Non-destructive investigation methods where applied to study evaporation dynamics and other dynamic processes of volatile and non-volatile fluids from different porous membranes. While evaporation dynamics from porous alumina didn't show any irregularities, it was shown that evaporation of ethanol from porous glasses can be divided into two different phases - linear endothermal evaporation and adiabatic burst evaporation.

This work had the objective of determining both the kinetic parameters for the pyrolysis of oil shale and kerogen as well as using analytical techniques coupled with pyrolysis to shed light on the structure of a specific Green River oil shale. Because of the problems with linearized methods and disagreement among literature values and methods, a new method was developed tofit kinetic parameters to non linearized data. The method was demonstrated to determine the "correct" answer for mathematically generated data within a few percent error and was shown to have a lower sum squared error than the linearized methods. The curve-fitting methodology was then applied to pyrolysis kinetic data for kerogen and oil shale. Crushed samples were pyrolyzed at heating rates from 1 to 10 K/min and at pressures of 1 and 40 bar. The transient pyrolysis data were fit with a first-order model and a progressive Distributed Activation Energy Model (DAEM). An F-test was used to determine confidence regions and compare the kinetic parameters among the samples. The activation energies determined ranged from 173 to 226 kJ/mol, with most values around 200-220 kJ/mol. The kinetic coefficients determined for oil shale and the demineralized samples were statistically the same. Only small differences in kinetic coefficients were seen in the size-graded samples. The first-order and DAEM were shown to be statistically different, but a visual inspection of a graph of the model predictions and the data revealed that both models performed well. The largest effect on the kinetic parameters was between samples collected from different geographic allocations. The pyrolysis products (and the parent kerogen sample) were analyzed by several chemical techniques to determine chemical structure information about the parent sample. TheGC/MS data for the tars collected showed a distribution of alkenes/alkanes with 11 to 12 carbonsin length being the most frequent. XPS analysis demonstrated that any chemical model must have pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogens as well as carbonyls and carboxyl groups. Therefore a chemical structure model of kerogen should have heteroatoms of nitrogen in the aromatic region(i.e., the portions of the kerogen that are stable at moderate temperatures).

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Ce travail de thèse porte sur le développement d’une nouvelle génération de mousses polymères biosourcées capables de satisfaire la fonction d’âme alvéolaire et structurale de pièces automobiles. Les formulations époxy choisies comme base polymère reposent sur deux différents prépolymères époxy, l’huile de lin époxydée (ELO) et le glycérol époxydé (GE). Ces derniers, associés en proportions variables, sont réticulés avec deux différents durcisseurs : l’isophorone diamine (IPDA) ou l’anhydride méthyl tétrahydrophtalique (MTHPA). Les formulations ternaires « ELO – GE – durcisseur » ont été caractérisées selon une approche multi-techniques (DSC, TGA, rhéométrie dynamique et en mode permanent) permettant d’établir des relations structure-propriétés fiables. Puis, la production d’une mousse a été possible grâce à la maîtrise d’une réaction chimique qui se déroule parallèlement à la réticulation de la résine époxy. Le bicarbonate de sodium et de potassium ont été retenus comme agents moussants. Afin d’améliorer les performances finales des mousses, la proportion de GE au sein des formulations polymère à base IPDA a été augmentée. Mais, une telle modification induit la dégradation thermique du système à cause de l’exothermicité élevée de la réaction de réticulation. L’introduction d’un absorbeur d’exothermicité, permet grâce à sa décomposition endothermique de contrôler l’excès de chaleur dégagée et par la même d’empêcher la dégradation. Une dernière classe de durcisseurs a également été étudiée et donne après optimisation des mousses dotés d’excellentes propriétés ultimes. Ainsi, une large gamme de mousses biosourcées rigides et légères pouvant être mises en œuvre dans un temps très court a été développée. / This thesis focuses on the development of a new generation of bio-based polymer foams able to produce low density core in sandwich structure for automotive applications. The polymer formulations used in this research contain two different epoxy compounds, epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) and the epoxidized glycerol (GE). Combined in varying proportions, they were cured with two different hardeners, isophorone diamine (IPDA) or methyl tetrahydrophthalic anhydride (MTHPA). Ternary formulations “ELO – GE – hardener” were characterized by a multi-techniques approach (DSC, TGA, rheometry in steady or dynamic mode) in order to establish structure-property relationships. The production of polymeric-foam materials was carried out by tuning a chemical reaction which takes place during curing. Sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate were used as harmless foaming agents. In order to improve the final performances of the foams, the ratio GE/ELO was increased in the reactive formulations based on IPDA hardener. But, such modification provokes also the thermal degradation of the system because of the high exothermicity of the curing reaction. The introduction of “exothermicity regulators” that undergo endothermic transformations allowed to control the excess of released heat and consequently, to prevent the material degradation. A last class of hardener was also studied and made it possible after optimization the production of foams with good ultimate properties. To conclude, a large range of biobased and lightweight rigid foams able to be produced in a few minutes was developed.

