Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-04-12Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:14:48Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_gc_me_rcla.pdf: 1042770 bytes, checksum: c51bb4a8e2f788a36cdccff91889a12a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Entre as questões ambientais mais discutidas pela sociedade, está a poluição pelos diversos ramos da indústria. As indústrias têxteis estão entre os responsáveis pela contaminação, pois, muitas vezes, eliminam seus efluentes sem tratamento adequado nos mananciais, portanto, sem a completa remoção dos corantes. Os corantes azóicos são os mais utilizados pela indústria têxtil e são caracterizados pela presença de grupos azo (N=N). Dos vários métodos de tratamento de efluentes existentes, o tratamento biológico tem sido amplamente estudado. Buscando uma maneira de melhorar o tratamento biológico, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo comparar a capacidade de biossorção e biodegradação do corante azóico Direct Blue 71 em solução pelos fungos Phanerochaete chrysosporium e Aspergillus oryzae, na forma paramorfogênica. Para isso utilizou-se uma solução de corante DB71 a 100 μg/mL. Foram realizados testes de biossorção, por um período de 2 horas, com cinco diferentes concentrações de biomassa e três valores de pH, 2.5, 4.5 e 6.5, sendo que o pH 2.5 proporcionou a melhor condição para a biossorção. A adsorção do corante pela parede celular de ambos os fungos foi avaliado com o auxílio das isotermas de Freundlich, modelo seguido por P. chrysosporium, e Langmuir, seguido por A. oryzae. Para os testes de biodegradação, por 240 horas, utilizou-se apenas uma concentração de biomassa. Com espectrofotometria UV-VIS foi possível determinar porcentagem de descoloração e absorbância relativa do corante após realização dos testes de biossorção e biodegradação, respectivamente. Análises de FTIR permitiram a identificação de moléculas presentes na solução antes e após a biodegradação. Com A. oryzae obteve-se os melhores resultados de biossorção e biodegradação. Contudo, P. chrysosporium também se mostrou eficiente para os tratamentos... / Among many environmental issues discussed in society, all sorts of pollution from industrial branches arise as an important matter. Textile industries are responsible by such contamination, since they often eliminate their effluents in the environment without proper treatment, therefore, without complete dye removal. Azo dyes are frequently used in textile industry and characterized by the presence of azo groups (N = N). Of the various methods of wastewater treatment available, biological treatment has been extensively studied. Thus, to improve biological treatment in textile industries, this study aimed to compare the ability of biosorption and biodegradation of Azo dye Direct Blue 71 solution by Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Aspergillus oryzae fungi in paramorfogenic form. In order to achieve this, a 100 μg/mL DB7 dye solution was used. Biosorption tests were performed within two hours with five different biomass concentrations and three pH values, 2.5, 4.5 and 6.5. It was observed that pH 2.5 solutions presented best biosorption conditions. The dye adsorption through studied fungi cell wall was evaluated with the Freundlich isotherm model for P. chrysosporium, and Langmuir for A. oryzae. For the biodegradation tests in 240 hours, it was used only one biomass concentration. Through an UV-VIS spectrophotometry the percentage of relative absorbance and dye discoloration was determined after biosorption and biodegradation tests respectively. FTIR analysis allowed molecular compounds identification in solution before and after biodegradation. The best results were obtained with A. oryzae in both biosorption and biodegradation. Yet even then P. chrysosporium was also efficient in all treatments. Hence, both A. oryzae and P. chrysosporium have great potential of dye removal in wastewaters. These results may contribute to improve effluent treatment systems in textile industries.

Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de biossensores de pH, ureia e glicose, utilizando óxidos como plataforma para a parte seletiva. Os filmes finos de óxidos condutores foram produzidos por diferentes técnicas de deposição, como spin-coat, dip-coat, spray-pyrolysis e casting. Os materiais fabricados foram AZO e TiO2, ambos depositados sobre substratos de FTO, ITO ou vidro hidroflilizado. O número de camadas foi variado para cada técnica e as caracterizações morfológicas e estruturais foram feitas por MEV, DRX e FTIR. As caracterizações elétricas foram feitas por EGFET e voltametria cíclica. Os filmes foram testados como sensores de pHs na faixa de 2 a 8. O filme depositado com AZO em substrato de FTO pela técnica de spray-pyrolysis apresentou melhor resposta, com sensibilidade de 31,7 mV/pH entre toda a faixa de pHs do 2 ao 8. Já para os filmes de TiO2, o filme produzido por dip-coat com 5 camadas em substrato de FTO apresentou sensibilidade de 37,8 mV/pH entre a faixa de pHs de 2 a 8. Paralelamente, os filmes tiveram suas superfícies funcionalizadas com proteínas como urease ou glicose oxidase. Neste caso, os dispositivos foram testados entre as concentrações de 5 a 200 mg/dL de ureia e glicose. Como biossensor de ureia, o filme de TiO2 depositado por spin-coat com 5 camadas em substrato de FTO apresentou a maior sensibilidade, com valor 3,32 mV/(mg/dL) entre as concentrações de 5 a 120 mg/dL. Para os filmes estudados como biossensores de glicose, o melhor resultado também foi obtido pelo filme de TiO2 depositado por spin-coat com 5 camadas em substrato de FTO, apresentando sensibilidade em torno de 6,18 mV/(mg/dL) entre as concentrações de 5 a 200 mg/dL. Alguns resultados encontrados foram iguais ou melhores aos encontrados na literatura vigente, mesmo que os dispositivos ainda são passíveis de otimização. / This study presents the development of pH, urea and glucose biosensors, by the use of oxides as the base of the sensing membrane. Conducting oxide thin films were prepared by different deposition techniques, such as spin-coat, dip-coat, spray-pyrolysis, and casting. AZO and TiO2 were produced and coated onto FTO, ITO and glass substrates. The number of layers were changed for each deposition technique, and the surface characterizations were made by SEM, XRD and FTIR, while the electrical characterizations were performed with an EGFET device and cyclic voltammetry. The samples were used as pH sensors in the pH range from 2 to 8. The AZO thin film onto FTO substrate deposited by spray-pyrolysis deposition technique presented sensitivity as 31.7 mV/pH for the total pH range from 2 to 8. TiO2 thin films, produced by dip-coat deposition technique with 5 layers onto FTO substrate presented 37.8 mV/pH as sensitivity, for the same pH range. All the films have their surfaces immobilized with proteins as urease or glucose oxidase. In this case, the samples were performed in different concentrations of urea or glucose, respectively, from 5 to 200 mg/dL, for both. Urea biosensors presented good results for measurements performed with the same sample as well as performed with individuals samples, for all the concentrations range. Spin-coated TiO2 thin films with 5 layers onto FTO substrates presented 3.32 mV/(mg/dL) as sensitivity from 5 to 120 mg/dL urea concentrations, while for glucose biosensors presented 6.18 mV/(mg/dL) for the same film between the glucose concentration range from 5 to 20 mg/dL. Some results were equal or better than the results in current literature, even the films are still capable of optimization.

