Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Les microgels sont des particules colloïdales polymères faiblement réticulées, capables de se gonfler d’un solvant, de se déformer et de s’adsorber à des interfaces liquides. Parmi eux, les microgels de poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) sont thermosensibles et présentent une contraction en volume lorsque la température est supérieure à la température de transition de phase volumique, notée VPTT. De précédents travaux ont montré leur capacité à stabiliser des émulsions de Pickering : les émulsions peuvent être stables à des températures inférieures à la VPTT et être déstabilisées sur demande au-dessus de celle-ci. Afin d’approfondir la compréhension du mécanisme de stabilisation des émulsions, nous discutons le rôle de la structure des microgels sur leur adsorption, leur organisation à des interfaces modèles, les propriétés mécaniques des interfaces et les propriétés des émulsions résultantes en terme de stabilité (cinétique, mécanique) et de propriétés d’écoulement. Le rôle de la réticulation, de la présence de charges et de la taille est étudié pour le modèle du pNIPAM. Nous démontrons le lien existant entre conformation et propriétés macroscopiques des émulsions. En prenant en considération à la fois la structure des microgels et les procédés de formulation (voies d’émulsification), des émulsions avec des propriétés rhéologiques et des états de floculation variés peuvent être obtenues. Fort de ces connaissances, les concepts établis à l’aide des microgels de pNIPAM seront généralisés à d’autres familles de microgels, d’une part des systèmes biocompatibles avec des dérivés comportant des chaînes pendantes oligo(éthylène oxyde), d’autre part des microgels sensibles à des stimuli biologiques tels que la reconnaissance de sucre. / Microgels are soft and deformable colloidal particles that are swollen by a solvent and display the ability to deform and adsorb at liquid interfaces. The poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) microgels are thermo-sensitive and exhibit a volume contraction when the temperature is raised above the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT). These particle have shown high potential as Pickering emulsions stabilizers: emulsions could be stable at ambiant temperature, below the VPTT and destabilize on-demand above it. To get insight into understanding of the emulsion stabilization mechanism, we systematically discuss the relation between the microgel structure, their adsorption, their organization at model interfaces, the viscoelastic behavior of the interface and the resulting emulsions properties in terms of stability and flow behavior. In the present work, using pNIPAM as model microgels, we investigate the effect of their cross-linking density, their size and their charge density. Varying the microgels structures and the formulation conditions (emulsification process), we could control the emulsions flocculation state and rheological behavior. Based on this knowledge, we propose to synthesize new biocompatible microgels as emulsion stabilizers. Using ligand-modified microgels sucrose-sensitive emulsions may be obtained, enlarging the possible application domains.

Studies of submillimeter gels composed of covalently cross-linked poly(acrylic acid)-g-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (Pluronic-PAA) networks are reviewed in light of potential applications of the microgels as drug carriers in oral delivery. The microgels are capable of volumetric transitions in response to environmental stimulae such as pH and temperature. It is shown that the type of Pluronic used in the microgel synthesis changes the structure of the resulting microgels, with the more hydrophobic Pluronic imparting porosity. Microgels based on Pluronic L92 (L92-PAA-EGDMA) possess higher ion-exchange capacity than microgels based on Pluronic F127 (F127-PAA-EGDMA), albeit the former are more hydrophobic. Analogously, more hydrophobic but heterogeneous L92-PAA-EGDMA exhibit superior capacity for equilibrium loading of hydrophobic drugs such as taxol, camptothecin and steroid hormones, as well as higher capacity for weakly basic drugs such as doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and mitoxantrone. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

In this study the role of passive mechanism for deformation of neutrophils, namely the effect of mechanical properties, was studied using microgels as model system. Both alginate-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) microgels and agarose microgels were synthesized in microfluidic device. The Young’s modulus and relaxation time of the IPN microgels were studied using atomic force microscopy equipped with a tipless cantilever. The lower limits of the elasticity found in this study were within the range of the elasticity reported for neutrophils. Agarose microgels were also prepared with a range of elastic shear modulus similar to neutrophils, and their flow under constrained geometries was studied. The flow profiles of four agarose microgel samples in a microchannel containing a constriction were analyzed. It was found that the stiffness of the microgels affected their velocity before, in and after the constriction.

