic interface were elucidated. The interfacialbehavior of the liquid-vapor interface was investigated bymeans of surface tension measurements. Here the effect of thepolar group and the hydrocarbon chain length was investigatedin a systematic manner. It was found that the shorter of thetwo chains examined, decyl, generated a larger surface pressurecontribution than the longer, dodecyl. Furthermore, the sugarbased surfactants behaved differently as compared to theethylene oxide based ones. The former could be modelled byassuming a hard disc behavior of the head group while thelatter displayed polymeric behavior. The influence of saltconcentration on the surface tension behavior of an ionicsurfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate, was investigated. Theresult could be rationalized by employing the Gouy- Chapmanmodel to the polar region. Furthermore, mixtures of two sugarbased surfactants were investigated by surface tensionmeasurements and the adsorbed amount of the two components atthe interface atdifferent concentrations and fractions in thebulk were obtained by applying the Gibbs surface tensionequation. It was found that the molecule with the smaller headgroup adsorbed preferentially, and more so as the totalsurfactant concentration was increased. These findings could beexplained by considering the interactions generated by thedifferent head groups. The adsorption of sugar surfactants toan isolated hydrophobic surface was studied by means of wettingmeasurements and the behavior was similar to that at theliquid-vapor interface. Wetting isotherms were measured on twodifferent hydrophobic surfaces where the covalently attachedhydrophobic layers were in a crystalline and fluid state,respectively. The wetting results revealed that the sugarsurfactants anchored in the fluid hydrophobic layer. This had asignificant influence on the force profile. For example, at thecrystalline surface the surfactant monolayers were easilyremoved as the surface came into contact at relatively lowapplied loads. This was not the case when the hydrophobic layerwas in a fluid state. Here a significant fraction of thesurfactants remained between the surfaces. Disjoining pressureisotherms were measured using a sugar based surfactant thatwere thoroughly purified and compared to the as receivedsample. Even the purified sample showed a double-layer forcealthough lower as compared to the as received, one. Asignificant difference in foam stability was also observed. / <p>NR 20140805</p>

Les milieux granulaires présentent une grande diversité de comportements physiques que l'on peut relier aux différents états "conventionnels" de la matière : solide, liquide ou gaz. Les travaux décrits dans ce manuscrit se concentrent sur les écoulements granulaires denses présentant de nombreuses analogies avec les liquides moléculaires. Les expériences présentées dans ce manuscrit sont réalisées en utilisant des jets granulaires s'écoulant d'un réservoir, dans l'air et sous l'effet de la gravité. Quelques propriétés de tels jets sont étudiées, notamment l'évolution du diamètre au cours de la propagation. L'évolution de cette grandeur permet une description des jets granulaires comme des fluides incompressibles dans une certaine gamme de diamètres de sortie D et de diamètres des particules d, résumés en une grandeur réduite : le rapport d'aspect D/d. Lorsque ce dernier est inférieur à une grandeur critique proche de 15, les jets granulaires cessent de se comporter comme des liquides incompressibles et sont alors décrits comme des gaz en expansion.La transition entre les deux régimes d'écoulements est expliquée par un modèle faisant intervenir l'équilibre entre la température granulaire et sa dissipation par l'inélasticité des collisions entre les billes constituant le milieu granulaire. En utilisant les mesures de la température granulaire accessibles à la paroi dans le réservoir, ce modèle permet d'obtenir les profils de température et de fraction volumique du milieu en fonction du rapport d'aspect ainsi que leurs valeurs moyennes, présentant un bon accord avec les mesures de la fraction volumique en sortie du réservoir.Dans le régime "liquide" des jets granulaires mis en évidence ici, une tension de surface effective est mesurée par l'étude d'une instabilité similaire à celle de Rayleigh-Plateau. En soumettant le jet à une oscillation verticale apparaît une modulation du diamètre du jet dont il est possible d'étudier l'évolution au cours du temps. La mesure des taux de croissance des modes instables excités permet d'établir la relation de dispersion et d'obtenir une tension de surface effective dans les jets granulaires. Il est montré que cette tension de surface effective décroit lorsque la taille des particules augmente, décroit lorsque la pression de l'air ambiant diminue et augmente avec la distance de propagation.Le mécanisme proposé pour expliquer l'origine de cette tension de surface effective est l'interaction entre le jet granulaire et l'air ambiant. Les profils de vitesse de l'air entraîné par le jet sont