With a number of advantages newly recognized, use of surface-coated nanoparticles is being proposed for various upstream oil applications, such as for Enhanced Oil Recovery or as nanosensors. The first requirement for many of these applications is the ability to transport the nanoparticles a desired distance from the injection well. It means the particles should exhibit little retention in sedimentary rocks and minimal formation damage. Also, a certain amount of particles should adsorb at target locations such as water/oil interfaces for response measurement, if they are used as nanosensors. Three kinds of nanoparticle dispersions are tested for coreflood experiment in sedimentary rock cores: silica nanoparticles, commercial iron-oxide nanoparticles, and in-house synthesized paramagnetic nanoparticles. The quantitative retention measurements from corefloods offer insight into the mechanisms for nanoparticle transport in various sedimentary rocks (Boise sandstone, layered-Berea sandstone and Texas Cream limestone), and also with and without oil in the core. The coreflood experiments helped to develop a procedure to identify efficiently a surface coating to a given nanoparticle, that will allow both long-term dispersion stability and long-distance transportability in a given reservoir rock. To achieve this objective, seventy-six coreflood experiments were conducted to investigate transport of nanoparticles at rock grain surface and at water/oil interface. The parameters analyzed in this dissertation are: dialysis of the nanoparticle dispersion; cross-linking of polymer on coating; hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of surface coating; oil type; nanocluster size; flow velocity; pH; ionic strength; rock lithology; and injected nanoparticle concentration. Our results show that surface coating, ionic strength, and specific surface/interfacial area were dominant factors for nanoparticle retention at rock grain surface and water/oil interface. Nanoparticle retention concentration (adsorption density) at rock grain surface decreases with decrease in nanocluster size and increase in flow velocity. Some retained nanoparticles can be recovered by increasing flow velocity or decreasing ionic strength. It indicates that the nanoparticle retention at the rock grain surface is unlike the generally irreversible adsorption of surfactant or polymer molecules. Ionic strength affects both reversible and irreversible adsorption of nanoparticles at rock grain surface; in these corefloods the irreversible retention is mainly due to the instability of nanoparticle dispersion and subsequent aggregation under high salinity conditions. The nanoparticle synthesis method, whether dialyzed or not, and cross-linking of coating polymer, all have significant impact on dispersion stability, especially for aqueous dispersion with high ionic strength. Nanoparticle adsorption at water/oil interface can be increased by increasing hydrophobicity of surface coating, or to a certain extent by increasing ionic strength of dispersion. / text

Proteins can often adsorb irreversibly at fluid/fluid interfaces; the understanding of the adsorption mechanism has relevance across a variety of industrial (e.g. the creation of stable emulsions) and biological (e.g. biofilm formation) processes. I performed molecular dynamics simulations of two surfactant proteins as they interact with air/water and oil/water interfaces, describing the origin of the surface activity, the adsorption dynamics and the conformational changes that these proteins undergo at the interface. BslA is an amphiphilic protein that forms a highly hydrophobic coat around B. subtilis biofilms, shielding the bacterial community from an external aqueous solution. By investigating the behaviour of BslA variants at oil/water interfaces via coarse-grained molecular dynamics, I show that BslA represents a biological example of an ellipsoidal Janus nanoparticle, whose surface interactions are controlled by a local conformational change. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations then reveal the details of the conformational change of the protein upon adsorption, and the self-assembly into a two-dimensional interfacial crystal. Ranaspumin-2 is one of the main components of the tungara frog foam nest. Contrary to most surfactant proteins, its structure lacks any sign of amphiphilicity. All-atom simulations show that the adsorption proceeds via a two-step mechanism where firstly the protein binds to the interface through its flexible N-terminal tail and then it undergoes a large conformational change in which the hydrophobic core becomes exposed to the oil phase. I then developed a simple structure-based coarse-grained model that highlights the same adsorption mechanism observed in all-atom simulations, and I used it to compare the dynamics of adsorption and the underlying free energy landscape of several mutants. These results agree with and are used to rationalise the observations from Langmuir trough and pendant drop experiments. Colloids can often be considered simpler versions of proteins that lack conformational changes. I performed coarse-grained simulations of the compression of interfacial monolayers formed by rod-like particles. These simulations show a rich behaviour characterised by the flipping of adsorbed rods, nematic ordering and bilayer formation. I report the series of transitions that take place as the rod aspect ratio is increased from 3 to 15.