Injection of low-salinity water showed high potentials in improving oil recovery when compared to high-salinity water. However, the optimum water salinity and conditions are uncertain, due to the lack of understanding the mechanisms of fluid-rock interactions. The main objective of this study is to examine the potential and efficiency of low-salinity water in secondary and tertiary oil recovery for sandstone reservoirs. Similarly, this study aims to help in understanding the dominant mechanisms that aid in improving oil recovery by low-salinity waterflooding. Furthermore, the impact of cation type in injected brines on oil recovery was investigated. Coreflood experiments were conducted to determine the effect of water salinity and chemistry on oil recovery in the secondary and tertiary modes. The contact angle technique was used to study the impact of water salinity and composition on rock wettability. Moreover, the zeta potential at oil/brine and brine/rock interfaces was measured to explain the mechanism causing rock wettability alteration and improving oil recovery. Deionized water and different brines (from 500 to 174,000 mg/l), as well as single cation solutions were tested. Two types of crude oil with different properties and composition were used. Berea sandstone cores were utilized in the coreflood experiments. Coreflood tests indicated that injection of deionized water in the secondary mode resulted in significant oil recovery, up to 22% improvement, compared to seawater flooding. However, no more oil was recovered in the tertiary mode. In addition, injection of NaCl solution increased the oil recovery compared to injection of CaCl2 or MgCl2 at the same concentration. Contact angle results demonstrated that low-salinity water has an impact on the rock wettability; the more reduction in water salinity, the more a water-wet rock surface is produced. In addition, NaCl solutions made the rock more water-wet compared to CaCl2 or MgCl2 at the same concentration. Low-salinity water and NaCl solutions showed a highly negative charge at rock/brine and oil/brine interfaces by zeta potential measurements, which results in greater repulsive forces between the oil and rock surface. This leads to double-layer expansion and water-wet systems. These results demonstrate that the double-layer expansion is a primary mechanism of improving oil recovery when water chemical composition is manipulated.

To recover oil remaining in petroleum reservoirs after waterflooding, the gravitationally stable mode of gas injection is recognized as a promising tertiary oil recovery process. Understanding the phenomena occurring over the course of the gravity-assisted inert gas injection (GAIGI) process is thus important. Extensive studies on both secondary and tertiary modes of gravity drainage have shown promising results in recovering oil from homogeneous water-wet glass bead packs, sand packs, and sandstone cores, respectively. However, it is not realistic to anticipate similar flow mechanisms and recovery results in all types of reservoirs because the natural hydrocarbon reservoirs are all heterogeneous in terms of their permeability, porosity, and wettability. Such heterogeneities cause irregular displacement patterns, and nonuniform fluid distribution. The impact of heterogeneity of the porous media on the GAIGI process has not been fully addressed in the experimental studies carried out to date; therefore, this thesis aims to fill in the gap of knowledge on this area. The impact of reservoir wettability and pore structure heterogeneities at the macroscopic scale on the recovery efficiency of the GAIGI process was investigated through a systematic experimental study for tertiary recovery of waterflood residual oil. To obtain heterogeneous (in terms of wettability) packings, isolated inclusions of oil-wet consolidated glass beads were embedded in a continuum of unconsolidated water-wet glass beads. Similarly, the heterogeneous porous media exhibiting permeability heterogeneity consisted of large-pore-size isolated regions randomly distributed in a small-pore-size continuum. Upon waterflooding, significantly higher waterflood residual oil saturation was established in both cases of heterogeneous media in comparison to water-wet homogeneous porous media. The amount of waterflood residual oil varied linearly with the volume fraction of heterogeneities in the packings. Experimental results obtained from tertiary gravity drainage experiments demonstrated that the continuity of water-wet portions of the heterogeneous porous media facilitates the residual oil recovery through the film flow mechanism, provided that the oil spreading coefficient is positive. In addition, owing to the high waterflood residual oil content of the heterogeneous media tested, the oil bank formation occurred earlier and grew faster than that in homogeneous media, resulting in a higher oil recovery factor. However, the favorable wettability conditions in both the homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media exhibiting permeability heterogeneity resulted in slightly lower reduced residual oil saturation after the GAIGI process compared to that in the heterogeneous media with wettability heterogeneity under the same condition of withdrawal rate. In addition, the oil recovery factor at gas breakthrough was found to be inversely related to the production rate due to the functionality of gravity and viscous forces over the course of gravity drainage. These two forces were combined into a dimensionless form, defined as the gravity number (Ngv=Kogg/oVpg). It was discovered that there is a correlation between the oil recovery factor at gas breakthrough and the gravity number for both the heterogeneous and homogeneous media. The correlation of recovery factor at gas breakthrough versus the gravity number in heterogeneous media followed a similar trend as that found for homogeneous water-wet porous media. However, at a given gravity number, the recovery factor in heterogeneous media was greater than that in the homogeneous media. This implies that heterogeneous media will be better target reservoirs for applying the GAIGI process compared to the homogeneous reservoirs.

