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Nanomaterials have a great potential for environmental applications due to their high surface areas and high reactivity. This dissertation investigated the use of electrochemically active biofilms (EABs) as a synthesis approach for the fabrication and environmental applications of different nanomaterials. Bacteria in EABs generate electrons upon consuming electron donor and have the ability to transport these electrons to solid or insoluble substrates through extracellular electron transport (EET) mechanism. The extracellularly transported electrons, once utilized, can lead to nanoparticle synthesis. In this dissertation, noble metal (i.e., Au, Pd, and Pt) ultra-small nanoparticles (USNPs) were first synthesized with the assistance by the EABs. The assynthesized USNPs had a size range between 2 and 7 nm and exhibited excellent catalytic performance in dye decomposition. Also in this research, a two-dimensional (2D) cobalt nanosheet was successfully synthesized in the presence of EABs. A simple biogenic route led to the transformation of cobalt acetate to produce a green, toxic free homogeneous 2D cobalt nanosheet structure. Further, TiO2 nanotubes were successfully combined with the noble metal USNPs to enhance their photocatalytic activity. In this work, for the first time, the noble metal USNPs were directly reduced and decorated on the internal surfaces of the TiO2 nanotubes structure assisted by the EABs. The USNPs modified TiO2 nanotubes generated significantly improved photoelectrocatatlyic performances. This dissertation shines lights on the use of EABs in ultra-small nanoparticle synthesis.

For many years, electrochemically deposited polypyrrole has found application in a host of technologically significant areas. Popular applications include use in rechargeable batteries, electrochromic displays and artificial muscles. However, perhaps the most significant application of polypyrrole is as a gas sensing material. The relatively low selectivity of polypyrrole has led to it seldom being used as a 'stand alone' sensor; the ease by which the properties of polypyrrole may be subtly modified during electrochemical deposition (resulting in subtly different sensor responses) makes it ideally suited for incorporation into sensing 'arrays'. The level of understanding concerning the growth dynamics and structural characteristics of electrochemically deposited polypyrrole was poor prior to the commencement of the work presented; this thesis describes research undertaken in order to elucidate the properties of this material. As variation of the dopant group used during electrochemical deposition has been shown to result in significant structural and operational variations, the work presented focuses on polypyrrole doped with sodium benzene sulfonate (benzene sulfonic acid, sodium salt). The effects of deposition parameter variation have been studied (such as deposition potential and dopant concentration); repeatable relationships were found between deposition parameters and [a] sensor electrical conductivity, and [b] the surface morphology of the films formed. The influence of sensor substrate design is also considered; dissimilarities were found between the consistency and resistance temporal stability of elements deposited on simple 'boot' electrodes and interdigital microelectrodes. A significant proportion of the work presented concerns the study of the macrostructure of electrochemically deposited polypyrrole films. Several novel structural features have been presented, all of which have been documented in the scientific press. These include: The formation of 'tendrillar' morphology (as opposed to the commonly observed polypyrrole 'nodular' morphology) during electrochemical deposition from aqueous electrolyte. Tendril formation has been shown to be the result of the accumulation of impurities at the advancing growth face; a model has been presented which relates impurity accumulation to tendrillar polymer morphology; Demonstration of the evolution of gas at the polymer/substrate interface during aqueous electrolytic deposition. It is suggested that gas evolution is the result of the catalysed disassociation of the (aqueous) supporting electrolyte, and shown that the production of gas at the substrate/polymer interface results in the formation of discrete pockets, the positions of which relate strongly to the positions of nodules on the upper film surface. Demonstration of the recrystallisation of ionic dopant trapped within the polymer films during maturation. Dopant recrystallisation has been verified by SEM and ED AX; crystal growth has been demonstrated by XRD.Finally, the microstructures of a range of subtly different polypyrrole films have been considered. Repeatable relationships were observed between deposition potential, electrolyte solution concentration and microstructure. Characteristic features of X-Ray diffractograms have been related to the theoretical spacing between adjacent pyrrole rings (=3.6A), we believe for the first time.