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Hugo B. Suffredini / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia/Química, 2017. / Neste trabalho, foi abordado o desenvolvimento de um biossensor para estimar a concentração de triacilgliceróis derivados da síntese in loco de glicerol, produzido pela hidrólise de azeite de oliva catalisada por lipases, em um sistema do tipo interface líquido-líquido constituído por duas fases líquidas imiscíveis entre si.A técnica proposta neste trabalho consiste em uma inovação na área de eletroanalítica pois permite a detecção direta de compostos eletroativos em matrizes hidrofóbicas sem a necessidade de pré-tratamentos complexos. Eletrodos de Au, preparados a partir de CD-ROM¿s graváveis, apresentaram maiores valores de sensibilidade, na faixa de trabalho de 0,1 a 1,0 mmol L-1. A enzima foi imobilizada quimicamente sob o CDtrodo de ouro por meio de ligações cruzadas com glutaraldeído. Porcentagens de 5 a 75% de óleo de azeite foram adicionadas a 2,0 mL de Nujol® e, a temperatura de 30ºC foi observado o aumento da densidade de corrente. Um patamar se estabilizou após 10minutos de experimento cronoamperométrico no potencial de oxidação do glicerol em 0,3 V vs.SCE, tempo inferior com relação aos resultados obtidos por métodos colorimétricos. Também foi observada boa repetibilidade para um mesmo eletrodo com desvio de 4,44%pelo prazo de 5 dias consecutivos,armazenando o biossensor em solução tampão fosfato pH 7,5 e após prévia limpeza eletroquímica.Desta forma, conclui-se que o biossensor desenvolvido neste trabalho simples de ser fabricado, possuindo funcionamento adequado e boa resposta quanto à sensibilidade e especificidade para a molécula de glicerol, de modo que sua aplicação torna-se viável tanto para espécies em concentrações mínimas quanto em altas concentrações. / In this work, we discussed the development of a biosensor to estimate the concentration of triacylglicerol¿s in oil from the synthesis in loco of glycerol by hydrolysis of olive oil catalyzed by lipases in a liquid-liquid interface system consisting of two immiscible liquid. The use of interfaces in electrochemistry is not necessarily new study but represent an innovation in the field of electroanalytical, since it allows the direct detection of electroactive compounds in hydrophobic matrices without the need for complex pretreatment steps. Gold electrode presented a higher sensitivity value when compared to other electrodes in the concentration range of 0.1 to 1.0 mmol L-1. The enzyme was chemically immobilized in the gold electrode by crosslinking by glutaraldehyde 0.2%. Percentages of 5 to 75% of olive oil were added on 2.0 mL of Nujol ® and a temperature of 30 °C, increase of current densities was observed, with stabilization after 10 minutes of chronoamperometric experiment at an oxidation potential of glycerol in 0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl, lower time in relation to the results obtained by colorimetric methods. Good repeatability of the experiments was also observed during 5 consecutive days, with a relative error of 4,44%, by storing the biosensor in phosphate buffer pH 7.5 and after previous electrochemical cleaning. Thus, it is possible to concluded that the biosensor developed in this work is easy to manufacture and simple to operate, presenting good sensitivity and specificity for the glycerol molecule. Its application in biological and organic matrices becomes viable as an alternative to the conventional methods of detection of TAG¿s.

Deposition of noble metal and semiconductor nanocrystalline thin films has received much attention. CdS and CdSe are important semiconductors used in optical devices. A wet chemical route which uses the interface of two immiscible liquids to control the growth and deposition of nanocrystalline thin films forms the basis of the current study. In this method, a metal precursor dissolved in toluene or decane is held in contact with a water layer containing a reducing or sulphiding agent. The reaction proceeds at the interface of the liquids and results in deposits adhering to the interfacial region. The products of such reactions typically consist of nanocrystals forming a thin film. Stable sols of Au, Ag were found to metathesize on contact with alkylamine in oil to form monolayer films that spread across large areas at the water/oil interface. The nature and properties of interfacial thin films depend on the alkylamine. Nanocrystalline thin films consisting of CdS adhering to the interface starting with a polydispersed aqueous sol of crystallites and alkylamine were obtained. The optical band gaps of the films formed are dependent on the alkylamine chain length, with the shortest chain yielding the largest gap. A systematic increase in particle diameters following adsorption is responsible for changes in the electronic structure of films. The formation of nanocrystalline films of CdS adhering at the interface using a toluene solution of cadmium diethyldithiocarbamate and aqueous Na2S solution, in the presence of tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB) in the aqueous phase, was investigated under various reaction parameters, while CdSe was obtained using Na2SeSO3 solution and the influences of deposition temperature and solution concentration were studied. A ternary water/decane/2-butoxyethanol /salt system was used to grow deposits of CdSe and CdS. Nanostructured thin films were obtained at the upper interface of the ternary system, between the emulsive middle layer and oil rich top phase. The influence of deposition conditions such as precursor concentrations and temperature, as well as the nature of the medium on the properties of the deposits was studied. Deposits grown using the ternary system were compared with those obtained using water/decane and water/toluene systems. Reaction parameters such as temperature, solution concentration and the size of CdS and CdSe were controlled. A thin film of CdS and CdSe nanocrystals was formed at the interface. The grain size was found to be dependent on reaction temperature and solution concentration, with higher temperatures and solution concentration resulting in larger grains. The nature of thin films obtained at the interface of two immiscible liquids and of a water/decane/2-butoxyethanol/salt ternary system were studied using Scanning and Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-visible spectroscopy.