This thesis presents the study of films derived from the reduction of aryldiazonium salts at gold surfaces. The properties of bare polycrystalline surfaces were investigated via the observation of the electrochemical oxidation and reduction of the gold. Films derived from diazonium salts were electrochemically grafted to the gold surface. The structure and stability of these interfaces was examined through the use of redox probes, gold oxide electrochemistry and water contact angle measurements. The spontaneous reduction of aryldiazonium salts at gold surfaces was investigated and the possible applications it presented towards printing and patterning of the gold surface with films were explained. Polycrystalline gold surfaces were prepared and subjected to various treatments, to observe the behaviour of gold oxide formation and reduction at the surface. Various effects on the surface structure were observed after treatment in solvents and electrolyte solutions. The surface structure of the gold atoms frequently changed due to the high mobilities of the gold atoms, and it is difficult to achieve a reproducibly stable surface. The electrochemical modification of gold surfaces via the reduction of aryldiazonium salts was investigated. Surfaces were modified with methylphenyl and carboxyphenyl films and exposed to various treatments. Monitoring the gold oxide reduction changes enabled the surface coverage of modifier directly attached to the surface to be calculated. The films appear to be stable, loosely packed and porous. The films are flexible in nature; redox probe responses showed reversible changes after repeated sonication in solvents of differing polarities and hydrophilicities. Contact angle measurements further support the notion of films that can reorganise in response to their environment. The spontaneous reduction of aryldiazonium salts at gold surfaces was observed. Film coverage was significantly lower at the spontaneously grafted surface than for films grafted electrochemically. Gold surfaces were successfully modified via microcontact printing, and surface coverages similar to the spontaneously grafted film were achieved. Microcontact printing was also used to pattern surfaces with films derived from diazonium salts. Feature sizes down to 100 µm were successfully achieved.

Submitted by RICARDO SHINDI HOSOKAWA null (rickhoso@bol.com.br) on 2017-01-03T23:30:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Delineação de padrões na superfície da poliamida por processo de plasma.pdf: 4742915 bytes, checksum: 268d0bc1d9923e2f37c24eceb7007ce5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Juliano Benedito Ferreira (julianoferreira@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-01-05T18:24:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 hosokawa_rs_me_bauru.pdf: 4742915 bytes, checksum: 268d0bc1d9923e2f37c24eceb7007ce5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-05T18:24:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 hosokawa_rs_me_bauru.pdf: 4742915 bytes, checksum: 268d0bc1d9923e2f37c24eceb7007ce5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-17 / Neste trabalho foi investigada a possibilidade de se criar padrões regularmente distribuídos sobre a superfície da poliamida (PA), utilizando o processo de deposição de filmes em plasmas de baixa pressão. Para tal, um único procedimento foi empregado utilizando-se uma malha metálica comercial (60 μm) como máscara para delinear pilares na superfície da poliamida. Os plasmas de deposição foram gerados a partir de atmosferas contendo 70% de hexametildisiloxano (HMDSO) e 30% de oxigênio a uma pressão total de 23 Pa, já incluído o valor de 3 Pa referente à pressão de fundo. O plasma foi ativado pela aplicação do sinal de radiofrequência (13,56 MHz, 150 W) no suporte de amostras enquanto o eletrodo superior permaneceu aterrado. O tempo de deposição, t, foi alterado de 15 a 90 min. Na etapa inicial do trabalho o filme foi uniformemente depositado sobre o polímero sem a utilização de máscara. Uma segunda etapa de experimentos foi realizada, utilizando-se condições idênticas às anteriores, mas com o auxílio da trama metálica sobre as amostras para guiar a deposição do filme somente nos poros da máscara. Filmes organosilicones, compostos por estruturas granulares e com espessuras dependentes de t, foram uniformemente depositados sobre a PA quando a máscara não foi utilizada. A deposição