O desenvolvimento e aplicação de métodos analíticos na avaliação das concentrações de metais nas frações dissolvida e lábil na bacia do rio Piracicaba são de relevante importância para o estudo do comportamento químico-ambiental desses metais e para seu monitoramento, devido ao impacto das atividades antropogênicas nessa bacia. A técnica de difusão em filmes finos por gradiente de concentração (DGT, do inglês diffusive gradients in thin-films), é uma promissora ferramenta analítica de amostragem, pois permite pré-concentração, análise temporal, remoção de interferentes, avaliação lábil e amostragem in situ. A quantificação dos metais pelas técnicas de fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia por reflexão total (TXRF, total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis) para amostras líquidas e da fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia (EDXRF, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence) para amostras sólidas, mostram-se interessantes devido ao caráter multielementar, simultâneo e não destrutivo da análise. Neste trabalho avaliou-se a DGT para a determinação de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em águas naturais, utilizando-se como agente ligante a membrana de celulose P 81 e como meio difusivo, o papel cromatográfico 3 MM. Calcularam-se os fatores de eluição e coeficientes de difusão para estes metais. Estudou-se o efeito da substância húmica, em diferentes concentrações, no desempenho da DGT para esses metais, e os resultados foram comparados e concordantes com as frações livre e a ligada à matéria orgânica, calculadas pelo programa Visual MINTEQ. Compararam-se o agente ligante e o meio difusivo à base de celulose, utilizados neste trabalho, com os à base de gel de poliacrilamida, empregando-se o complexante Chelex-100. Avaliou-se a homogeneidade da retenção dos analitos e do grupo ligante fosfato sobre a superfície do agente ligante. Nesses ensaios utilizaram-se soluções sintéticas contendo os analitos em pH 5,5 e força iônica 0,05 mol L-1 (ajustados com NaNO3). As determinações foram realizadas por TXRF e EDXRF. Avaliaram-se os acoplamentos DGT-SRTXRF e da DGT-EDXRF para a determinação da fração lábil de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em amostras de água da bacia do rio Piracicaba, através de imersão em laboratório e in situ. Esses resultados foram comparados com as concentrações dissolvidas desses metais determinados pela técnica de fluorescência de raios X por reflexão total com excitação por luz síncrotron (SRTXRF, synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis). Os valores de concentrações de Mn, Cu e Zn nas frações dissolvida e lábil foram comparados com os valores máximos estabelecidos pela legislação brasileira Nas amostragens in situ, nos cinco pontos de coleta, as concentrações de Mn dissolvido e lábil foram maiores que a concentração total máxima permitida para esse elemento. Os elmentos Cr, Co, Ni e Pb, nas amostras coletadas, apresentaram-se abaixo do limite de detecção das técnicas SRTXRF (dissolvido), DGT-SRTXRF (lábil) e DGT-EDXRF (lábil). Os limites de detecção para o Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb foram de 2,2 a 10 \'mü\'g L-1 na SRTXRF, de 0,21 a 3,6 \'mü\'g L-1 e de 7,2 a 24 \'mü\'g L-1 na DGT-SRTXRF e DGT-EDXRF, respectivamente / Analytical methods evaluation for metal dissolved and labile fractions determination in Piracicaba river basin is notable for metal-behavior studies in this environment as well as their monitoring due to anthropogenic activities. The diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) is a promising sampling technique because of its pre-concentration, time-integrated, matrix interference removal, labile evaluation and in situ analytical features. The analytical techniques total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) for liquid samples and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) for solid samples analysis are advantageous due to simultaneous, multielemental and non-destructive characteristics. In this work, it was evaluated the DGT technique for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb determination in freshwater, using P 81 cellulose membrane as bind agent and 3 MM chromatographic paper as diffusive layer. Elution factors and diffusion coefficients were calculated for these metals. The humic acids effect on DGT performance was assessed and compared to free and humic acid bound metal fractions estimated by Visual MINTEQ software, in which agreement results were found. The paper-based DGT and gel-based one with Chelex-100 as bind agent were compared. The metal retention and phosphate group homogenization on P 81 membrane bind agent surface was studied. For these tests it was utilized a synthetic solution these metals containing with pH and ionic strength adjust to 5.5 and 0.05 mol L-1 (NaNO3), respectively. It was used the TXRF and EDXRF techniques for these metal quantifications. The DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF were assessed in order to determine Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb labile fractions in batch and in situ in Piracicaba river basin freshwater samples. These results were compared to their dissolved fractions by synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis, SRTXRF. The dissolved and labile Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations levels were compared to maximum allowed set by Brazilian legislation. The dissolved and labile Mn concentrations were higher than the maximum allowed in all five samples in situ sampling. Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb concentrations were lower than their limits of detection for dissolved fractions (SRTXRF) and labile ones (DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF). The detection limits for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb were from 2.2 to 10 \'mü\'g L-1 for SRTXRF, from 0.21 to 3.6 \'mü\'g L-1 and from 7.2 to 24 \'mü\'g L-1 for DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF, respectively

Les hydrogels de polysaccharide sont des biomatériaux utilisés comme matrices à libération contrôlée de médicaments et comme structures modèles pour l’étude de nombreux systèmes biologiques dont les biofilms bactériens et les mucus. Dans tous les cas, le transport de médicaments ou de nutriments à l’intérieur d’une matrice d’hydrogel joue un rôle de premier plan. Ainsi, l’étude des propriétés de transport dans les hydrogels s’avère un enjeu très important au niveau de plusieurs applications. Dans cet ouvrage, le curdlan, un polysaccharide neutre d’origine bactérienne et formé d’unités répétitives β-D-(1→3) glucose, est utilisé comme hydrogel modèle. Le curdlan a la propriété de former des thermogels de différentes conformations selon la température à laquelle une suspension aqueuse est incubée. La caractérisation in situ de la formation des hydrogels de curdlan thermoréversibles et thermo-irréversibles a tout d’abord été réalisée par spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier (FT-IR) en mode réflexion totale atténuée à température variable. Les résultats ont permis d’optimiser les conditions de gélation, menant ainsi à la formation reproductible des hydrogels. Les caractérisations structurales des hydrogels hydratés, réalisées par imagerie FT-IR, par microscopie électronique à balayage en mode environnemental (eSEM) et par microscopie à force atomique (AFM), ont permis de visualiser les différentes morphologies susceptibles d’influencer la diffusion d’analytes dans les gels. Nos résultats montrent que les deux types d’hydrogels de curdlan ont des architectures distinctes à l’échelle microscopique. La combinaison de la spectroscopie de résonance magnétique nucléaire (RMN) à gradients pulsés et de l’imagerie RMN a permis d’étudier l’autodiffusion et la diffusion mutuelle sur un même système dans des conditions expérimentales similaires. Nous avons observé que la diffusion des molécules dans les gels est ralentie par rapport à celle mesurée en solution aqueuse. Les mesures d’autodiffusion, effectuées sur une série d’analytes de diverses tailles dans les deux types d’hydrogels de curdlan, montrent que le coefficient d’autodiffusion relatif décroit en fonction de la taille de l’analyte. De plus, nos résultats suggèrent que l’équivalence entre les coefficients d’autodiffusion et de diffusion mutuelle dans les hydrogels de curdlan thermo-irréversibles est principalement due au fait que l’environnement sondé par les analytes durant une expérience d’autodiffusion est représentatif de celui exploré durant une expérience de diffusion mutuelle. Dans de telles conditions, nos résultats montrent que la RMN à gradients pulsés peut s’avérer une approche très avantageuse afin de caractériser des systèmes à libération contrôlée de médicaments. D’autres expériences de diffusion mutuelle, menées sur une macromolécule de dextran, montrent un coefficient de diffusion mutuelle inférieur au coefficient d’autodiffusion sur un même gel de curdlan. L’écart mesuré entre les deux modes de transport est attribué au volume différent de l’environnement sondé durant les deux mesures. Les coefficients d’autodiffusion et de diffusion mutuelle similaires, mesurés dans les deux types de gels de curdlan pour les différents analytes étudiés, suggèrent une influence limitée de l’architecture microscopique de ces gels sur leurs propriétés de transport. Il est conclu que les interactions affectant la diffusion des analytes étudiés dans les hydrogels de curdlan se situent à l’échelle moléculaire. / Polysaccharide hydrogels are biomaterials used as controlled drug delivery matrices and serve as model scaffolds for the study of many biological systems like bacterial biofilms and mucus. In every case, the transport of drugs or nutriments across a hydrogel matrix is of prime importance. Therefore, the