In this study the role of passive mechanism for deformation of neutrophils, namely the effect of mechanical properties, was studied using microgels as model system. Both alginate-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) microgels and agarose microgels were synthesized in microfluidic device. The Young’s modulus and relaxation time of the IPN microgels were studied using atomic force microscopy equipped with a tipless cantilever. The lower limits of the elasticity found in this study were within the range of the elasticity reported for neutrophils. Agarose microgels were also prepared with a range of elastic shear modulus similar to neutrophils, and their flow under constrained geometries was studied. The flow profiles of four agarose microgel samples in a microchannel containing a constriction were analyzed. It was found that the stiffness of the microgels affected their velocity before, in and after the constriction.

Tunable nanostructures have many important uses in thin film applications. Tunability can be achieved by creating a film that has features that respond to external stimuli, such as temperature, humidity, or pH. However, the response can vary greatly between a confined and unconfined case. In the case of confined materials, this response can be greatly reduced, even completely suppressed, which indicates that separate studies must be conducted on confined states in order to better understand their use for real applications. Microgels have been previously shown to have exceptional responsive properties that depend on their chemical structure and synthesis. Unlike solid thin hydrogel films that respond on the order of hours, microgels arrange on a surface with no external force and create a highly porous layer which responds rapidly, on the order of minutes, to outside stimuli. These properties make microgels a promising candidate for use in tunable thin films. Although the responsive properties of microgels have been extensively studied in solution and unconfined films, this is not indicative of conditions that would most likely have the microgels placed between two stiffer layers of material. Microgels have been shown to respond to glucose concentration, temperature, pH, and light. One well-studied microgel is poly-N-isopropylacrylamide copolymerized with Acrylic Acid (pNIPAM-co-AAC). These microgels use the thermal response of pNIPAM combined with the pH sensitivity of pAAC to create a dually-responsive material. To study the effects of confinement on pNIPAM-co-AAC microgels, we encapsulated these particles within bi-layers of poly(allylamine hydrochloride)-poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PAH-PSS) in order to simulate their response within a polyelectrolyte material. Our samples were prepared with a method called tilt-drying, which creates a microgel concentration gradient. This allowed us to study both the confinement caused by the multi-layered film as well as the effects of microgels on each other. Our results have shown that the change in particle height is unaffected by the concentration of the film, but the thermal response of pNIPAM-co-AAC microgels is significantly suppressed by the encapsulation of microgels into nanoscale layers.

Microgels are solvent swollen, cross-linked polymer macromolecules of micro or nanoscale dimensions. In this work, microgels are used as versatile building blocks in layer-by-layer assemblies to form thin coatings. While conceptually simple materials, these microgel-based films actually possess extremely complex behavior as evidenced by two particular areas. First, microgel films have self-healing properties, allowing them to rapidly recover from damage in the presence of solvent. The healing step requires rearrangement of film components, demonstrating the dynamic and mobile nature of the films. Second, fibroblasts display complex behavior on microgel films arising from the properties of the coating. A chemical crosslinking treatment of the film affects the film network structure in a concentration-dependent manner. These network changes result in altered mechanical properties that are the primary controlling factor in determining cell behavior at the interface. These data suggest that fibroblasts are not solely controlled by the film elasticity, but rather by the viscoelasticity, and there is a viscoelastic range that results in maximal cell spreading.

A very interesting class of nanoparticles extensively used for bio-applications is that of hydrogel particles, also called nanogels. There is an increasing interest in the design of hydrogel nanoparticles that have biofunctionality for applications in cell targeting, drug delivery, and biomedicine. The dissertation focuses on developing synthetic strategies for making diverse hydrogel nanoparticles customized to have desirable properties for various bio-applications. We have also investigated the potential of such nanoparticles as coatings for biomedical implants. Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to hydrogel nanoparticles and the properties that make them attractive for various applications. The details of the syntheses of well defined, stable nanoparticles, commonly used in literature, are described in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 describes our synthesis of hollow sub-50 nm nanogels, which are otherwise difficult to synthesize based on the strategy discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 also demonstrates how simple strategies borrowed from organic chemistry help in producing nanogels with multiple functionalities that are otherwise difficult to obtain, which also is an important advance over the synthetic methods discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 5 describes how a general strategy based on photoaffinity labeling can yield materials with many applications ranging from optical materials, drug delivery, to biosensing. The latter part of the dissertation describes applications of various nanogels in biology especially as coatings that can control inflammation caused by biomaterials. Chapter 6 describes a method to functionalize flexible biomaterials with the nanogels, thus enabling in vivo investigations of the nanogels as potential coatings for controlling inflammation. Chapter 7 describes the biological studies performed (in collaboration with Garcia Group in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech) on various nanogels, aimed towards obtaining the most functional and efficient materials for implant applications. Chapter 8 describes application of hollow nanogels for covalently immobilizing biomolecules. This chapter also demonstrates how simple non-functional materials can be made unique and functional by means of traditional organic reactions. Finally, in order to broaden the applications of nanogel based materials.

