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O transistor de efeito de campo de porta estendida (EGFET) é um dispositivo composto por uma membrana sensível a íons e um MOSFET comercial, que pode ser aplicado para a medição do teor de íons em uma solução. O filme fino de óxido de estanho dopado com flúor (FTO) foi utilizado como a membrana seletiva do EGFET, e todo o sistema foi utilizado como sensor de pH. Os sensores de pH desenvolvidos a partir de transistores de efeito de campo (FETs) detectam o campo elétrico criado pelos íons da solução. A alteração do pH no organismo afeta a estrutura e a atividade das macromoléculas biológicas, por isso a detecção da alteração do pH no organismo é de grande importância. O objetivo deste trabalho foi o estudo da influência de alguns agentes externos sobre o FTO para ser utilizado como membrana sensível a íons do EGFET como sensor de pH. O sensor padrão apresentou uma resposta linear no escuro por volta de 37 mV/pH, para uma área de membrana de 230 mm2 . Foram estudados o efeito da evolução da medida no tempo, o efeito da iluminação, o efeito da alteração da área de contato do filme fino de FTO com a solução de pH e o efeito da alteração da temperatura da solução de pH. Para as medições feitas no escuro a dependência do tempo foi diferente das medições feitas na presença de luz UV-VIS. Para pHs ácidos a presença da luz faz com que o valor da corrente Ids diminua em relação a mesma medição no escuro enquanto que para pHs básicos, o valor da corrente aumenta. A sensibilidade na presença da luz altera em torno de 10%. Para o estudo do efeito da área foram utilizadas duas formas diferentes de medições, sendo a primeira forma utilizando diferentes áreas da mesma amostra e a segunda forma utilizando áreas diferentes para diferentes amostras. O aumento da temperatura da solução aumenta o valor da corrente do sensor em até 5% e aumenta a sensibilidade em 60%. / The extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) is a device composed of a conventional ion sensitive electrode and a commercial MOSFET device, which can be applied for the measurement of ion content in a solution. The fluorine-doped tin oxide thin film (FTO) is used as a sensitive membrane of the EGFET, and the whole system was used as a pH sensor. The pH sensor developed from field effect transistors (FTO) detect the electric field created by the ions of the solution. Changing the pH in the body affects the structure and activity of biological macromolecules, and the detection of pH change in the body is of great importance. The aim of this paper was study the influence of some external agents in the FTO for used as ion sensitive membrane EGFET as pH sensor. The standard sensor presented a linear response in the dark about 37 mV/pH, for a membrane area of 230 mm2 . Was studied the effect of the evolution of the measure in time, the illumination effect, the effect of changing the contact area of the FTO thin film with the solution pH and the effect of changing the temperature of the pH solution. For measurements in the dark the time dependence is different than for the case under UV-VIS illumination. For acids solutions the light presence causes a current value decreases over the same measurement in the dark, whereas for basic solution the current values increases. The sensitivity in light presence changes around 10%. To study the area effect two different studies was applied. The first measure was using different areas of the same sample and the second measure was using different areas of different samples. Increasing the solution temperature the current value of the sensor also increases and the sensitivity increase about 60%.

In this article, a multiple-responsive polymer micelles system was constructed by using ionic bond to link the hydrophobic tetraphenylthiophene (TP) fluorophores, which possess the property of aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE), with the hydrophilic poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM). The susceptibility of the ionic ammonium-sulfonate (Am-Sul) bonds towards metal ions, acid and base triggered the AIEE-operative fluorescence (FL) response. To exercise the idea, PNIPAM with sulfonate terminal was primarily prepared to react with TP-derivatives functionalized with ammonium groups to generate polymer complex of TP-PNIPAM. When in water, the polymer complex TP-PNIPAM formed micelles with the aggregated TP core interconnecting the hydrophilic PNIPAM shell by the ionic Am-Sul bonds. With the operative AIEE effect, the aggregated TP core of the micelles fluoresced but upon the additions of metal ions, acid and base, the ionic bonds dissociated to result in the collapse of the micelles and the FL quenching. A novel fluorogenic sensor capable to respond to multi-stimuli was therefore constructed. Amphiphilic micelle systems with the hydrophilic poly(N-isopropyl amide) (PNIPAM) shell and the hydrophobic tetraphenylthiophene (TP), which has the novel aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) feature, core inter-connected by ionic bonds were prepared in this study to explore the AIEE-operative emission response towards critical micelle concentration (CMC) and lower critical solution temperature (LCST). To exercise the idea, TP functionalized ammonium cations and PNIPAM with terminal sulfonate group were individually prepared and mixed together to yield three amphiphilic TP-PNIPAM complexes with different hydrophobic TP to the hydrophilic PNIPAM (x/y) ratios. When in aqueous solution, TP-PNIPAMs form micelles with the aggregated TP core, which emits strongly due to the operative AIEE effect, encompassed by the PNIPAM shell. The resultant CMC and LCST of the TP-PNIPAM micelles can be varied by changing the hydrophobic to the hydrophilic x/y ratio and can be monitored by the AIEE-dominant fluorescence responses towards concentration and temperature variables.