study of transport properties in hydrogels is an important issue for many fields of application. In this work, curdlan, a neutral bacterial polysaccharide made of β-D-(1→3) glucose repeating units, is used as a model hydrogel. Aqueous suspensions of curdlan can form thermogels of different conformations depending on the incubation temperature. In situ characterization of the preparation of thermo-reversible (low-set) and thermo-irreversible (high-set) curdlan hydrogels was first carried out using variable temperature attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results allowed optimization of the gelling conditions leading to reproducible gel samples. Structural characterization of fully hydrated hydrogels, carried out by FT-IR imaging, environmental scanning electron microscopy (eSEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), allowed visualization of the different gel morphologies susceptible of influencing the diffusion of analytes in hydrogels. Our results show that both types of curdlan hydrogels have distinct microscopic architectures. The combination of pulsed field gradient (PFG) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and NMR profiling allowed the study of self-diffusion and mutual diffusion on the same hydrogel system in similar experimental conditions. We showed that the diffusion of analytes in the gels is slower than in the aqueous solution. The diffusion experiments, carried out on a series of analytes of various sizes in both types of curdlan gels, show a decrease of the relative self-diffusion coefficient as a function of the analyte size. In addition, our results suggest that the equivalence between the self-diffusion and mutual-diffusion coefficients measured in the high-set curdlan gels is mainly due to the fact that the environment probed by the analytes during a self-diffusion experiment is representative of the one probed during a mutual-diffusion experiment. In such conditions, our results show that PFG NMR may present a valuable approach for the characterization of controlled drug release systems. Additional experiments show that the mutual-diffusion coefficient of dextran macromolecules is smaller than its self-diffusion coefficient in the same curdlan hydrogel. The difference between both transport rates is attributed to the different environment volumes probed by the analytes during the measurements. The similarities observed between the self-diffusion and mutual-diffusion coefficients, measured in both types of curdlan gels for all investigated analytes, suggest a limited influence of the microscopic gel architecture on its transport properties. It is therefore concluded that the interactions affecting the diffusion of the investigated analytes in the curdlan hydrogels lie at the molecular scale.

O desenvolvimento e aplicação de métodos analíticos na avaliação das concentrações de metais nas frações dissolvida e lábil na bacia do rio Piracicaba são de relevante importância para o estudo do comportamento químico-ambiental desses metais e para seu monitoramento, devido ao impacto das atividades antropogênicas nessa bacia. A técnica de difusão em filmes finos por gradiente de concentração (DGT, do inglês diffusive gradients in thin-films), é uma promissora ferramenta analítica de amostragem, pois permite pré-concentração, análise temporal, remoção de interferentes, avaliação lábil e amostragem in situ. A quantificação dos metais pelas técnicas de fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia por reflexão total (TXRF, total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis) para amostras líquidas e da fluorescência de raios X dispersiva em energia (EDXRF, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence) para amostras sólidas, mostram-se interessantes devido ao caráter multielementar, simultâneo e não destrutivo da análise. Neste trabalho avaliou-se a DGT para a determinação de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em águas naturais, utilizando-se como agente ligante a membrana de celulose P 81 e como meio difusivo, o papel cromatográfico 3 MM. Calcularam-se os fatores de eluição e coeficientes de difusão para estes metais. Estudou-se o efeito da substância húmica, em diferentes concentrações, no desempenho da DGT para esses metais, e os resultados foram comparados e concordantes com as frações livre e a ligada à matéria orgânica, calculadas pelo programa Visual MINTEQ. Compararam-se o agente ligante e o meio difusivo à base de celulose, utilizados neste trabalho, com os à base de gel de poliacrilamida, empregando-se o complexante Chelex-100. Avaliou-se a homogeneidade da retenção dos analitos e do grupo ligante fosfato sobre a superfície do agente ligante. Nesses ensaios utilizaram-se soluções sintéticas contendo os analitos em pH 5,5 e força iônica 0,05 mol L-1 (ajustados com NaNO3). As determinações foram realizadas por TXRF e EDXRF. Avaliaram-se os acoplamentos DGT-SRTXRF e da