Stem cell based therapy has the potential to treat several severe diseases; Parkinson’s disease is one well- known example. Transplantation of stem cell derived cells into animal models is unfortunately often associated with tumour formation or- uncontrolled growth of the transplanted cells. One strategy to suppress this tumour formation might be to induce differentiation of these cells, which in turn would prevent them from dividing.   Neuroblastoma tumors are known to demonstrate the complete transition from an undifferentiated state to a completely harmful, differentiated appearance and derived cells can be used as a model for cell differentiation and tumor suppression.   In this Master Thesis’s the conducting polymers PEDOT and PPy, that upon formation can be doped with biologically active compounds which in- turn can be released in a controlled manner through electrical stimulation, were formed together with various drugs (e.g. Methotrexate and Mycophenolic Acid), here shown to have effect on Neuroblastoma cells. Neuroblastoma- derived cell line SH- SY5Y was used as a model system for neuronal differentiation and tumour inhibition. Release profiles of neuroblastoma active drugs following electrical stimulation were evaluated and the effects from electrochemical processes on simultaneously growing SH- SY5Y cells were investigated.   The methods to deposit and release the drugs were based on electropolymerization and electrochemically controlled release, respectively. Controlled release of various drugs and compounds was monitored using Vis- and UV- spectroscopy and on some occasions using HPLC.   The electrochemically controlled release of a biologically inactive compound that can be used as a negative control for electrochemical release in future experiments was shown and that resulting electrochemical processes have negative effects on neuroblastoma cell growth.

The goal of this research project was to characterize the physical and electrochemical properties of a commercially available fuel cell-based breath alcohol sensor. Characteristics of the existing sensor were compared with state of the art power generating fuel cells with the goal of understanding the factors that limit performance, lifetime and cost effectiveness of the sensors. This will guide the development of the next generation of breath alcohol sensors. The average lifetime of the current sensor falls short of the industry standards. In particular, sensors operating in dry conditions experience more rapid loss of sensitivity and failure. Two primary causes of degradation were investigated in this study. Loss of proton conductivity as a result of membrane dehydration was shown to be reversible by rehydrating the membrane in humid conditions. Loss of electrochemically active surface area of Pt is irreversible and seems to be caused by a change in sensor morphology after long-term exposure to dry conditions. / UOIT

No description available.

Detection of chemicals is a vital part of chemistry. For this reason, many detection systems are developed by scientists and every detection system has its own advantages. Raman spectroscopy is one of these detection systems having many advantages. However, this technique suffers from low signal intensity disadvantage. By developing a well prepared substrate, this problem can be easily solved / moreover, even single molecule detection can be possible. In this study, a novel surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate was prepared in two steps: In the first step, ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer was polymerized electrochemically onto indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass. In the next step, silver ions were reduced electrochemically onto surface prepared in the previous step.In the substrate preparation part, the reduction potential of silver ion, the concentration of silver ions in solution, the polymer film thickness and reduced silver amount on substrates were optimized to get the best SERS performances from substrates. The prepared substrates were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) attached to SEM. In the SERS performance investigation part, homogeneity and the shelf life of the prepared silver-PEDOT substrates were tested. Homogeneity is very important in terms for the applications of Raman technique in quantitative analysis since most of the reported substrates are lack homogeneity consideration, our study will be an important contribution to the literature. The stability of the substrate was investigated for a period of one month. The very small change in the signal at the end of one month indicated that the substrate can be used even longer time with high efficiency. In all the studies, brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) is used as a model compound. Some important Raman active chemicals, namely, rhodamine 6G (R6G) and 4-mercapto benzoic acid (4-MBA) were detected by using the prepared substrates.