do filme independentemente da condição de t, aumenta a rugosidade superficial e transforma a amostra inicialmente hidrofílica em hidrofóbica. Muito embora t afete de forma suave a composição química, estrutura molecular e a molhabilidade do filme, seu efeito na espessura da camada é substancial. Padrões na forma de pilares foram regularmente definidos na superfície da PA com a deposição do filme organosilicone e a utilização da máscara. A altura dos pilares cresce com t alcançando até 1 µm. Para os maiores valores de t empregados, as máscaras não atuaram efetivamente como sombra na região dos fios. Observou-se que a molhabilidade da superfície ficou estável com o tempo de envelhecimento e não foi afetada pelos padrões. / In this work it was investigated the possibility of creating patterns regularly distributed on the surface of the polyamide (PA), using the process of film deposition in low pressure plasmas. For such, a single procedure was employed using a commercial metallic mesh (60 μm) as a mask to delineate pillars on the polyamide surface. The depositing plasmas were generated from atmospheres containing 70% of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and 30% of oxygen at a total pressure of 23 Pa, already included the amount of 3 Pa related to the background pressure. The plasma was activated applying a radiofrequency signal (13.56 MHz, 150 W) to the sample holder while grounding the topmost electrode. Deposition time, t, was changed from 15 to 90 min. In the initial stage of the work the film was evenly deposited on the polymer without the usage of mask. A second step of experiments was performed, using the same conditions as earlier, but with the aid of the metallic frame on the samples to guide the film deposition only in the pores of the mask. Organosilicones films consisting of granular structures and thickness dependent of t were evenly deposited on the PA when the mask was not used. The film deposition, independently of condition of t, increases the surface roughness and transforms the sample initially hydrophilic to hydrophobic. Although t affects smoothly the chemical composition, molecular structure and wettability of the film, its effect on the layer thickness is substantial. Patterns in the form of pillars were regularly defined on the surface of PA with the organosilicon film deposition and the usage of the mask. The height of the pillars grows with t reaching up to 1 micrometers. For higher values of t, the masks did not act effectively as shadow in the wire region. It was observed that the surface wettability was stable with the aging time and it was not affected by the patterns.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-03-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:20:42Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santana_pl_me_bauru.pdf: 914050 bytes, checksum: b5496af79a0399d154c89f8614606f4a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste trabalho foi o estudo da modificação das propriedades estrutural, química e óptica da superfície de certos polímeros comerciais através do emprego das técnicas de Imersão em Plasmas (IP) e Implantação Iônica por Imersão em Plasmas (IIIP). Os polímeros investigados foram o policloreto de vinila (PVC) e o politereftalato de etila (PET). Foram empregados plasmas de hexafluoreto de enxofre ('SF IND. 6') como fonte de flúor, uma vez que, a fluoração de uma superfície tende a aumentar o seu caráter hidrofóbico. Por outro lado, investigou-se o efeito da composição do plasma, através de tratamentos com plasmas de nitrogênio ('N IND. 2'). Além disso, plasmas da mistura 'SF IND. 6/Isopropanol e 'N IND. 2'/Isopropanol, foram empregados para formar um filme fino sobre a superfície dos substratos tratados. Por fim, este trabalho contemplou ainda a investigação da morfologia superficial em escala nanométrica e as características de transparência à luz visível. As medidas de ângulo de contato indicaram que a deposição a plasma convencional (IP) aumenta consideravelmente os valores de ângulos de contato das amostras de PET e PVC para potências de descarga de RF até 100 W mediante o emprego de plasmas de 'SF IND. 6'. Neste caso, o maior valor de ângulo de contato foi de 140º. Por outro lado, a técnica de IIIP ocasiona uma diminuição nos valores de ângulo de contato mesmo em plasmas contendo flúor. Nesse caso, o menor valor de ângulo de contato observado foi de 18º. Vale ressaltar