DGT-EDXRF para a determinação da fração lábil de Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb em amostras de água da bacia do rio Piracicaba, através de imersão em laboratório e in situ. Esses resultados foram comparados com as concentrações dissolvidas desses metais determinados pela técnica de fluorescência de raios X por reflexão total com excitação por luz síncrotron (SRTXRF, synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis). Os valores de concentrações de Mn, Cu e Zn nas frações dissolvida e lábil foram comparados com os valores máximos estabelecidos pela legislação brasileira Nas amostragens in situ, nos cinco pontos de coleta, as concentrações de Mn dissolvido e lábil foram maiores que a concentração total máxima permitida para esse elemento. Os elmentos Cr, Co, Ni e Pb, nas amostras coletadas, apresentaram-se abaixo do limite de detecção das técnicas SRTXRF (dissolvido), DGT-SRTXRF (lábil) e DGT-EDXRF (lábil). Os limites de detecção para o Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn e Pb foram de 2,2 a 10 \'mü\'g L-1 na SRTXRF, de 0,21 a 3,6 \'mü\'g L-1 e de 7,2 a 24 \'mü\'g L-1 na DGT-SRTXRF e DGT-EDXRF, respectivamente / Analytical methods evaluation for metal dissolved and labile fractions determination in Piracicaba river basin is notable for metal-behavior studies in this environment as well as their monitoring due to anthropogenic activities. The diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT) is a promising sampling technique because of its pre-concentration, time-integrated, matrix interference removal, labile evaluation and in situ analytical features. The analytical techniques total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) for liquid samples and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) for solid samples analysis are advantageous due to simultaneous, multielemental and non-destructive characteristics. In this work, it was evaluated the DGT technique for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb determination in freshwater, using P 81 cellulose membrane as bind agent and 3 MM chromatographic paper as diffusive layer. Elution factors and diffusion coefficients were calculated for these metals. The humic acids effect on DGT performance was assessed and compared to free and humic acid bound metal fractions estimated by Visual MINTEQ software, in which agreement results were found. The paper-based DGT and gel-based one with Chelex-100 as bind agent were compared. The metal retention and phosphate group homogenization on P 81 membrane bind agent surface was studied. For these tests it was utilized a synthetic solution these metals containing with pH and ionic strength adjust to 5.5 and 0.05 mol L-1 (NaNO3), respectively. It was used the TXRF and EDXRF techniques for these metal quantifications. The DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF were assessed in order to determine Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb labile fractions in batch and in situ in Piracicaba river basin freshwater samples. These results were compared to their dissolved fractions by synchrotron radiation total reflection X-ray analysis, SRTXRF. The dissolved and labile Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations levels were compared to maximum allowed set by Brazilian legislation. The dissolved and labile Mn concentrations were higher than the maximum allowed in all five samples in situ sampling. Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb concentrations were lower than their limits of detection for dissolved fractions (SRTXRF) and labile ones (DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF). The detection limits for Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb were from 2.2 to 10 \'mü\'g L-1 for SRTXRF, from 0.21 to 3.6 \'mü\'g L-1 and from 7.2 to 24 \'mü\'g L-1 for DGT-SRTXRF and DGT-EDXRF, respectively

The thesis deals with determination the type, composition and structure of rubber materials comming from gas masks produced withing sixteen years. Rubber materials were tested to determine if storage conditions could influence or caused the change in composition and/or the structure. To judge it rubber specimens were exposed to termo-oxidative aging at 75 and 105 °C for 50 ad 20 days, respectively, to obtain data for comparison. Termogravimetry Fourie-transform Infrared Spectroscopy with Attenuated Total Reflection and Differential Scanning Calorimetry were used to characterize composition/structure of tested speciments. Thermo-oxidative aging at 75 °C led to degradation of additives in both types of rubber, at 150 °C also to chemical degradation of rubber network especially in case of NR (glass transition temperature increases with aging time). Neither additives or rubber network was degraded in original rubber specimens. Deterioration of mechanical and, thus, utility properties of gass masks are not supposed any they are recommended to safe usage.