Orientadores: Marcelo Menossi Teixeira, Ricardo Aparicio / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T01:59:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fonseca_JosePedro_D.pdf: 3971415 bytes, checksum: b23d47eff6b16f53235b5d581fcd3ae6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Estresses bióticos e abióticos como a seca, salinidade e ataque por patógenos são responsáveis por perdas significantes em culturas de grãos ao redor do mundo. Diversos genes são regulados em resposta a esses fatores e podem ser ativados ou reprimidos para gerar uma resposta específica na planta de maneira a gerar uma resposta de defesa que atenue os efeitos do estresse e promoção de tolerância pela planta. É importante entendermos o funcionamento desses mecanismos moleculares, e dos genes e proteínas envolvidas nestas vias de sinalização para um melhor conhecimento de como estas vias de transdução operam em plantas, bem como no desenvolvimento de variedades de plantas tolerantes. No capítulo I deste trabalho nós descrevemos a análise funcional de um motivo de ligação do fator TGA localizado na região promotora do gene NIMIN-1 que é altamente induzido por ácido salicílico (SA) durante defesa de plantas (estresse biótico). Fatores TGA desempenham um papel chave na defesa de plantas através da interação com elementos presentes na região promotora de genes de defesa para induzir a sua expressão. O ácido salicílico (SA) é um fito-hormônio que induz a expressão do gene que codifica a proteína NIMIN-1. Essa proteína interage com a proteína NPR1/NIM1, reguladora da resistência sistêmica adquirida (SAR). Neste trabalho foi investigado se um motivo de ligação do fator TGA2 "TGACG", localizado na região promotora imediatamente anterior ao sítio de iniciação da transcrição de NIMIN-1, é necessário a indução de NIMIN-1 por ácido salicílico. Uma versão mutagenizada do promotor do gene NIMIN-1 foi gerada por mutação sítio-dirigida. Nós geramos construções T-DNA nas quais tanto a região promotora nativa quanto a mutagenizada foram fusionadas aos repórteres proteína verde fluorescente (GFP) e beta-glucuronidase (GUS). Foram geradas plantas transgênicas e a expressão de GFP sob o controle da região promotora de NIMIN-1 foi observada em raízes, no pecíolo e folhas de Arabidopsis. A atividade dirigida pelo promotor mutagenizado e o selvagem foi quantificada por PCR quantitativo em tempo real. Tanto a construção contendo o promotor de NIMIN-1 como a cópia endógena de NIMIN-1 foram induzidas por SA. Em contraste, a construção promotora mutagenizada foi bem menos sensível a SA que o promotor nativo de NIMIN-1. Esse dado indica que o motivo de ligação do fator TGA2 analisado está diretamente envolvido na modulação da expressão de NIMIN-1 induzida por SA em Arabidopsis. No capítulo II nós descrevemos a caracterização da proteína ScCBL1 de cana-de-çúcar que apresenta elevada identidade com membros da família de proteínas sensoras de cálcio do tipo calcineurina B (CBL) em plantas. Experimentos de duplo-híbrido realizados em nosso grupo mostram que a proteína ScCBL1 interage com uma proteína quinase (ScCIPK8). Trabalhos prévios também desenvolvidos em nosso laboratório demonstraram que ScCIPK8 está envolvida no metabolismo do carboidrato e é diferencialmente expressa em resposta a ABA. O gene ScCBL1 foi clonado e a proteína codificada expressa e purificada a partir do extrato solúvel por cromatografia de afinidade usando resina Ni-NTA e a proteína eluída foi usada para estudos estruturais. Análises por espectrometria por dicroísmo circular (CD) mostraram que a proteína ScCBL1 é composta predominantemente por ?