que a alteração seletiva na molhabilidade dos polímeros ocorreu sem alteração significativa na transparência óptica dos mesmos. Através das medidas de microbalança, observou-se que uma taxa de crescimento linear de 2,96nm/min. / The aim of this work was to study the modification of the structural, chemical and optical properties, on the surfaces of certain commercial polymers, produced by plasma immersion (PI) and plasma immersion ion implantation (IIIP). Polymers investigated include polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene terephthalate. Plasmas of sulfur hexafluoride ('SF IND. 6') were employed as source of fluoride, since surface fluorination increases the hydrophobic behavior of polymers. However, the effects of plasma composition were investigated by treatments using nitrogen. Plasmas of 'SF IND. 6/Isopropyl alcohol and of 'N IND. 2'/Isopropyl alcohol were also employed to deposit a thin film onto the surface of treated samples. Finally, nanoscale surface morphology and the transmission of visible light were studied. Contact angle measurements showed that PI considerably increased the contact angle values of PET and PVC, for RF powers up to 100 W. In this case, the highest values of contact angle was 140º. On the other hand, PIII technique decreased the contact angles, even fluorine containing plasmas. In this case, the smallest value of contact angle was 18º. It is noteworthy that the selective alteration in the wettability of the polymers of the occured without significant change in the optical transparency of them. Microbalance measurements calculated resulted in a linear rate of growth. Finally, measurements by perfilometry resulted in a linear rate of growth of 2.96nm per minute.

Le phénomène de mouillage intervient dans de nombreux procédés, parmi lesquels la galvanisation en continu de tôles d’acier pour carrosserie automobile. Dans ce procédé, la tôle est immergée dans un bain de zinc liquide afin de la recouvrir d’une couche protectrice de zinc. Mais avant cela, cette tôle, laminée à froid, est soumise à un recuit sous atmosphère réductrice dans le but d’éliminer l’écrouissage et les oxydes de fer superficiels et favoriser ainsi les réactions de galvanisation. Des nouveaux aciers, dits à haute limite d’élasticité, ont été élaborés afin d’améliorer la sécurité passive des véhicules sans trop augmenter leur masse et leur consommation de carburant. Ces aciers contiennent des teneurs élevées en éléments d’addition oxydables qui, lors du recuit, diffusent de la masse de l’acier vers la surface où ils forment des particules d’oxydes qui ne sont pas mouillées par le zinc liquide. Il parait donc important de comprendre le mouillage par le zinc liquide de surfaces hétérogènes, composées de fer métallique et d’oxydes. Pour cela, nous avons étudié l’étalement d’une goutte de zinc liquide, à des temps très courts, à l’aide d’une caméra rapide dans un dispositif de chute de goutte. Nous avons mené nos expériences sur des alliages fer – silicium et un acier industriel, recuits à haute température avant le dépôt de la goute, ce qui a permis d’obtenir un taux de couverture par les oxydes variant de 0 à 100%. Le mouillage est décrit à l’aide de deux paramètres : le diamètre d’étalement et l’angle de contact. Nous nous sommes attachés à la compréhension et à la modélisation de l’évolution de ces deux paramètres aux cours des premiers instants de contact et en fin d’étalement. Nous avons, en particulier, mis en évidence l’influence du taux de couverture par les oxydes et de l’énergie cinétique initiale de la goutte. Le manuscrit se termine par une extrapolation des résultats de mouillage obtenus pour les surfaces hétérogènes modèles à des substrats recuits dans des conditions voisines du recuit continu industriel / Wetting phenomenon takes place in several processes among which continuous galvanizing of steel sheet for car bodies. In this process, the steel sheet is immersed in a zinc bath in order to cover it with a protective zinc layer. But before that, the cold rolled steel sheet is annealed in a reducing atmosphere in order to eliminate the cold working and the superficial iron oxides improving thereby the galvanizing reactions. New steels, called advanced high strength steels, have been developed in order to improve vehicle safety without increasing their weight and therefore fuel consumption. These steels contain high amounts of oxidizable alloying