Polímeros com grupos azobenzênicos exibindo fotoisomerização reversível trans-cis-trans tem sido usado para armazenamento óptico, chaves ópticas e produção de grades de relevo. A fotoisomerização produzida por luz linearmente polarizada cria uma orientação molecular perpendicular a polarização da luz (hole-burning angular) que induz a birrefringência na amostra. Neste trabalho, medimos a birrefringência foto induzida em filmes de poliestireno dopado com corante vermelho disperso 1 (DR1) em função da temperatura. A amplitude da birrefringência aumenta com a temperatura entre 20 e 180 K, atinge um máximo e diminui a zero próximo da temperatura de transição vítrea do polímero, a qual é da ordem de 373 K. A amplitude da birrefringência é proporcional a concentração de DR1 e também depende da história térmica da amostra. Propõe-se um modelo teórico que leva em conta a mudança de volume livre do polímero com a temperatura, representando um passo além dos modelos conhecidos. Assumimos que as moléculas de DR1 ocupam cavidades do polímero e a função distribuição Gama é usada para descrever a distribuição dos volumes das cavidades, enquanto a função Gaussiana descreve as flutuações térmicas de volume em torno de seu valor médio. A isomerização das moléculas de DR1 só podem ocorrer em cavidades com volume maior que um valor crítico. A comparação entre o modelo e os dados experimentais mostra uma razoável concordância. O modelo prevê corretamente a dependência da birrefringência com o tempo, com a temperatura e com a história térmica da amostra, já que o volume livre do polímero depende dessa história. / Polymers with azobenzene groups exhibiting reversible trans-cis-trans photoisomerization characteristics have been used for optical storage, optical switching and production of surface relief gratings. The photoisomerization produced by a linearly polarized light leads to a molecular orientation perpendicular to the light polarization (angular hole burning), which induces a birefringence on the sample. In this work we report on the photoisomerization of films of polystyrene (PS) doped with disperse red 1 (DR1), performed at various temperatures. The birefringence amplitude rises with temperature from 10 to 270 K, goes through a maximum and decays to zero near the polystyrene transition temperature, which is 370 K. The birefringence amplitude, at a given temperature, is proportional to the DR1 content and also depends on the sample thermal history. We proposed a model that accounts for the change in free volume of the polymer with temperature though representing an improvement to well-known models. We assume that the azobenzene group is inside a local free volume and the Gamma distribution function is used to describe a local free volume distribution in the sample while the Gaussian distribution function gives the thermal free-volume fluctuation. Isomerization of the azobenzene group only occurs if the local free volume is larger than a critical value. Comparison with the experimental data shows that the model explains the temporal evolution, the temperature dependence of the birefringence and how the birefringence is affected by the sample thermal history, as the sample free volume of the polymer depends on such history.

Lack of crystalline order and microstructural features such as grain/grain-boundary in metallic glasses results in a suite of remarkable attributes including very high strength, close to theoretical elasticity, high corrosion and wear resistance, and soft magnetic properties. By altering the morphology and tuning of composition, MGs may be transformed into high-performance catalytic materials. In this study, the catalytic properties of metallic glass powders were demonstrated in dissociating toxic organic chemicals such as AZO dye. BMG powders showed superior performance compared to state of the art crystalline iron because of their high catalytic activity, durability, and reusability. To enhance the catalytic properties, high energy mechanical milling was performed to increase the surface area and defect density. Iron-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) of composition Fe48Cr15Mo14Y2C15B6 was used because of its low cost and ability to make large surface area by high energy ball milling. AZO dye was degraded in less than 20 minutes for the 9 hours milled Fe-BMG. However, subsequent increase in ball milling time resulted in devitrification and loss of catalytic activity as measured using UV-Visible spectroscopy. Aluminum-based bulk metallic glass (Al-BMG) powder of composition Al82Fe3Ni8Y7 was synthesized by arc-melting the constituent elements followed by gas-atomization. The particle size and morphology were similar to Fe-BMG with a fully amorphous structure. A small percentage of transition metal constituents (Fe and Ni) in a mostly aluminum alloy showed high catalytic activity, with no toxic by-products and no change in surface characteristics. Al-alloy particles, being light-weight, were easily dispersed in aqueous medium and accelerated the redox reactions. The mechanism of dye dissociation was studied using Raman and Infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Breaking of -C-H- and - C-N- bonds of AZO dye was found to be the primary mechanism. Mechanical behavior of individual BMG particles was evaluated by in situ pico-indentation in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to understand the fracture mechanisms. Catastrophic shear banding was found to be the primary fracture mode, which supported the observation of flake formation during high energy ball milling.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1957 B38 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Ce travail est consacré à l'étude du comportement de la matière condensée soumise à une perturbation via l'isomérisation de molécules sondes photochromes du type azo-benzènes. Une description microscopique de la matière est utilisée de manière à obtenir une meilleure compréhension des processus physiques donnant lieu à la formation des réseaux de relief en surface (SRG) dans ce type de matériaux, processus toujours incompris. L'étude utilise des simulations à l'échelle atomique par dynamique moléculaire hors d'équilibre où l'énergie produite par le processus de photo-isomérisation est absorbée par un thermostat, après sa dégradation thermique à l'intérieur de la matrice hôte. La photoisomérisation est introduite de manière périodique, par une modification continue des photochromes de la forme trans vers la forme cis et inversement. De manière à déterminer l'effet des longueurs de chaînes du polymère hôte, des matrices de degrés de polymérisation variées sont utilisées dans cette étude ainsi que des polymères “vivants” en cours de polymérisation. Une modification des propriétés de transport engendrant des mouvements massifs de matière en dessous de la température de transition vitreuse est observée ainsi qu'une stimulation de la coopérativité intrinsèque de la matrice hôte.