Thermoresponsive polymers such as poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) have lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in aqueous solutions. Below the LCST, these polymers are hydrophilic with an extended coil conformation. Above the LCST, they undergo a sharp phase transition to form a collapsed hydrophobic conformation. The LCSTs are also affected by cosolutes and the effects of anions on LCSTs follow the Hofmeister series. We successfully used a simple digital melting point apparatus to study the effects of heating rates, solvent compositions, cosolutes, and redox state, on the LCSTs of thermoresponsive polymers. Moreover, the temperature range of the apparatus allowed for analyses at much higher temperatures and provides a simple way to examine irregular clouding behavior in more complex systems. Meanwhile, stimuli-responsive surfaces grafted with thermoresponsive polymers can switch from hydrophilic to hydrophobic thermally. As the LCST can be subsequently changed with the addition of salts, the salt effects on the wettability of these thermoresponsive surfaces will dramatically impact the surface performance. In this dissertation, I prepared PNIPAM/SiO2 nanocomposite surfaces by a covalent layer-by- layer assembly procedure and such surfaces were then used in studies of salts effects on surface wettability. Both the effects of anions and cations on the changes of advancing angles (Delta Theta a) of the PNIPAM/SiO2 nanocomposite surfaces were significant (Delta Theta a up to 90 degrees). The anion effects on the surface wettability followed the Hofmeister effect as expected. Parallel studies on solution showed that variation of cations had a large effect on the LCST of PNIPAM too. Moreover, analyses of the Theta a and LCST data using activity instead of using concentration showed different orders for the cation effects which were readily grouped by the cation charge numbers. No difference was seen for the anion effects in similar studies. AFM studies showed that surface morphology changes were correlated with the Delta Theta a.

Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), PNVCL, is a nonionic, nontoxic, water soluble, thermally sensitive and biocompatible polymer. It contains hydrophilic carboxylic and amide groups with hydrophobic carbon-carbon backbone chain so its hydrolysis does not produce small amide compounds which are often not desired for biomedical applications. Moreover PNVCL possesses lower critical solution temperature, (LCST) in the range of physiological temperature (32-34 oC). These properties make the polymer suitable for use in some biotechnology applications such as implantation of artificial organs and tissues, purification of enzymes, proteins and living cells, and in drug release systems. In this study PNVCL was synthesized by free radical polymerization with solution technique. Polymerization was done at different temperatures for different time periods in an oil bath. The activation energy for polymerization was found from Arrhenius plot as 108.4 kJ/mol. Polymer was characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR, DSC, TGA and XRD techniques. FT-IR and NMR measurements confirmed that the polymerization proceeded through the vinyl group.