Les microgels sont des particules colloïdales de polymère réticulé gonflées par un solvant. Déformables et poreuses, elles peuvent changer d’état de gonflement lors de l’application d’un stimulus. Ce travail de thèse a pour but de développer de nouveaux concepts tirant profit des propriétés stimulables et de la déformabilité intrinsèque des microgels tout en approfondissant les connaissances sur le comportement de ces objets en solution et aux interfaces. Les microgels de poly(N-alkylacrylamide) sont utilisés comme modèles. Dans un premier temps, notre travail a porté sur l’étude d’un nouveau type de microgels électrochimiluminescents grâce à l’incorporation d’un complexe métallique de ruthénium dans la matrice polymère. A la transition de phase, ces microgels présentent une exaltation de l’intensité ECL jusqu’à 2 ordres de grandeur, en lien avec la distance entre les sites redox. Le concept est ensuite transposé à des microgels sensibles aux saccharides et à des systèmes comportant deux luminophores, un donneur ECL et un accepteur d’énergie pouvant donner lieu à un transfert d’énergie par résonance. La deuxième partie de la thèse est consacrée à l’adsorption de microgels à une interface liquide-liquide plane, en vue de mieux comprendre l’origine de la stabilité des émulsions stabilisées par ce genre d’objets. De façon analogue aux protéines flexibles, les microgels changent de conformation à l’interface, passant d’un état étendu à un état comprimé, à l’origine de variations de l’élasticité interfaciale. Les microgels ainsi adsorbés sont fonctionnalisés de façon régiosélective dans l’eau et permettent de produire des microgels non symétriques, dits Janus, susceptibles de s’auto-assembler. / Microgels are colloidal particles made of cross-linked polymer swollen by a solvent. Soft and porous, they can adapt their swelling degree in response to a stimulus. The main objective of this work is to develop new concepts taking advantage of microgels’ stimuli-responsive properties and intrinsicsoftness while deepening understanding of their properties in solution and at interfaces. Poly(Nalkylacrylamide) microgels are used as a model. Initially our work focused on the study of a new type of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) microgels thanks to the incorporation of a ruthenium complex in the polymer matrix. At the volume phase transition, these microgels exhibit an amplification of the ECL intensity up to 2 orders of magnitude, related to the decrease of the distance between redox sites. This concept is then transposed to saccharides-sensitive microgels and systems bearing two luminophores, an ECL donor and an energy acceptor in order to give rise to resonance energy transfer. The second part of this manuscript is devoted to adsorption of microgels at a planar liquid-liquid interface, to improve knowledge on the origin of the stability of emulsions stabilized by such objects. Such as flexible proteins, microgels can change their conformation at the interface, from an extended to a compressed state, causing variation in the interfacial elasticity. When microgels are adsorbed they can also be functionalized regioselectively in water to produce non-symmetrical microgels, called Janus, able to self-assemble.