Routes to novel heterocyclic azo compounds and components of use as potential inkjet dyes were investigated. A new route to fluorenones from biphenyl acid chlorides using FVP (Flash Vacuum Pyrolysis) has been discovered. Fluorenone and 4-methylfluoren-9-one were prepared by FVP of 2-phenylbenzoyl chloride and 2-methylbiphenyl-2-carbonyl chloride respectively. Xanthen-9-one and thioxanthen-9-one were also prepared by FVP from the corresponding acid chlorides. 9-Phenanthrol could also be prepared via the FVP of biphenylacetyl choride and the application of this method to a heterocylic thiophene system afforded naphtho[1,2-b]thiophen-4-ol. Naphtho[2,1-b]thiophen-4-ol and naphtho[1,2-b]furan- 4-ol could be obtained in low yields by the FVP of (2-thiophen-3-ylphenyl)acetic acid methyl ester and (2-furan-2-ylphenyl) acetic acid methyl ester over a tungsten trioxide catalyst. Coupling of these systems with the diazonium salt of Acid Yellow 9 afforded the corresponding azo compounds. New heterocyclic dyes were also prepared from the condensation of heterocyclic hydrazines with 4,9-disulfophenanthrenequinone. Pyridine, pyridazine, phthalazine, isoquinoline and 2-quinoline disulfophenanthrene quinone metallised 2:1 nickel complexed magenta dyes were prepared. Industrial tests by standard methods revealed the pyridazine dye has a particularly impressive balance of light and ozone fastness over similar magenta dyes. The reaction of an arylnitro compound with 2-aminopyridine appeared to be an attractive and high yielding route to 2-(phenylazo)pyridine. However, application of this reaction to substituted and naphthalene systems failed. This afforded byproducts due to nucleophilic substitution of groups such as methoxy and the relatively uncommon nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen with none of the required azo products obtained. Therefore it appeared that the reaction of a nitro and amine was not a robust and versatile route to heterocyclic azo compounds. An alternate route to heterocyclic azo compounds involved the use of the Mills reaction by the condensation o-anisidine, p-chloroaniline, 2-aminophenol, 3- aminophenol, naphthylamine, 8-amnioquinoline and 2-acetylamino-5-aminobenzenesulfonic acid with 2-nitrosopyridine afforded the heterocyclic azo products in moderate to high yields. The Mills reaction does appear to be the favored route to heterocyclic azo compounds. Several factors were identified which affect the process of bisazo coupling of chromotropic acid and products obtained. Reaction at the ipso position of monoPACAs (2-phenylazochromotropic acid) leading to increased yields of the ipso substitution monoPACA by-product as opposed to the expected bisazo coupling position was a major problem. Studies indicated reactivity at the ipso position was greatly reduced by the presence of electron withdrawing groups around the phenyl ring of the monoPACA. Further study indicated reaction at the bisazo coupling position increased with the strength of the diazonium salt used in bisazo coupling. Therefore the electronic nature of the monoPACA starting material and the diazonium salt used in bisazo coupling greatly affected the products obtained. Reaction pH studies also revealed attack at the bisazo coupling position increases with pH and at lower pH (5.0 – 8.0) attack at the ipso position dominated. Reactivity of the monoPACA starting material also increased with pH. The influence of steric effects upon bisazo coupling revealed, in the cases where ortho sulfonic acid groups were present in the monoPACA, a reduction in attack at the ipso position. Hence the reaction appeared to be directed towards the required bisazo coupling position.