O transistor de efeito de campo de porta estendida (EGFET) é um dispositivo composto por uma membrana sensível a íons e um MOSFET comercial, que pode ser aplicado para a medição do teor de íons em uma solução. O filme fino de óxido de estanho dopado com flúor (FTO) foi utilizado como a membrana seletiva do EGFET, e todo o sistema foi utilizado como sensor de pH. Os sensores de pH desenvolvidos a partir de transistores de efeito de campo (FETs) detectam o campo elétrico criado pelos íons da solução. A alteração do pH no organismo afeta a estrutura e a atividade das macromoléculas biológicas, por isso a detecção da alteração do pH no organismo é de grande importância. O objetivo deste trabalho foi o estudo da influência de alguns agentes externos sobre o FTO para ser utilizado como membrana sensível a íons do EGFET como sensor de pH. O sensor padrão apresentou uma resposta linear no escuro por volta de 37 mV/pH, para uma área de membrana de 230 mm2 . Foram estudados o efeito da evolução da medida no tempo, o efeito da iluminação, o efeito da alteração da área de contato do filme fino de FTO com a solução de pH e o efeito da alteração da temperatura da solução de pH. Para as medições feitas no escuro a dependência do tempo foi diferente das medições feitas na presença de luz UV-VIS. Para pHs ácidos a presença da luz faz com que o valor da corrente Ids diminua em relação a mesma medição no escuro enquanto que para pHs básicos, o valor da corrente aumenta. A sensibilidade na presença da luz altera em torno de 10%. Para o estudo do efeito da área foram utilizadas duas formas diferentes de medições, sendo a primeira forma utilizando diferentes áreas da mesma amostra e a segunda forma utilizando áreas diferentes para diferentes amostras. O aumento da temperatura da solução aumenta o valor da corrente do sensor em até 5% e aumenta a sensibilidade em 60%. / The extended gate field effect transistor (EGFET) is a device composed of a conventional ion sensitive electrode and a commercial MOSFET device, which can be applied for the measurement of ion content in a solution. The fluorine-doped tin oxide thin film (FTO) is used as a sensitive membrane of the EGFET, and the whole system was used as a pH sensor. The pH sensor developed from field effect transistors (FTO) detect the electric field created by the ions of the solution. Changing the pH in the body affects the structure and activity of biological macromolecules, and the detection of pH change in the body is of great importance. The aim of this paper was study the influence of some external agents in the FTO for used as ion sensitive membrane EGFET as pH sensor. The standard sensor presented a linear response in the dark about 37 mV/pH, for a membrane area of 230 mm2 . Was studied the effect of the evolution of the measure in time, the illumination effect, the effect of changing the contact area of the FTO thin film with the solution pH and the effect of changing the temperature of the pH solution. For measurements in the dark the time dependence is different than for the case under UV-VIS illumination. For acids solutions the light presence causes a current value decreases over the same measurement in the dark, whereas for basic solution the current values increases. The sensitivity in light presence changes around 10%. To study the area effect two different studies was applied. The first measure was using different areas of the same sample and the second measure was using different areas of different samples. Increasing the solution temperature the current value of the sensor also increases and the sensitivity increase about 60%.

Several analytical mean field models are presented for the class of stimuli responsive polymers that are driven by the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition. For solutions above the polymer crossover concentration, a hybrid model combines lattice-fluid excluded volume and van-der-Waals interactions with a combinatorial approach for the statistics of hydrogen bonding, hydration, and ionic bonding. This approach yields models for the LCST of both neutral polymers and lightly charged polyelectrolytes in aqueous salt solution. The results are shown to be in semi-quantitative agreement with experimental data for the cloud point of polyethylene oxide (PEO) in aqueous solution with various salts, and some aspects of the lyotropic series are reproduced. Results for lightly charged polyelectrolytes are compared to and shown to be in qualitative agreement with aspects of experimentally observed behavior. Finally, a framework is established for extension of these models to further aspects of the lyotropic series and polyelectrolyte behavior. At the nanoscale, lattice fluid (LF) and scaled particle theory (SPT) approaches are employed to model the LCST-related coil-globule-transition (CGT) of isolated polymer chains in highly dilute solution. The predicted CGT behavior semi-quantitatively correlates with experimental results for several polymer-solvent systems and over a range of pressures. Both the LF and SPT models exhibit a heating induced coil-to-globule transition (HCGT) temperature that increases with pressure until it merges with a cooling induced coil-to-globule transition (CCGT). The point at which the CCGT and HCGT meet is a hypercritical point that also corresponds to a merging of the lower critical and upper critical solution temperatures. Theoretical results are discussed in terms of a generalized polymer/solvent phase diagram that possesses three hypercritical points. Within the lattice model, a dimensionless transition temperature [author gives mathematical symbol] is given for a long chain simply by the equation [author gives mathematical equation], where [part of the equation] is the bulk solvent occupied volume fraction at the transition temperature. Furthermore, there is a critical value of the ratio of polymer to solvent S-L characteristic temperature below which no HCGT transition is predicted for an infinite chain. / text