mesurés pour différentes diamètres de particules, différentes pression ambiantes et différentes distances de propagation. L'entraînement de l'air et les profils de vitesses sont utilisés pour définir certaines forces s'exerçant sur les billes et construire une tension de surface effective : l'ordre de grandeur de cette tension de surface est incompatible avec les mesures réalisées précédemment. Une mesure de la pression de l'air à l'intérieur du jet granulaire permet d'obtenir une force exercée par la perméation de l'air à travers les pores du jet dont l'ordre de grandeur est correct. / Granular media exhibit a broad range of behaviours that can be related to the common states of matter: solid, liquid and gaseous. The experiments described in this thesis focus on dense granular flows ad their analogies with molecular liquid flows.The work presented focuses on granular material flowing from a reservoir, in ambient air under the effect of gravity. Some properties of such jets are presented, among them the evolution of the diameter of the jet along propagation. This evolution allows one to describe granular jets as incompressible liquid jets for a certain range of parameters D (exit diameter) and d (beads diameter). When using a reduced variable D/d (the aspect ratio), a transition appears close to a critical value (approx. 15) below which the granular jet exhibit a gas-like behaviour.This transition is explained using a model supposing balance between the heat flux (from the granular temperature imposed at the wall of the reservoir) and its dissipation through inelastic collisions between the beads in the granular medium. This model allows one to compute the temperature and volume fraction profiles as well as their mean values which are in good agreement with the experimental measurements (volume fraction at the exit).In the "liquid" regime defined previously, an effective surface tension is measured by studying the unstable modes of a Rayleigh-Plateau like instability. This instability is obtained by imposing a vertical oscillation on the jet which induces a diametrical modulation whose evolution is measured. Measurements of the growth rates of these unstable modes leads to the dispersion relation $\omega (kr_{0})$ and to an effective granular surface tension. This surface tension shows a diminution when the beads' size increases, a diminution when the air pressure is reduced and a growth along propagation.The proposed mechanism explaining this effective surface tension is the interaction between the granular jet and the surrounding air. Air velocity profiles are measured for different beads diameters, different air pressures and different distances below the outlet. Using these velocity profiles, various forces exerted on the beads are calculated, leading to a surface tension whose order of magnitude is lower than the one measured through the Rayleigh-Plateau instability. The right order of magnitude can be obtained by considering the air permeation through the pores on the surface the jet and the force exerted along the surface of said pores.

Marangoni flows are free-surface flows driven by gradients of surface tension. Because surface tension depends on chemical composition, Marangoni flows may be generated by the uneven distribution of surface-active species at an interface. The primary goal of this thesis is to develop a rigorous computational framework for the simulation of the fluid dynamical and interfacial phenomena underlying the physics of Marangoni flows. The focus is on characterizing the different dynamical regimes generated by the presence of surface-active species (surfactants) at an interface. The computational framework was developed using direct numerical simulation, that is, by simultaneously solving the full system of partial differential equations governing the free-surface flow and the surfactant transport on a continually deforming interface. Results from the simulations enabled detailed examination of the interfacial mechanisms of surfactant transport and provided a comprehensive picture of the free-surface flow. Analysis of the results established limits of applicability of scaling solutions previously proposed in the literature, calculated the necessary corrections, and also lead to the discovery of previously unobserved scaling laws in viscous Marangoni flows. New findings from this research not only enhance the fundamental understanding of the physics of Marangoni flows, but also the ability to accurately predict the behaviour of Marangoni flows and the associated transport of surface-active species, which is critical to the understanding of important natural and biomedical processes, ranging from the surfactant-driven propulsion of insects and microorganisms to the spreading of drugs and natural surfactants (proteins) in the eye and lungs. Controlled Marangoni transport of chemical species is also relevant to a wide range of environmental and technological processes, with applications ranging from cleaning of oil spills to coating of microfluidic devices.