-hélices, em concordância com programas de predição da sequência de aminoácido desta proteína. Experimentos de espalhamento de raio-x a baixos ângulos (SAXS) indicaram que as amostras obtidas da ScCBL1 estavam homogêneas e monodispersas em solução e que ocorre uma mudança em seu estado oligomérico quando adicionado o agente redutor DTT, ocorrendo uma diminuição na intensidade de espalhamento (I(0)) a uma ordem de 1,56 para a mesma concentração, acompanhado de uma diminuição de 10 Å em seu raio de giro. As analises por SAXS indicaram que a proteína ScCBL1 é pentamérica em seu estado nativo e um trímero quando adicionado DTT. Análises por SAXS também indicaram que a proteína ScCBL1 está enovelada em solução, apresentando estrutura terciária estável. A modelagem de baixa resolução ab initio, juntamente com a função de distribuição das distâncias P(r) indicaram que a proteína possui um formato alongado (prolato). Ensaios iniciais de cristalização a partir de amostras monodispersas da proteína ScCBL1, confirmadas por DLS, foram feitas e um monocristal simétrico de aproximadamente 0.05 mm de diâmetro obtido além de outros sinais promissores para um refinamento das condições de cristalização de ScCBL1 para determinação de sua estrutura tridimensional a uma alta resolução. Esses dados contribuem para uma caracterização inicial da estrutura da proteína ScCBL1 / Abstract: Many biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity and pathogen attack are responsible for major crop losses around the world. Several genes are regulated in response to these factors to counteract the stress effects and promote plant tolerance. Understanding the molecular mechanisms as well as the roles of genes and proteins involved in stress signaling pathways is key to a better understanding of plant tolerance. We report in chapter I the functional analysis of a TGA biding factor located in the promoter region of NIMIN-1 that is highly induced by SA during plant defense against pathogen attack (biotic stress). TGA factors play a key role in plant defense by binding to the promoter region of defense genes, inducing their expression. Salicylic acid (SA) induces the expression of the gene encoding NIMIN-1, which interacts with NPR1/NIM1, a key regulator of systemic acquired resistance. In this work we investigated whether the TGA2-binding motif TGACG located upstream of the NIMIN-1 gene is necessary for SA induction of NIMIN-1 expression. A mutated version of the NIMIN-1 promoter was created by site-directed mutagenesis. We generated T-DNA constructs in which native NIMIN-1 and mutated promoters were fused to green fluorescent protein and ?-glucuronidase reporters. We produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants and observed NIMIN-1 promoter-driven green fluorescent protein expression in the roots, petiole and leaves. Constructs were also agroinfiltrated into the leaves to evaluate gene expression of mutagenized and native promoters driving expression of GUS using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. We characterized the normal gene response to SA and compared it to the response of the mutant version of the NIMIN-1 promoter. Both the native NIMIN-1 construct and an endogenous copy of NIMIN-1 were induced by SA. However, the mutated promoter construct was much less sensitive to SA than the native NIMIN-1 promoter, indicating that this TGA2-binding motif is directly involved in the modulation of SA-induced NIMIN-1 expression in Arabidopsis. In chapter II we describe the characterization of a sugarcane ScCBL1 protein which displays high sequence identity to the calcium binding protein family calcineurin B-like (CBL) from plants. Using the two-hybrid system our group has shown that ScCBL1 binds to a protein kinase (ScCIPK8). Previous work done in our laboratory also showed that ScCIPK8 is involved in carbohydrate metabolism and that it is differentially expressed in response to ABA. ScCBL1 was cloned, expressed and purified by one round of affinity chromatography using a Ni-NTA resin and the purified eluted protein was used for structural analysis. Spectroscopic analysis by circular dichroism (CD) showed that ScCBL1 is mainly composed of ?-helices agreeing with secondary structure prediction by PredictProtein server. Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) analysis showed that ScCBL1 sample is homogeneous and monodisperse in solution and that the protein undergoes an oligomeric change when DTT is added, with a decrease in scattering intensity (I(0)) by a factor of 1,56 for samples with the same concentration, together with a decrease in the radius of gyration of 10 Å. SAXS experiments also showed that ScCBL1 is pentameric in its native state and the protein undergoes a change in its oligomeric state to a trimer when DTT is added. SAXS experiments also showed the protein is folded in solution and ab initio modeling of ScCBL1 protein envelope together with the pair-distribution function P(r) indicates that the protein has a rod-like, elongated shape. An initial crystallization screening with ScCBL1 monodisperse samples (confirmed by DLS experiments) was carried out and some crystallization signals were obtained, including a single crystal of around 0.05 mm in length. These data shed light on the structural features of ScCBL1 / Doutorado / Genetica Vegetal e Melhoramento / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Os nanotubos de carbono apresentam extraordinÃrias propriedades fÃsico-quÃmicas que tÃm sido exploradas para aplicaÃÃes que vÃo desde a ciÃncia de materiais atà a biologia. No entanto, a maioria das aplicaÃÃes requer modificaÃÃes quÃmicas dos nanotubos de modo a explorar ao mÃximo seu potencial. Neste contexto, o desenvolvimento de protocolos de tratamento e de purificaÃÃo à muito importante. O objetivo deste estudo à contribuir para o entendimento de como a mudanÃa de uma variÃvel especÃfica, a temperatura, afeta as propriedades fÃsico-quÃmicas dos nanotubos de carbono de paredes mÃltiplas (MWNTs) durante a purificaÃÃo. Um grama (1g) de MWNTs (Ctube 100, CNT Co. Ltd., Incheon - CorÃia do Sul) foram submetidos a um refluxo de Ãcido nÃtrico 9 mol/L por 12 horas em temperaturas de 25ÂC, 75ÂC, 125ÂC e 175ÂC. ApÃs o refluxo, as amostras foram resfriadas em um banho tÃrmico, filtradas em condiÃÃes de vÃcuo com uma membrana de PTFE de 0, 2 Âm e lavadas com Ãgua deionizada atà que o pH neutro do filtrado foi atingido. Por Ãltimo, os MWNTs oxidados foram secos em vÃcuo durante 48 h. As tÃcnicas utilizadas neste trabalho para a realizaÃÃo das caracterizaÃÃes forneceram resultados que tratam desde caracterÃsticas macro e de superfÃcie atà as associadas ao nÃvel atÃmico. A estabilidade tÃrmica foi analisada por meio de medidas de TGA, uma vez que muitos dos grupos funcionais criados no tratamento sÃo termicamente instÃveis. A oxidaÃÃo resultante do tratamento introduz grupos polares na superfÃcie dos MWNTs e assim cria a estabilidade eletrostÃtica necessÃria para uma dispersÃo estÃvel em meio aquoso. A estabilidade foi avaliada para cada amostra por meio de medidas de potencial zeta. A quantidade e o tipo de resÃduos catalÃticos presentes nas amostras antes e depois do tratamento foram analisados atravÃs de medidas de EDX e UV-VIS. Medidas de espectroscopia Raman Confocal permitiram a anÃlise especÃfica dos defeitos estruturais criados sobre a superfÃcie dos tubos, em conseqÃÃncia do processo de oxidaÃÃo. Constatou-se que os experimentos Raman devem ser realizados sobre muitos pontos para poder acessar as propriedades mÃdias das amostras. A capacidade de adsorÃÃo da superfÃcie de cada amostra apÃs o tratamento foi inspecionada atravÃs de medidas de Ãrea superficial especÃfica (mÃtodo BET). Ao comparar os resultados de diferentes tÃcnicas, foi possÃvel acessar os efeitos da temperatura do tratamento sobre as propriedades fÃsico-quÃmicas relevantes, permitindo assim a obtenÃÃo de amostras bem caracterizadas que serÃo Ãteis para futuros estudos em Ãreas bio-relacionadas. / Carbon nanotubes exhibit remarkable physico-chemical properties which have been exploited for applications ranging from materials science to biology. However, most of the aplications requires the chemical modification of the nanotubes in order to exploit their maximum potential. In this context, the development of protocols for treatment and purification is very important. The purpose of this study is to contribute for the understand