The response of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants to various root and shoot environments (solution depth, temperature, ionic strength, nitrogen and calcium level and light intensity) were studied. Cucumber plants were grown in continuously circulating-solution in a heated-glasshouse. Dry weights of leaves, stems and roots, leaf area, leaf number, root length and root number were measured as well as uptake of potassium, calcium and nitrogen. The relationship between shoot and root in terms of functional equilibrium equations was also examined. The results presented show that: 1. Shoot growth of cucumber plants was reduced if grown in solutions of less than 50mm in depth; 2. When roots were grown in shallow solution depths at 1 or 5mm the dry weight allocated to the root increased. The ratio of root number/root length(no./cm) also increased. Lowering solution temperature to 12.5±2.5°C enhanced the production of root number relctive to root length, and 5 and 2% of full strength and 5% of full strength nitrogen level solution stimulated the growth of root length relative to root number; 3. Under low solution temperature treatment leaf number was maintained at the expense of leaf area. Under low total ionic strength and low nitrogen solution, enhanced root length growth was at the expense of leaf area growth; 4. Low solution temperature enhanced the dry weight allocated to the stem relative to the leaf. Low total ionic strength and low nitrogen solution increased the dry weight allocated to the leaf relative to the stem; 5. The specific activity of root, represented by specific absorption rate, increased when the shoot was under light stress and, the specific activity of shoot, represented by unit shoot rate, increased when the root was under nitrogen-stress; 6. The form of equation developed by Thornley (ΔM = fmΔW, where ΔM is the increment in weight of element M and ΔW the increment in total plant dry weight during a time period Δt with fm a constant) showed a better relationship than the equation developed by Davidson [root mass x rate(absorption) ∝ leaf mass x rate(photosynthesis)] and subsequently used by Hunt in the form of mass ratio(root/shoot) ∝ l/activity ratio; 7. The equation developed by Chung et al, total plant weight/(leaf number/leaf area) ∝ total "k"/(root number/root length), where k represents the total contents of elements or compounds, showed a good approximation of the relationship between shoot and root under all the environmental stresses imposed with the exception of calcium uptake. The results support the concept that the activity of the root or shoot in carrying out its function is influenced by the demand created by the opposite organ and appears to be a better assumption than that which proposes that the activity of an organ is solely dependent on its own size.

The response of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants to various root and shoot environments (solution depth, temperature, ionic strength, nitrogen and calcium level and light intensity) were studied. Cucumber plants were grown in continuously circulating-solution in a heated-glasshouse. Dry weights of leaves, stems and roots, leaf area, leaf number, root length and root number were measured as well as uptake of potassium, calcium and nitrogen. The relationship between shoot and root in terms of functional equilibrium equations was also examined. The results presented show that: 1. Shoot growth of cucumber plants was reduced if grown in solutions of less than 50mm in depth; 2. When roots were grown in shallow solution depths at 1 or 5mm the dry weight allocated to the root increased. The ratio of root number/root length(no./cm) also increased. Lowering solution temperature to 12.5±2.5°C enhanced the production of root number relctive to root length, and 5 and 2% of full strength and 5% of full strength nitrogen level solution stimulated the growth of root length relative to root number; 3. Under low solution temperature treatment leaf number was maintained at the expense of leaf area. Under low total ionic strength and low nitrogen solution, enhanced root length growth was at the expense of leaf area growth; 4. Low solution temperature enhanced the dry weight allocated to the stem relative to the leaf. Low total ionic strength and low nitrogen solution increased the dry weight allocated to the leaf relative to the stem; 5. The specific activity of root, represented by specific absorption rate, increased when the shoot was under light stress and, the specific activity of shoot, represented by unit shoot rate, increased when the root was under nitrogen-stress; 6. The form of equation developed by Thornley (∆M = fm∆W, where ∆M is the increment in weight of element M and ∆W the increment in total plant dry weight during a time period ∆t with fm a constant) showed a better relationship than the equation developed by Davidson [root mass x rate(absorption) ∝ leaf mass x rate(photosynthesis)] and subsequently used by Hunt in the form of mass ratio(root/shoot) ∝ l/activity ratio; 7. The equation developed by Chung et al, total plant weight/(leaf number/leaf area) ∝ total "k"/(root number/root length), where k represents the total contents of elements or compounds, showed a good approximation of the relationship between shoot and root under all the environmental stresses imposed with the exception of calcium uptake. The results support the concept that the activity of the root or shoot in carrying out its function is influenced by the demand created by the opposite organ and appears to be a better assumption than that which proposes that the activity of an organ is solely dependent on its own size.

No description available.