Cancer constitutes a terrible burden on modern society. In the United States there are an estimated 1,658,370 new cancer diagnoses resulting in 589,430 deaths in 2015 alone.[1] An estimated 41,170 of these cases will be diagnosed right here in Virginia. With new cancer patients comes the expanding demand for new treatments. As we all know, many modern chemotherapeutics cause adverse reactions to patients. This is because the toxic nature of these therapies often affects normal tissue alongside the tumors that are infesting the body. Therefore, researching novel ways to make chemotherapeutics selective for cancer, while leaving healthy tissue unscathed, is of paramount importance. There are a few ways in which we have approached cancer-specific chemotherapeutics. Through the use of light controlled toxicity and drug release and the targeting of tumor phenotypes such as overexpressed proteins and the Warburg effect, we begin to tackle the problem of non-specificity of current chemotherapeutics. Combretastatin A-4 (CA4) is highly potent anticancer drug that acts as an inhibitor of tubulin polymerization.[2, 3] The core of the CA4 structure contains a cis-stilbene, and it is known that the trans isomer is significantly less potent. We prepared an azobenzene analog of CA4 (Azo-CA4) that shows 13-35 fold enhancement in potency upon external irradiation. GI50 values in the light were in the mid nM range. Due to its ability to thermally revert to the less toxic trans form, Azo-CA4 also has the ability to automatically turn its activity off with time. Therefore, this work establishes a novel strategy for switchable potency for cancer treatment. Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) is an anthracycline type of chemotherapeutic that intercalates double-stranded DNA.[4] Although this drug has played a huge role in the treatment of cancer, its usefulness declines in cases of cancer recurrence because of the impact this drug has on the cardiovascular system. Therefore, we prepared this drug as a cell impermeable conjugate that gains penetrability through the use of external radiation.[5] Folate receptor alpha (FRα) is overexpressed in a variety of cancer cells and accepts folic acid as a natural ligand.[6] Therefore, conjugation of drugs to folic acid introduces a promising way to bring these drugs to cancer cells with greater specificity. We took this concept one step further with the introduction of a photo-labile linker, connecting doxorubicin to folic acid, which offers dual-specificity through ligand targeting and light activation. Finally, many cancer cells produce adenosine triphosphate, the energy currency of a cell, through an abnormal upregulation of glycolysis.[7] This pathway results in a larger-than-normal production of lactic acid and lowers the pH of cancer cells through a phenomenon known as the Warburg Effect. We hypothesized that through the use of L-canavanine, an L-arginine analog, we could construct short peptides that would gain cell permeability in a low pH environment. Attaching a cargo to these peptides, such as doxorubicin will ultimately allow for targeting the low pH extracellular environment of cancer cells. Through the use of these strategies we have furthered the fight against cancer. Targeting cancer by taking advantage of its phenotypes or through the use of light is vital in reducing negative side-effects of current chemotherapeutics. The novel technologies offered above bring us a step closer to side-effect free treatment of cancer patients.

The thesis has dealt with transparent conducting oxide (TCO) materials, with a focus on Al:ZnO and with studies on Sn:In2O3 and ZnO. TCOs are a material group that is used for its properties of being conductive and at the same time transparent. In solar cells, a top layer of TCO is often used to allow light to transmit into the cell and then conduct the resulting current.   A set of growth parameters was chosen and optimized through a literature study and experiments. The depositied thin films were characterized by optical and electrical characterization methods. Rf-magnetron-sputtering was used as the deposition method, where the influence of O2, argon and substrate temperature were the parameters to be studied. As a part of the characterization a model for spectroscopic ellipsometry on Al:ZnO was made, enabling faster measurement of transport properties. The main parameter affecting the TCO properties was found to be oxygen flow and the optimum flow value for each material has been determined. Substrate heating did not show any significant improvement on the resistivity of Al:ZnO with a minimum value of ~5.0*10-4 Ωcm while no heating resulted in a value of ~6.0*10-4  Ωcm. These values are comparable to the state-of-the-art from the literature.   As a demonstration of application, the developed AZO and ZnO were applied to CIGS solar cells and these were compared to a reference. The newly developed AZO and ZnO was comparable to the reference but a lower mean fill factor indicates that improvements can be made.