elements that segregate during the annealing to the surface where they form oxides particles that are not wetted by liquid zinc. Therefore it seems important to understand the wetting by liquid zinc of heterogeneous surfaces composed by metallic iron and oxides. For this purpose, we studied the spreading of liquid zinc droplet at very short time using a high speed camera by means of a dispensed drop apparatus. In our experiments we have used different iron – silicon alloys and a commercial steel, annealed at high temperature before the wetting experiments, leading to surface coverage by oxides lying from 0 to 100%. Wetting is described using two parameters: the spreading diameter and the contact angle. We have focused on the comprehension and modelling of the evolution of these two parameters during the first time of contact and at the end of spreading. The influence of both the surface coverage by oxides and the initial kinetic energy of the droplet has been investigated. The results obtained for the wetting of the model heterogeneous surfaces are extrapolated to substrates annealed in the same conditions as in industrial continuous annealing.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-08-18T14:59:23Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) KGBA_15022016LUCAS1.pdf: 4588819 bytes, checksum: 532522f49862cfc44ad001b8b5a0413f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T14:59:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) KGBA_15022016LUCAS1.pdf: 4588819 bytes, checksum: 532522f49862cfc44ad001b8b5a0413f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-27 / CAPEs / No presente trabalho foram produzidos compósitos a base de epóxi reforçados com liga quasicristalina AlCuFe, para ensaios de microabrasão e molhabilidade. A liga AlCuFe foi produzida num forno de indução de soleira fria com materias de até 99,99% de pureza e submetida ao tratamento térmico por 24h a uma temperatura de 750°C. O quasicristal foi utilizado na forma de pó após moagem em moinho planetário. A caracterização do quasicristal (QC) foi realizada com uso das técnicas de difração de raios x (DRX) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV). Análises de DRX mostraram fase cristalina bem definida para amostras de QC, por sua vez imagens de MEV indicaram morfologia arredondada do QC e com uso do software IMAGE J, foi possível observar diâmetros de partícula em torno de 5,48±1,83μm. Em adição, o pó metálico foi misturado com uma resina epóxi em proporções de 5%, 10% e 15% em volume, sendo a cura estabelecida em temperatura ambiente. Por sua vez, as propriedades de molhabilidade e microabrasão foram avaliadas. Verificamos que, com o aumento na proporção em volume de quasicristal no compósito, ocorreram alterações significativas no módulo do coeficiente de desgaste, bem como obtenção de maiores valores no ângulo de contato, tornando o material mais hidrofóbico. As imagens de MEV do compósito indicaram os mecanismos de desgaste envolvidos durante o ensaio de microabrasão, levando ao aumento da taxa de desgaste em função da proporção volumétrica de QC no compósito. / In this paper were produced epoxy-based composites reinforced with quasicristalina league AlCuFe to microabrasion and wettability tests. The AlCuFe alloy was produced in a cold hearth induction furnace with materials of up to 99.99% purity and subjected to heat treatment for 24 hours at a temperature of 750 ° C. The quasicristal was used in powder form after milling in a planetary mill. The characterization of quasicristal (QC) has been performed using the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis showed well defined crystalline phase for QC samples in turn SEM images indicated rounded morphology and QC using Image J software, it was possible to observe particle diameters around 5.48 ± 1,83μm. In addition, the metal powder was mixed with an epoxy resin proportions of 5%, 10% and 15% by volume being established cure at room temperature. In turn, the properties of wettability and microabrasion were evaluated. We found that, with increasing volume ratio of the composite quasicristal, significant changes in the wear coefficient module and obtaining the higher values of contact angle, making it more hydrophobic. The composite SEM images indicate the wear mechanisms involved during microabrasion test, leading to increased wear rate as a function of the volumetric ratio of QC in the composite.