on how the change of a particular purification parameter, temperature, affects the physico-chemical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) during the purification. One gram (1g) of MWNTs (Ctube 100, CNT Co. Ltd., Incheon - South Korea) were subjected to a reflux with nitric acid 9 mol/L for 12 hours at temperatures 25ÂC, 75ÂC, 125ÂC and 175ÂC. After refluxed, the samples were cooled down in a heat bath, filtered in vacuum condition using a PTFE membrane of 0, 2 Âm and washed with deionized water until the neutral pH of the filtrate was reached. Afterwards, the oxidized MWCNTs were dried in vacuum for 48 h. The experimental techniques used in this work to perform the samples characterization provide results that allow to get information from macro and surface characteristics to those associated with the atomic level. Thermal stability was analyzed by TGA measurements, since many of the functional groups created during the treatment are thermally unstable. Oxidation resulting from treatment introduces polar groups on the surface of MWNTs thus creating the electrostatic stability required for a stable dispersion in aqueous medium. The stability was evaluated for each sample by zeta potential measurements. The amount and type of catalytic residues present in the samples before and after treatment were analyzed by means of EDX and UV-VIS. Techniques confocal Raman spectroscopy measurements allowed the specific analysis of the structural defects created on the surface of the tubes as a consequence of oxidation process. It was found that Raman experiments should be performed on may points of the sample in order to access their average properties. The adsorption capacity of the surface of each sample after treatment, were inspected through specific surface area measurements (BET method). By comparing the results of different techniques it was possible to access the effects of temperature on the treatment on the relevant physico-chemical properties thus allowing us to have well characterized samples that will be useful for further studies in biorelated areas.

The thesis primarily focuses on the pressure influence on the reaction rate of char gasification using laboratory thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It discusses also the gasification of char with a mixture of gasifying agents (CO2 + steam) under a pressure of 40 bar and temperatures up to 1100°C, which has not been reported in the literature to the best of found knowledge. The first section investigates the pressure impact on char gasification kinetics by varying the total and partial pressure of the gasifying agent. The second section investigates the effect of gasifying agent at 40 bar and combining the pyrolysis step in the investigation, which was done in-situ under inert atmosphere. Then, mixtures of the two gasifying agents were used for the gasification in separate experiments. The third section uses raw coal as material and gives attention to the char structure formed after the pyrolysis under the high pressure. The fourth section includes measurements for char characteristics during the gasification reaction and compares them with the reference char data performed previously in this research group under atmospheric pressure.:Abstract 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Scope of the thesis 1 1.2 Layout of the thesis 2 2. Literature Review 4 2.1 Background 4 2.2 Coal and gasification 5 2.2.1 Coal classification and characteristics 5 2.2.2 Introduction to gasification process 7 2.2.3 Coal Analysis 10 2.2.4 Pyrolysis 13 2.2.5 Gasification reactions 13 2.2.6 Mechanism of solid-gas reaction and Thermodynamic background 14 2.2.7 Regimes of gas-Solid Reactions 17 2.2.8 Summary 19 2.3 Effect of Pressure on gasification process 20 2.3.1 Advantages of high-pressure operation 20 2.3.2 Influence on the pyrolysis step 20 2.3.3 Effect of Pressure on coal swelling 21 2.3.4 Pressure influence on char morphology 23 2.3.5 Effect of pyrolysis pressure on char surface area 23 2.3.6 