A contaminação da água e do solo por hidrocarbonetos aromáticos tem aumentado ao longo dos anos, devido ao seu uso nos mais diversos segmentos industriais. Hidrocarbonetos, tais como tolueno, são descritos como extremamente poluentes, tóxicos e potencialmente mutagénicos e carcinogénicos para os seres humanos. Os hidrocarbonetos são compostos lipófilicos difíceis de serem eliminados, contudo, estes aromáticos podem ser removidos de ambientes contaminados por meio de biorremediação utilizando bactérias produtoras de surfactante. Biossurfatantes são surfactantes principalmente produzidos por microrganismos, as quais promovem a quebra das moléculas de hidrocarbonetos, através da formação de micelas, aumentando a sua mobilidade, a biodisponibilidade e sua exposição à bactérias favorecendo a biodegradação do hidrocarboneto. A produção deste tensoativo exige meios de fermentação e oxigênio para o metabolismo microbiano. Por tanto, aeração e agitação são variáveis operacionais importantes para garantir um coeficiente de transferência de massa de oxigénio eficaz (kLa). Para esta finalidade, o kLa foi determinado experimentalmente em diferentes meios de fermentação, especificamente meio salino básico, meio de baixa salinidade, meio Bushnell-Haas e água do mar, por diversas variáveis operacionais. Ensaios foram realizados em agitador rotativo para selecionar, dentre os diferentes tipos de bactérias, nomeadamente Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis e Bacillus megatherium, o melhor produtor de biossurfactante na presença de tolueno, nos meios de fermentação descritos acima, formulados com diferentes salinidades. A presença de tolueno inibiu o crescimento de microrganismo deslocando seu metabolismo para a produção de biossurfactante. Assim, B. subtilis foi capaz de reduzir a tensão superficial (TS) em 29,49 ± 0,55 unidades, produzindo cerca de 3,52 ± 0,06 mg/L de biossurfactante. Ao elevar o processo para um fermentador de bancada, a quantidade de tolueno no meio de baixa salinidade foi reduzido drasticamente após 12 horas de crescimento (de 45 ml para 7,43 ml), quando B. subtilis foi utilizado, reduzindo o TS em 22,6 unidades (com concentração de biossurfactante de 3,02 mg/L). Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o B. subtilis pode ser considerado um microrganismo promissor para ser utilizado na biorremediação de locais contaminados por tolueno / Contamination of water and soil by aromatic hydrocarbons has been increasing along the years, due to its use in various industrial segments. Hydrocarbons, such as toluene, are described as extremely polluting, toxic, potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic to humans. Hydrocarbons are lipophilic compounds difficult to be disposed of; however, the aromatic ones can be removed from contaminated environments via bioremediation using surfactant-producing bacteria. Biosurfactants are surfactants produced mainly by microorganisms, which promote the breaking of hydrocarbons molecules, by means of the formation of micelles, increasing their mobility, bioavailability and exposure to bacteria favoring hydrocarbon biodegradation. This tensoactive production requires oxygen and fermentation media for the microorganism metabolism. Thus, aeration and agitation are important operating variables to ensure an effective oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa). To this purpose, such a response was experimentally determined in this study in different fermentation media, specifically basal saline medium, low saline medium, Bushnell-Haas medium and sea water, and correlated with the above operating variables. Rotary shaker essays were performed to select, among different bacteria, namely Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megatherium and Bacillus licheniformis, the best biosurfactant producer in the presence of toluene, in fermentative broths described above, formulated with different salinities. The presence of toluene inhibited the growth of microorganism shifting the metabolism to the production of biosurfactant. Thus, B. subtilis was able to reduce the surface tension (ST) in 29.49 ± 0.55 units producing up to 3.52 ± 0.06 mg/L of biosurfactant. Scaling up the process to a bench fermentor, the quantity of toluene in the low salinity medium was reduced drastically after 12 h of growth (from 45 mL to 7.43 mL), when B. subtilis was used, reducing the ST in 22.6 units (biosurfactant concentration of 3.02 mg/L). The results obtained showed that B. subtilis can be considered a promising microorganism to be used for the bioremediation of sites contaminated by toluene.