Este trabalho aborda a molhabilidade de apatita por água em temperatura ambiente (20-25°C) objetivando contribuir para um melhor entendimento de seu comportamento em sistemas de flotação. Água, devido às fortes forças atrativas entre suas moléculas, não espalha completamente sobre sólidos de baixa energia como apatita pré-tratada com surfatantes aniônicos de cadeia longa. Este comportamento é explorado por engenheiros de processamento mineral para separar apatita de minerais de ganga via flotação aniônica direta em circuitos industriais ao redor do mundo. Nesta tese, a molhabilidade de apatita (tratada ou não com oleato de sódio-NaOl em pH=10,5) foi caracterizada pelo ângulo de contato de avanço da água (TETAa), trabalho de adesão (Wa) da água sobre apatita e coeficiente de espalhamento (S) de água sobre o sólido. Medidas diretas de TETAa sobre os planos frontal (010) e basal (001) de um cristal de apatita bem definido proveniente de Ipirá- BA (apatita-Ipirá) foram executadas pelo Método da Bolha Cativa (MBC), enquanto determinações indiretas de TETAa foram realizadas pelo Método da Ascensão Capilar (MAC) através da percolação de líquidos (água e/ou metanol) através de leitos partículas de apatita-Ipirá ou apatita-Cajati (proveniente de Cajati-SP). No MAC, o uso de hexano foi adequado para determinar a magnitude da constante de empacotamento (c) para partículas de apatita de baixa molhabilidade (TETAa>>0°), enquanto que a água se mostrou mais apropriada para ser usada na determinação da constante c para partículas de apatita não tratadas com surfatantes (TETAa~0o). Ensaios de microflotação foram conduzidos com apatita-Ipirá em pH=10,5 e com NaOl (0-75mg/L) enquanto ensaios de flotação gama foram executados com minério de fosfato proveniente de Cajati-SP previamente tratado com amido (37,5mg/L) e alquil sarcosinato de sódio-Berol®867 (25mg/L) em pH=10,6. Os resultados das medidas de TETAa e dos ensaios de microflotação indicaram uma relação de causa-efeito entre a concentração de NaOl (0-75mg/L), molhabilidade de apatita-Ipirá e sua resposta à microflotação: as maiores recuperações foram obtidas com as maiores concentrações do coletor NaOl, maiores valores de TETAa, menores valores de Wa e valores mais negativos de S. Os valores de TETAa diretamente medidos sobre as faces de um cristal de apatita-Ipirá pelo MBC mostrou que NaOl adsorve preferencialmente sobre o plano (010) comparado ao plano (001). Além disso, a tensão superficial crítica de molhabilidade (GAMAc) da apatita-Ipirá, pré-tratada com 75mg/L de NaOl, foi de 30,2erg/cm2 para o plano (001) versus 29,6erg/cm2 para o plano (010). Após serem condicionadas com reagentes de flotação (amido=37,5mg/L e Berol®867=25mg/L em pH=10,6) e flotadas em estágio rougher, partículas de apatita-Cajati exibiram TETAa=64.2°±1.1°. O valor de GAMAc, determinado via experimentos de flotação gama foi GAMAc~34,5erg/cm2; enquanto GAMAc determinado por diagramas cosTETA x GAMALV foi de GAMAc~33,9erg/cm2. Os resultados de flotação gama com o minério de fosfato de Cajati mostrou um platô de máxima recuperação de apatita (95-98%) quando 52,7erg/cm2<GAMALV<72,9erg/cm2. Ao contrário da apatita, a recuperação dos minerais de ganga (silicatos e carbonatos) foi estritamente ascendente com o aumento de GAMALV. A maior Eficiência de Separação apatita/ganga (E.S. = recuperação de apatita menos a recuperação de ganga) foi obtida em GAMALV=50,5erg/cm2 para apatita/silicatos e em GAMALV=51,4erg/cm2 para apatita/carbonatos. Os resultados dos experimentos de flotação gama indicaram que, no circuito industrial de Cajati-SP, GAMALV pode ser modulada pela dosagem do coletor, e sua magnitude pode guiar engenheiros na tomada de decisões a respeito da dosagem de coletor que promova a maior seletividade de separação apatita/ganga. Entretanto, a falta de instrumentos apropriados para realizar medidas on-line confiáveis de GAMALV tem impedido a execução destas medidas em circuitos industriais. Deste modo, decisões a respeito da dosagem do coletor feitas pelos engenheiros