Conductive paper materials consisting of conductive polymers and cellulose are promising for high-tech applications (energy storage and biosciences) due to outstanding aspects of environmental friendliness, mechanical flexibility, electrical conductivity and efficient electroactive behavior. Recently, a conductive composite paper material was developed by covering the individual nanofibers of cellulose from the green algae Cladophora with a polypyrrole (PPy) layer. The PPy-Cladophora cellulose composite paper is featured with high surface area (80 m2 g-1), electronic conductivity (~2 S cm-1), thin conductive layer (~50 nm) and easily up-scalable manufacturing process. This doctoral thesis reports the development of the PPy-Cladophora composite as an electrode material in electrochemically controlled solid phase ion-exchange of biomolecules and all-polymer based energy storage devices. First, electrochemical ion-exchange properties of the PPy-Cladophora cellulose composite were investigated in electrolytes containing three different types of anions, and it was found that smaller anions (nitrate and chloride) are more readily extracted by the composite than lager anions (p-toluene sulfonate). The influence of differently sized oxidants used during polymerization on the anion extraction capacity of the composite was also studied. The composites synthesized with two different oxidizing agents, i.e. iron (III) chloride and phosphomolybdic acid (PMo), were investigated for their ability to extract anions of different sizes. It was established that the number of absorbed ions was larger for the iron (III) chloride-synthesized sample than for the PMo-synthesized sample for all four electrolytes studied. Further, PPy-Cladophora cellulose composites have shown remarkable electrochemically controlled ion extraction capacities when investigated as a solid phase extraction material for batch-wise extraction and release of DNA oligomers. In addition, composite paper was also investigated as an electrode material in the symmetric non-metal based energy storage devices. The salt and paper based energy storage devices exhibited charge capacities (38−50 mAh g−1) with reasonable cycling stability, thereby opening new possibilities for the production of environmentally friendly, cost efficient, up-scalable and lightweight energy storage systems. Finally, micron-sized chopped carbon fibers (CCFs) were incorporated as additives to improve the charge-discharge rates of paper-based energy storage devices and to enhance the DNA release efficiency. The results showed the independent cell capacitances of ~60-70 F g-1 (upto current densities of 99 mA cm2) and also improved the efficiency of DNA release from 25 to 45%.

A proteína de ligação a maltose (MBP) é amplamente conhecida na literatura como um marcador para métodos de purificação de afinidade e é freqüentemente fusionada a proteínas relevantes para melhorar seu rendimento, facilitando sua purificação e aumentando sua estabilidade e solubilidade. Por outro lado, foi relatado que o nitrogênio piridínico não quaternizado do filme eletropolimerizado com N-(3-pirrol-1-ilpropil)-4,4\'-bipiridínio (PPB) desempenhou um papel importante na imobilização da proteína de ligação da maltose (MBP). Neste trabalho relatamos a modificação do eletrodo de carbono vítreo (CV) pela redução eletroquímica do derivado de arildiazônio piridínico gerado in situ e seu uso na imobilização da proteína MBP fusionada à galectina-1 (MBP-Gal-1). Resultados de voltametria cíclica mostraram formação de monocamadas com carga positiva sobre CV e que o nitrogênio não quaternizado da piridina estava disponível após a modificação. Os resultados da Espectroscopia de Capacitância Eletroquímica (ECC) indicaram que o domínio do MBP foi importante para a interação do eletrodo modificado. O tempo de imobilização e a concentração de proteína fusionada também foram relevantes para a cinética e os resultados sugeriram uma saturação em 40 minutos de interação, utilizando 5 mol L-1 de MBP-Gal-1. Experimentos de detecção de lactose indicaram que a atividade da galectina-1 foi preservada após a imobilização. A reação click realizada para promover a inclusão da maltose na superfície desse eletrodo modificado gerou resultados significativamente melhores quando comparados aos do eletrodo sem a maltose ligada em sua superfície: a proteína fusionada MBP-Gal-1 demonstrou um aumento de 62% na imobilização. Também foram observados aumentos na sensibilidade para detecção de lactose (72%) e na especificidade de interação com este mesmo carboidrato (77%) / Maltose Binding Protein (MBP) is widely known in the literature as a tag for affinity purification methods and it is often fused to relevant proteins to improve its yield, facilitating its purification and enhance its stability and solubility. On the other hand, it was reported that the nonquaternized pyridine nitrogen from N-(3-pyrrol-1-ylpropyl)-4,4-bipyridinium electropolymerized film (PPB) played an important role for the immobilization of maltose binding protein (MBP). In this work we reported the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modification by electrochemical reduction of pyridinium diazonium salt derivative generated in situ and its use on MBP fused to Galectin-1 protein (MBP-Gal-1) immobilization. Cyclic voltammetry results showed a positively charged monolayer formation onto GCE and that nonquaternized pyridine nitrogen was available after modification. Electrochemical Capacitance Spectroscopy (ECS) results indicated that the MBP domain was important for the modified electrode interaction. Immobilization time and the fused protein concentration were also relevant to the kinetics and the results suggested a monolayer saturation in 40 minutes of interaction, using 5 mol L-1 MBP-Gal-1. The click reaction performed to promote the inclusion of maltose on the surface of this modified electrode generated better results when compared to those of the electrode without maltose bounded to its surface: the MBP-Gal-1 fused protein demonstrated a 62% increase in immobilization. Increases in sensitivity for lactose detection (72%) and specificity of interaction with this same carbohydrate (77%) were also observed

CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Neste trabalho foi desenvolvido um nanocompósito polimérico de óxido de grafeno reduzido e poli(ácido 3 hidroxibenzóico) para a modificação de eletrodos de grafite, visando o desenvolvimento de um genossensor para a detecção do DNA genômico de Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris. Esta é uma bactéria associada à deterioração de sucos ácidos, como o suco de laranja, do qual o Brasil é o maior produtor mundial. Neste contexto, os biossensores aparecem como dispositivos de detecção rápidos e fáceis de manusear, com grande potencial para serem utilizados em toda a cadeia produtiva do suco. Para a construção do genossensor, óxido de grafeno foi produzido pelo método de Hummers modificado, gotejado sobre a superfície do eletrodo de grafite e reduzido eletroquimicamente. O ácido 3-hidroxibenzóico foi eletropolimerizado sobre esta superfície contendo o nanomaterial. Análises por espectroscopia no infravermelho e voltametria cíclica comprovaram a redução do óxido de grafeno. Além disso, as análises eletroquímicas evidenciaram que o nanocompósito produzido apresenta propriedades eletrônicas superiores às do filme polimérico. Sobre este nanocompósito foi imobilizado um oligonucleotídeo sonda ALIC1, específico para A. acidoterrestris, o qual foi utilizado para detecção de um oligonucleotídeo alvo complementar ALIC2 pela técnica de voltametria de pulso diferencial (VPD), tanto direta quanto indiretamente, esta última utilizando-se o intercalante da dupla fita de DNA Hoechst 33258. Um lisado celular obtido a partir de uma cultura de A. acidoterrestris também foi detectado de maneira indireta pela técnica de VPD, e uma curva de calibração foi construída. O genossensor proposto apresentou um limite de detecção de 174 ng mL-1 e limite de quantificação de 581 ng mL-1, sendo capaz de detectar o DNA genômico em uma amostra real de suco de laranja e de discernir entre amostras de A. acidoterrestris e Escherichia coli. Deste modo, este bioeletrodo apresenta-se como a primeira plataforma de detecção eletroquímica do DNA genômico de A. acidoterrestris na literatura científica. / In this work a polymeric nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide and poly (3- hydroxybenzoic acid) was developed for the modification of graphite electrodes, aiming the development of a genossensor for the detection of the Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris genomic DNA. This bacterium is associated with the spoilage of acidic juices, such as orange juice, of which Brazil is the largest producer in the world. In this context, biosensors appear as fast and easy to handle detection devices, with great potential for use throughout the juice production chain. For the construction of the genosensor, graphene oxide was produced by the modified Hummers method, dripped onto the surface of the graphite electrode and reduced electrochemically. The 3-hydroxybenzoic acid was electropolymerized on this surface containing the nanomaterial. Analyzes by infrared spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry proved the reduction of graphene oxide. In addition, the electrochemical analysis showed that the nanocomposite produced has higher electronic properties than the polymeric film. On this nanocomposite, an oligonucleotide probe ALIC1, specific for A. acidoterrestris, was immobilized, and was used to detect a complementary target oligonucleotide ALIC2, both directly and indirectly, the latter using the Hoechst 33258 double strand DNA intercalator, by the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique. A cell lysate obtained from an A. acidoterrestris culture was also indirectly detected by DPV, and a calibration curve was constructed. The proposed genosensor presented a limit of detection of 174 ng mL-1 and limit of quantification of 581 ng mL-1, being able to detect the genomic DNA in a real sample of orange juice and to distinguish between the samples of A acidoterrestris and Escherichia coli. Thus, this bioelectrode presents as the first platform of electrochemical detection of the genomic DNA of A. acidoterrestris in the scientific literature. / Dissertação (Mestrado)