O surfactante pulmonar é uma mistura complexa de fosfolipídios e proteínas, e encontra-se presente na interface ar-líquido dos alvéolos pulmonares. O seu papel principal é reduzir a tensão superficial para manter os alvéolos estáveis. A deficiência ou disfunção do surfactante leva ao colapso alveolar, provocando a falta de oxigenação que ocorre devido ao edema ou a resposta inflamatória nos pulmões. Em recém-nascidos, a imaturidade pulmonar, pela deficiência do surfactante, pode causar a Síndrome de Desconforto Respiratória (SDR). Nos adultos, a Síndrome de Desconforto Respiratório Agudo (SDRA) é a manifestação mais grave da Lesão Pulmonar Aguda (LPA), o tratamento para estas doenças inclui a utilização de surfactantes exógenos. Para entender a funcionalidade do surfactante é necessário caracterizá-lo biofisicamente. A principal característica observada neste estudo foi o espalhamento e recuperação do surfactante na subfase, para a interface ar-líquido. O espalhamento e recuperação foram quantificadas observando o trabalho feito em sucessivos ciclos de compressão e expansão na balança de Wilhelmy. Analisou-se o decaimento do trabalho ao longo dos ciclos até a sua estabilização. Os parâmetros obtidos neste ajuste do decaimento exponencial foram utilizados para a caracterização de dois surfactantes exógenos, o Curosurf® e o Survanta®. As comparações entre eles foram segundo a concentração, as subfases e das velocidades de barreira. O decaimento exponencial do trabalho nos ciclos só ocorreu para concentrações menores de surfactante. Quando em subfase de solução salina ocorreu a melhora na recuperação do surfactante para a interface ar-líquido, em comparação a subfase de água ultrapura. A melhor velocidade de barreira encontrada para otimização da recuperação do surfactante foi 120 mm/min. Foi observado nesse estudo que as propriedades de recuperação do Curosurf® foram melhores em relação ao Survanta®, os parâmetros se mostraram de acordo com os dados clínicos encontrados na literatura, a caracterização da dinâmica do surfactante foi feita de forma diferente de todos os métodos encontrados / Lung surfactant is a complex mixture of phospholipids and proteins, found at the airliquid interface of pulmonary alveoli. The main role is to reduce the surface tension to keep alveoli stable. Surfactant deficiency, or dysfunctional, leads to alveolar collapse, causes a lack of oxygen and it may be due to edema or inflammatory response in the lungs. In newborn babies, pulmonary immaturity, caused by surfactant deficiency, may cause Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS). In adults, the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is the gravest manifestation of Acute Lung Injury (ALI), and the treatment includes Mechanical Ventilation (MV) and exogenous surfactants. To understand surfactant functionality, it is necessary to characterize them biophysically. The main characteristic observed in this work was the mobility and recovery of surfactant in the subphase to the air-liquid interface. The mobility and recover were quantified observing the work done in successive cycles of compression and expansion in a Wilhelmy plate tensiometer. The work decay was analyzed over cycles until its stabilization. The parameters obtained for the exponential fitting of decay were used for characterization of two exogenous surfactants, Curosurf® and Survanta®. The comparisons between them were done under concentration, subphases and barrier speeds. The exponential decay of the cycle work only happened for lower concentrations of surfactant. Saline solution subphase improved the surfactant recovery to the air-liquid interface over ultrapure water subphase. A suitable barrier speed founded to optimize surfactant recovery was 120 mm/min. In this study were observed that recovery properties of Curosurf® were better than Survanta®, the parameters agrees with clinical data from the literature, and the dynamic characterization of surfactant was done of different way than founded methods

Bacteria produce a range of surface-active compounds called biosurfactants that reduce the surface tension of liquid and exhibit different oil-water behaviours. These are used in various biotechnological applications including agriculture, cosmetics, medical and food. A recent study has predicted a limit to bacterial surface tension-reducing ability. If this limit exists, it has strong negative consequences in surveys for more active compounds. In this work, the aim is to (i) investigate this prediction more robustly by using chemical media and (ii) study the diversity amongst the best-performing surfactants produced by Pseudomonas spp. with the intention of finding novel surfactants that could be used in different biotechnological applications. A total of 251 Pseudomonas spp. were isolated from soil. Strains were first screened for liquid surface tension-reducing ability (LSTRA) using qualitative drop-collapse assay before quantitative surface tension measurement. Of the 58 LSTRA strains, only 46 significantly reduced the surface tension of sterile media. Individual Distribution Identification (IDI) analysis was used to determine the predicted limit for surfactant activity in KB* and M9Glu media, and results were found to be in agreement with earlier studies. To investigate the chemical structural diversity amongst the best performing surfactants, a collection of 25 key strains producing a limited range of very low surface tension in liquid culture media (~24 – 26 mN/m) were examined. Initial phenotypic characterisation including biochemical, metabolic profiling and 