Effect on reaction order n 24 2.3.7 Summary 24 2.4 Pressure influence on char gasification reaction kinetics 24 2.4.1 Pressure influence on gasification reaction kinetics 25 2.4.2 Summary 27 2.5 Char gasification using gasifying agent mixtures 27 2.5.1 Mechanism 29 2.5.2 The role of the inhibition and the catalytic effect 29 2.5.3 Summary 32 2.6 Thermodynamic aspects and the estimation of the reaction rate 32 2.6.1 Background 32 2.6.2 Basic definitions of reaction rate 34 2.6.3 Intrinsic kinetic models 35 2.6.4 Theoretical models 36 2.6.5 Empiric Models 39 2.6.6 Intrinsic kinetic models expressed by CO2 concentration 40 2.6.7 Arrhenius Activation Energy 40 2.6.8 Differentiation of a polynomial fit data (Differential method): 41 2.6.9 Summary 43 3. Experimental Analysis 44 3.1 Thermogravimetry 44 3.2 Testing of the gas volume fraction and the total pressure influence on char gasification 45 3.2.1 Testing of the gas volume fraction influence 45 3.2.2 Testing of system pressure influence on char gasification 56 3.2.3 Discussion 65 3.3 Coal gasification at 40 bar with pure CO2, H2O and their mixtures 65 3.3.1 Gasification with pure CO2 and H2O 66 3.3.2 Coal gasification using CO2 / H2O mixtures at high system pressure 87 3.3.3 Discussion 96 3.4 Pressure influence on coal gasification 100 3.4.1 Coal gasification under different system pressures 100 3.4.2 The effect of increasing pressure on coal morphology 104 3.4.3 Discussion 117 3.5 Influence of the pressure on the char properties during gasification 118 3.5.1 Discussion 129 4. General discussion 134 5. Conclusions 139 5.1 Significance of the findings 143 5.2 Recommendations 144 6. Appendix 146 6.1 Literature and Results 146 6.1.1 Conditions influence on gasification of the (a) temperature, (b) partial pressure 146 6.1.2 TGA-DMT 147 6.1.3 Testing of the gas volume fraction influence on coal gasification 148 6.1.4 Testing of system pressure influence on char gasification 150 6.1.5 Coal gasification at 40 bar with pure CO2, H2O and their mixtures 152 6.1.6 Coal gasification under different pressures 162 6.1.7 Summary of gas mixture gasification studies 167 6.2 Figures Index 169 6.3 Tables Index 175 6.4 References 177

Fundamental studies on thermodynamic properties of vanadium-containing oxides systems are essential to understand practical vanadium metallurgical process. The CALPHAD technique is here applied to the thermodynamic modelling of the V-O, Ca-V-O and Ti-V-O systems. The compound energy formalism is used for all the solution phases. All optimization processes and calculations are performed using the Thermo-Calc software package. The present work attempts to develop a self-consistent thermodynamic database of all phases in the studied systems. The obtained datasets can be used to calculate thermodynamic properties, stable as well as metastable phase equilibria and driving forces for oxidation etc. Steelmaking slag is an important secondary source for vanadium extraction. The phase relationships and vanadium distribution in the CaO-SiO2-MgO-V2O3-Al2O3 synthetic slags, whose compositions were chosen based on the relevance to the steel producers, are also studied. Phase equilibria in the temperature range of 1773 to 1823 K at oxygen partial pressure of 10-10 bar and 0.21 bar were characterized. An investigation of the volatilization of vanadium oxide was also carried out in the present work. Isothermal evaporation of vanadium pentoxide in the temperature range between 1723 and 1873 K was investigated by Thermogravimetric Analysis under different oxygen partial pressures, viz. oxygen, air or CO2. The Arrhenius activation energy for the evaporation reaction in various atmospheres was calculated from the experimental results. A mathematical model was developed to describe the kinetics of the evaporation process. Evaporation coefficients and enthalpies in various atmospheres were also estimated. The present results may have some implications in recovering vanadium from different vanadium-bearing sources. / <p>QC 20161202</p>