Orientador: Rosiane Lopes da Cunha / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T01:07:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Costa_AnaLeticiaRodrigues_M.pdf: 3081485 bytes, checksum: 44ad03cd2e14d1ef00c3251b254983eb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A técnica de emulsificação em dispositivos de microfluídica é utilizada para a produção de gotas de diâmetro reduzido e distribuição de tamanho monodispersa. A gelificação da fase dispersa de emulsões água em óleo pode levar à formação de microgéis com elevado potencial para encapsulação de compostos ativos. Do ponto de vista tecnológico, a utilização de partículas de tamanho reduzido permite entrega mais fácil e liberação do bioativo de forma mais eficiente no local alvo. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar o processo de formação de microgéis de goma gelana em dispositivos de microfluídica utilizando a técnica de focalização hidrodinâmica. Foram avaliadas as concentrações da goma gelana de 0,5 a 0,7% (m/m) e do agente gelificante acetato de cálcio nas concentrações de 0,5 e 2,0% (m/m) para formação dos microgéis. Na primeira etapa, emulsões simples água em óleo, sendo a fase dispersa constituída de água ou dispersões aquosas de goma gelana e fase contínua constituída por uma mistura composta por óleo de soja e o emulsificante polirricinoleato de poliglicerol (PGPR), foram avaliadas quanto ao regime de formação de gotas em diferentes vazões das fases e razões entre as vazões das fases dispersa e contínua. Também foram determinadas as velocidades reais das fases dentro dos dispositivos de microfluídica e os números adimensionais de Reynolds, Capilar e Weber que descrevem o escoamento dos fluidos no microcanais. Com o controle da condição de processo, vazão de entrada das fases dispersa e contínua, foi possível observar as variações no regime de formação de gotas, que variou desde o gotejamento até o jateamento. Em geral, todas as vazões calculadas (reais) das fases foram menores do que aquelas aplicadas na bomba, sendo este resultado relacionado às limitações das dimensões dos canais e alta viscosidade das fases. Desta forma, os números de Reynolds, Capilar e de Weber calculados a partir das velocidades reais das fases foram menores quando comparados com os valores obtidos usando as velocidades impostas na bomba. Na etapa seguinte, microgéis de goma gelana foram produzidos nos microcanais e caracterizados pela distribuição de tamanho de gotas e microscopia ótica. Os microgéis possuíam formato regular e esférico e distribuição de tamanho altamente monodispersa. O potencial da utilização de microgéis de goma gelana na encapsulação de compostos ativos foi avaliado adicionando o corante hidrofílico Rhodamina B na fase aquosa. As partículas obtidas na saída do dispositivo possuíam coloração vermelha, referente à boa retenção do corante hidrofílico. Desta forma, conclui-se que os microgéis obtidos pela técnica da microfluídica poderão ser utilizados na encapsulação de compostos hidrofílicos, inclusive aqueles sensíveis à temperatura, como as vitaminas e probióticos, na imobilização de proteínas e enzimas, bem como, na entrega de drogas, pois além de apresentarem baixa polidispersidade na distribuição de tamanho das partículas mostraram elevada capacidade de retenção do corante utilizado para simular o composto ativo de interesse / Abstract: Emulsification in microfluidic devices is used for the production of droplets with reduced diameter and monodisperse particle size distribution. Gelation of the disperse phase of water in oil emulsions leads to formation of microgels with high potential for the encapsulation of active compounds. Small particle size allows more efficient release of the bioactive at the target site. This work aimed to study the production of gellan microgel using microfluidic devices through flow- focusing technique. Gellan gum concentration of 0.6% (w/w) and calcium acetate (gelling agent) in concentrations of 0.5 and 2.0% (w/w) were used for the formation of microgels. In the first step, it was evaluated of the droplets formation regime at different flow rates of the phases and flow rate ratio of the dispersed and continuous phases of water-in-oil emulsions, composed by dispersed phase of water or gellan aqueous solutions and continuous phase constituted of a mixture composed of soybean oil and the emulsifier polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR). The real velocity of the phases within the microfluidic devices and dimensionless numbers of Reynols, Capilar and Weber that describe the flow of fluids in microchannels were also evaluated. By controlling the process conditions and the input flow rate of dispersed and continuous phases, variations in the drop formation regime were observed which varied from dripping to the jetting regime, such variation exerted strong influence on droplet size. In general, the real flow rate (calculated values) was lower than those applied by pump, which was related with limitations of the size of channels and high viscosity of the phases. Reynolds, Capilar and Weber numbers calculated from the real velocity were smaller compared with the values obtained using the speed imposed by pump. In the next step, gellan microgels were produced the microchannel and characterized by droplet size distribution and optical microscopy. The microgels exhibit uniform and spherical shape and highly monodisperse distribution size. Potential use as gellan microgels as encapsulating matriz of active compounds was evaluated by adding the hidrophilic dye, Rhodamine B, in the aqueous phase. Results showed a low polydispersity and high hidrophilic compound retention capacity, indicating that microgels obtained by microfluidic technique may be used for the encapsulation of hydrophilic compounds that are sensitive to temperature, such as vitamins, probiotics and immobilization of proteins and enzymes, as well as in drug delivery / Mestrado / Engenharia de Alimentos / Mestra em Engenharia de Alimentos