16S rDNA sequencing confirmed strains were a diverse collection of Pseudomonas spp. A series of behaviour assays including emulsion formation, foam stabilisation and oil displacement assays to investigate behavioural diversity among surfactants expressed by the key strains were then undertaken. For the oil displacement, diesel, mineral, vegetable, and used lubricating oils were tested with the underlying aqueous layer containing 0 or 200 mM NaCl at pH 6.0 or 8.0 to reflect a range of biotechnological applications and conditions. Analysis of variance of the emulsion indices, foam stabilisation and oil displacement data showed significant difference in surfactant behaviour among the key surfactant-expressing strains (P < 0.001). Moreover, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was used to produce a constellation dendrogram in which isolates were grouped according to similarities in phenotype and surfactant behaviour. Critically, this resulted in more groups (≥ 5 groups) than could be explained by statistically significant differences in mean surface tensions (previously determined by ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer HSD, alpha = 0.05). These findings provide strong evidence that the key strains were expressing structurally more than one type of surfactant with differing air-water and oil-water behaviours. Similarly, in vitro surfactant characterisation within a range of pH and salt concentrations confirmed diversity among strains (P < 0.001). Investigating surfactant potential by a two-way behaviour cluster dendrogram resulted in more diversity among oil types than the conditions used. These findings indicate that bioprospecting surfactants by screening only the more active compounds is likely to reveal a range of functionalities.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2004-01-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:27:19Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 costa_nv_me_botfca.pdf: 1885455 bytes, checksum: 18071a24e23cec02619d75f2732d4f7e (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O presente trabalho de pesquisa teve como objetivo estudar, em sete espécies de plantas daninhas aquáticas, Enhydra anagallis Gardn., Brachiaria mutica Stapf, Brachiaria subquadripara (Trin.) Hitchc., Panicum repens Burm. f., Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Heteranthera reniformis Ruiz & Pav. e Typha subulata Crespo & Perez-Moreau, as características da anatomia da folha, o pH foliar e a área de molhamento de gotas de pulverização nas superfícies foliares adaxial e abaxial. O experimento foi conduzido no Núcleo de Pesquisas Avançadas em Matologia - NUPAM, do Departamento de Produção Vegetal, pertencente à Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas de Botucatu/UNESP, e no Departamento de Botânica, do Instituto de Biociências de Botucatu/UNESP. As plantas foram cultivadas em caixas d'água sob condições de campo e, quando apresentavam pleno desenvolvimento, ou seja, antes do florescimento, foram realizadas as amostragens do material foliar, para as sete espécies estudadas. Com relação às estruturas presentes no limbo foliar, foram quantificados os seguintes caracteres anatômicos das regiões da nervura central e internervural: epiderme das faces adaxial e abaxial, feixe vascular, bainha do feixe vascular (=endoderme), esclerênquima, parênquima e lacunas do aerênquima. Foi também mensurada, na região internervural, a espessura do limbo foliar, bem como realizada a contagem do número de estômatos e de tricomas das faces adaxial e abaxial. Os dados dos 19 caracteres estruturais quantitativos, utilizados na diferenciação das espécies de plantas daninhas aquáticas estudadas, foram submetidos aos testes estatísticos multivariados de Análise de Agrupamento e Análise de Componentes Principais. Os componentes Y1 e Y2, foram responsáveis, respectivamente, por 63,58% e 18,40% da informação retida pelos caracteres estudados...

A contaminação da água e do solo por hidrocarbonetos aromáticos tem aumentado ao longo dos anos, devido ao seu uso nos mais diversos segmentos industriais. Hidrocarbonetos, tais como tolueno, são descritos como extremamente poluentes, tóxicos e potencialmente mutagénicos e carcinogénicos para os seres humanos. Os hidrocarbonetos são compostos lipófilicos difíceis de serem eliminados, contudo, estes aromáticos podem ser removidos de ambientes contaminados por meio de biorremediação utilizando bactérias produtoras de surfactante. Biossurfatantes são surfactantes principalmente produzidos por microrganismos, as quais promovem a quebra das moléculas de hidrocarbonetos, através da formação de micelas, aumentando a sua mobilidade, a biodisponibilidade e sua exposição à bactérias favorecendo a biodegradação do hidrocarboneto. A produção deste tensoativo exige meios de fermentação e oxigênio para o metabolismo microbiano. Por tanto, aeração e agitação são variáveis operacionais importantes para garantir um coeficiente de transferência de massa de oxigénio eficaz (kLa). Para esta finalidade, o kLa foi determinado experimentalmente em diferentes meios de fermentação, especificamente meio salino básico, meio de baixa salinidade, meio Bushnell-Haas e água do mar, por diversas variáveis operacionais. Ensaios foram realizados em agitador rotativo para selecionar, dentre os diferentes tipos de bactérias, nomeadamente Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis e Bacillus megatherium, o melhor produtor de biossurfactante na presença de tolueno, nos meios de fermentação descritos acima, formulados com diferentes salinidades. A presença de