continuam a ser baseadas em uma abordagem empírica ao invés de científica. / This work approaches the wetting of apatite by water at room temperature (20-25°C) aiming at to contribute towards a better understanding of its behavior in flotation systems. Water, because of its powerful attractive forces, does not readily spread over the surface of low energy solids as apatite pre-treated with anionic long chain surfactants. This behavior is exploited by mineral processing engineers to separate apatite from gangue minerals via direct anionic flotation in industrial plants around the world. In this thesis, the wettability of apatite (treated or not with sodium oleate- NaOl at pH=10.5) was characterized by the advancing water contact angle (TETAa), work of adhesion (Wa) of water to apatite and the spreading coefficient (S) of water over the solid. Direct measurements of TETAa on either frontal-(010) or basal-(001) planes of a well formed apatite crystal from Ipirá-BA (apatite-Ipirá) were carried out via Captive Bubble (CB) method, whereas indirect determinations of TETAa were accomplished via Capillary Rise (CR) method by means of percolation of liquids (water and/or methanol) through particle beds of apatite-Ipirá and apatite-Cajati (from Cajati-SP). At CR method, the use of hexane was adequate to determine the magnitude of packing constant (c) for apatite particles of low wettability (TETAa>>0o), whereas water proved to be more appropriate to be used in the determination constant c for apatite particles non-treated with surfactants (TETAa~0o). Microflotation tests were conducted with apatite-Ipirá at pH=10.5 with NaOl (0-75mg/L) whereas gamma flotation tests were carried out with phosphate ore from Cajati-SP previously treated with starch (37.5mg/L) and sodium alkyl sarcosinate-Berol®867 (25mg/L) at pH=10.6. Results from measurements of TETAa and microflotation experiments indicated a cause-effect relationship between concentration of NaOl (0-75mg/L), wettability of apatite-Ipirá and its microflotation response: the highest recoveries were yielded at higher concentration of collector NaOl, higher values of TETAa, lower values of Wa and more negative the values of S. Values of TETAa directly measured on the faces of a crystal of apatite-Ipirá by CB method showed that NaOl adsorbs preferentially onto (010) plane compared to (001) plane. Moreover, the critical surface tension of wettability (GAMAc) of apatite-Ipirá, pre-treated with 75mg/L of NaOl, was 30.2erg/cm2 for (001)-plane versus 29.6erg/cm2 for (010)-plane. After being conditioned with flotation reagents (starch=37.5mg/L and Berol®867=25mg/L at pH=10.6) and floated at rougher stage, particles of apatite-Cajati exhibited TETAa=64.2o±1.1o. The value of GAMAc, determined via gamma flotation experiments was GAMAc~34.5erg/cm2; whereas GAMAc determined by cosTETA x GAMALV plots was GAMAc~33.9erg/cm2. Results from gamma flotation experiments with phosphate ore from Cajati showed a plateau of maximum apatite recovery (95-98%) when 52.7erg/cm2<GAMALV<72.9erg/cm2. Unlike apatite, the recovery of gangue minerals (silicates and carbonates) was strictly ascending when GAMALV was increased. The highest Efficiency of Separation apatite/gangue (E.S. = recovery of apatite minus recovery of gangue) was attained at GAMALV=50.5erg/cm2 for apatite/silicates and at GAMALV=51.4erg/cm2 for apatite/carbonates. The results from gamma flotation experiments indicate that, at the industrial plant of Cajati-SP, GAMALV can be modulated by collector dosage, and its magnitude can provide guidance to practitioners to make decision on collector dosage to achieve a desired value of GAMALV which promotes the best selectivity of the separation apatite/gangue. Notwithstanding, the lack of suitable instruments to accomplish on-line reliable measurements of GAMALV has been hindering the implementation of those measurements at industrial circuits. This way, decisions on collector dosage made by practitioners continue to be based rather on empirical than on scientific approach.

O íntimo contato entre osso e implante é considerado um pré-requisito fundamental para o sucesso dos implantes dentários, condição esta conhecida como osseointegração. Devido a isto, um grande número de pesquisas com tratamentos de superfícies de implantes vem sendo desenvolvido por várias empresas nos últimos anos, visando acelerar esse fenômeno. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar histomorfometricamente o percentual de contato osso-implante (BIC) e área de osso novo (BA) entre implantes de tratamento de superfície Neoporos (GC - hidrofóbico) e implantes com energia de superfície molhada Acqua (GE - hidrofílicos). Foram utilizados 15 coelhos da raça new zealand, que receberam 30 implantes divididos em cada lado de suas tíbias direita e esquerda, ambos de titânio comercialmente puro grau IV com 3.5x8mm de dimensão, sendo ao final de 15 dias, a região dos implantes coletada e processada histologicamente para obtenção de cortes teciduais não desmineralizados, embora dois implantes do grupo Esm tenham sido excluídos da pesquisa devido à instalação ter ocorrido dentro do canal medular e terem obtido tecido necrosado, não cumprindo as características de osseointegração. Para análise dos dados estatísticos, utilizou-se o teste t de Students para amostras independents e teste Mann-Whitney Rank Sum com nível de significância de p<0.05. Os resultados mostraram que não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre os grupos para a análise de BIC. O grupo GC apresentou a média de 42.9% de BIC, ligeiramente menor que o grupo GE, que apresentou 49.3% de média. Já para o teste BA houve diferenças de 15%, em que o grupo GC apresentou 58.6% e o grupo GE, 74.4%. A conclusão é que há, ainda, necessidade de maiores estudos a cerca do referido tema. / The near contact between bone and implant is considered an essential pre-requisite for the success of dental implants, a condition known as osseointegration. Due to it, a great amount of researches on implants surface treatments has been developed by several companies in recent years to accelerate the phenomenon of osseointegration. The aim of the present study is to evaluate histomorphometrically the percentage of bone-implants contact (BIC) and the area of new bone (BA) between implants with surfaces treatment Neoporos (GC - hydrophobic) and implants with wets surface energy Acqua (GE - hydrophilic). It was used fifteen (n=15) New Zealand rabbits, which received thirty implants installed dividing them between its right and left tibias. Implants were commercially pure titanium grade IV with 3.5x8mm dimension. After fifteen days, the implants area were collected and processed histologically in order to obtain not demineralized tissue sections. For statistical data analysis, it was used the t test for independents samples and Mann-Whitney Rank Sum test. The significance level was p<0.05. Results showed no statistical significant difference between groups for BIC analysis. The control group showed a mean of 42.9% of BIC, slightly lower than the GE group, which showed a mean of 49.3%. For BA test, there was a significant difference of more than 15% in the control group (58.6% for the GC group and 74.4% for GE group). It was concluded that futher studies is needed on this topic of osseointegration and hydrophobic /hydrophilic implants.

Cells have the ability to sense the rigidity of the extracellular matrix which directly affects the control of cellular functions in development, wound healing and malignant transformation. Polydimethylsiloxane elastomers are useful model biomaterials for mechanotransduction studies because they possess several advantages including ease of fabrication, tunable elasticity and modifiable surface chemistry. In this work, we are investigating the influence of matrix stiffness on adhesion strength and the mechanosensory structures that regulate these processes. In addition, the effect of surface modifications to this elastic substrate system on other physical properties such as local stiffness and topography will be analyzed. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that cell adhesion dependent processes will be regulated by matrix stiffness, but that surface chemistry influences on protein adsorption could provide overriding regulatory signals. The results of this research will provide insight into the interconnected processes of mechanosensing and cell adhesion strengthening, and reveal criteria for designing instructive biomaterials with specific mechanical and chemical properties.