tolueno inibiu o crescimento de microrganismo deslocando seu metabolismo para a produção de biossurfactante. Assim, B. subtilis foi capaz de reduzir a tensão superficial (TS) em 29,49 ± 0,55 unidades, produzindo cerca de 3,52 ± 0,06 mg/L de biossurfactante. Ao elevar o processo para um fermentador de bancada, a quantidade de tolueno no meio de baixa salinidade foi reduzido drasticamente após 12 horas de crescimento (de 45 ml para 7,43 ml), quando B. subtilis foi utilizado, reduzindo o TS em 22,6 unidades (com concentração de biossurfactante de 3,02 mg/L). Os resultados obtidos mostraram que o B. subtilis pode ser considerado um microrganismo promissor para ser utilizado na biorremediação de locais contaminados por tolueno / Contamination of water and soil by aromatic hydrocarbons has been increasing along the years, due to its use in various industrial segments. Hydrocarbons, such as toluene, are described as extremely polluting, toxic, potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic to humans. Hydrocarbons are lipophilic compounds difficult to be disposed of; however, the aromatic ones can be removed from contaminated environments via bioremediation using surfactant-producing bacteria. Biosurfactants are surfactants produced mainly by microorganisms, which promote the breaking of hydrocarbons molecules, by means of the formation of micelles, increasing their mobility, bioavailability and exposure to bacteria favoring hydrocarbon biodegradation. This tensoactive production requires oxygen and fermentation media for the microorganism metabolism. Thus, aeration and agitation are important operating variables to ensure an effective oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa). To this purpose, such a response was experimentally determined in this study in different fermentation media, specifically basal saline medium, low saline medium, Bushnell-Haas medium and sea water, and correlated with the above operating variables. Rotary shaker essays were performed to select, among different bacteria, namely Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megatherium and Bacillus licheniformis, the best biosurfactant producer in the presence of toluene, in fermentative broths described above, formulated with different salinities. The presence of toluene inhibited the growth of microorganism shifting the metabolism to the production of biosurfactant. Thus, B. subtilis was able to reduce the surface tension (ST) in 29.49 ± 0.55 units producing up to 3.52 ± 0.06 mg/L of biosurfactant. Scaling up the process to a bench fermentor, the quantity of toluene in the low salinity medium was reduced drastically after 12 h of growth (from 45 mL to 7.43 mL), when B. subtilis was used, reducing the ST in 22.6 units (biosurfactant concentration of 3.02 mg/L). The results obtained showed that B. subtilis can be considered a promising microorganism to be used for the bioremediation of sites contaminated by toluene.

Films of phospholipids and biologically relevant surfactants at the air-water interface provide a well-defined medium to study molecular alignment, phase behavior and interactions of biomembranes and lung surfactant with exogenous materials. Interactions between lung surfactant interfaces and solid particles are of particular interest due to the increased use of nanomaterials in industrial applications and the promise of polymeric particles in pulmonary drug delivery. Understanding such interactions is necessary to avoid potential adverse effects on surfactant function after exposure to particles. In this thesis, the mechanisms of surfactant inhibition after exposure to submicron particles via different routes were investigated. The effects of carboxyl-modified polystyrene particles (200 nm) on films of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and Infasurf (calf lung surfactant extract) were studied. Surfactants were exposed to different concentrations of particles in a Langmuir trough with symmetric surface compression and expansion. Surface tension, potential, microstructure and topology were examined to monitor particle effects on surfactant function. Several methods of surfactant exposure to particles were studied: particle injection into the subphase after spreading surfactant monolayers (subphase injection), mixing the particles with the subphase and spreading the surfactant on top (monolayer addition) and particle aerosolization onto surfactant films. Studies with DPPC monolayers revealed that particle-surfactant interactions are dependent on the particle introduction method. In the subphase injection method, particles did not penetrate the monolayer and no inhibitory effects on surfactant function were observed. However, in the monolayer addition method, particles caused a premature monolayer collapse and hindered surfactant respreading likely by penetrating into the DPPC monolayer. Finally, particle aerosolization on surfactant was performed to mimic the physiologically relevant route of surfactant exposure to particles. Particle aerosolization on DPPC monolayers significantly inhibited surfactant function in the lung-relevant surface tension range. When aerosolized on Infasurf, particles caused inhibitory effects as a function of time suggesting adsorption of surfactant components on particle surfaces as the main mechanism of interaction. This research will enhance understanding of the mechanisms of particle-induced surfactant dysfunction, thereby providing information for the safe design of polymeric particles for drug delivery and for developing guidelines for particles used in occupational settings.