907 resultados para FT-IR Imaging


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Bank of England notes of £20 denomination have been studied using infrared spectroscopy in order to generate a method to identify forged notes. An aim of this work was to develop a non-destructive method so that a small, compact Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) instrument could be used by bank workers, police departments or others such as shop assistants to identify forged notes in a non-lab setting. The ease of use of the instrument is the key to this method, as well as the relatively low cost. The presence of a peak at 1400 cm−1 arising from νasym () from the blank paper section of a forged note proved to be a successful indicator of the note’s illegality for the notes that we studied. Moreover, differences between the spectra of forged and genuine £20 notes were observed in the ν(OH) (ca. 3500 cm−1), ν(CH) (ca. 2900 cm−1) and ν(CO) (ca. 1750 cm−1) regions of the IR spectrum recorded for the polymer film covering the holographic strip. In cases where these simple tests fail, we have shown how an infrared microscope can be used to further differentiate genuine and forged banknotes by producing infrared maps of selected areas of the note contrasting inks with background paper.

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A new synthetic tripeptide-based hydrogel has been discovered at physiological pH and temperature. This hydrogel has been thoroughly characterized using different techniques including field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopic (HR-TEM) imaging, small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction analyses, FT-IR, circular dichroism, and rheometric analyses. Moreover, this gel exhibits thixotropy and injectability. This hydrogel has been used for entrapment and sustained release of an antibiotic vancomycin and vitamin B12 at physiological pH and temperature for about 2 days. Interestingly, MTT assay of these gelator molecules shows almost 100% cell viability of this peptide gelator, indicating its noncytotoxicity.

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A dipeptide with a long fatty acid chain at its N-terminus gives hydrogels in phosphate buffer in the pH range 7.0–8.5. The hydrogel with a gelator concentration of 0.45% (w/v) at pH 7.46 (physiological pH) provides a very good platform to study dynamic changes within a supramolecular framework as it exhibits remarkable change in its appearance with time. Interestingly, the first formed transparent hydrogel gradually transforms into a turbid gel within 2 days. These two forms of the hydrogel have been thoroughly investigated by using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopic (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopic (HR-TEM) imaging, FT-IR and rheometric analyses. The SAXS and low angle PXRD studies substantiate different packing arrangements for the gelator molecules for these two different gel states (the freshly prepared and the aged hydrogel). Moreover, rheological studies of these two gels reveal that the aged gel is stiffer than the freshly prepared gel.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

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PURPOSE: To describe and follow cotton wool spots (CWS) in branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) using multimodal imaging. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study including 24 patients with new-onset BRVO, CWS were described and analyzed in color fundus photography (CF), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), infrared (IR) and fluorescein angiography (FA) every 3 months for 3 years. The CWS area on SD-OCT and CF was evaluated using OCT-Tool-Kit software: CWS were marked in each single OCT B-scan and the software calculated the area by interpolation. RESULTS: 29 central CWS lesions were found. 100% of these CWS were visible on SD-OCT, 100% on FA and 86.2% on IR imaging, but only 65.5% on CF imaging. CWS were visible for 12.4 ± 7.5 months on SD-OCT, for 4.4 ± 3 months and 4.3 ± 3.4 months on CF and on IR, respectively, and for 17.5 ± 7.1 months on FA. The evaluated CWS area on SD-OCT was larger than on CF (0.26 ± 0.17 mm(2) vs. 0.13 ± 0.1 mm(2), p < 0.0001). The CWS area on SD-OCT and surrounding pathology such as intraretinal cysts, avascular zones and intraretinal hemorrhage were predictive for how long CWS remained visible (r(2) = 0.497, p < 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The lifetime and presentation of CWS in BRVO seem comparable to other diseases. SD-OCT shows a higher sensitivity for detecting CWS compared to CF. The duration of visibility of CWS varies among different image modalities and depends on the surrounding pathology and the CWS size.

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Fourier-transform IR (FT-IR) spectra of pelleted exfoliated cervical cells from patients with cervical cancer or dysplasia differ from those from normal women. To study the origin of these spectral changes, we obtained the FT-IR spectra of individual cervical cells from normal, dysplastic, and malignant cervical samples. Ninety five percent of normal superficial and intermediate cells displayed two distinct spectral patterns designated A and B, and 5% displayed an intermediate pattern, suggesting extensive structural heterogeneity among these cells. Parabasal and endocervical cells showed pattern B spectra. The spectra of malignant, dysplastic, and other abnormal cells also were characterized. Analysis of FT-IR spectra of over 2,000 individual cells from 10 normal females, 7 females with dysplasia, and 5 females with squamous cell carcinoma revealed that the spectra of normal-appearing intermediate and superficial cells of the cervix from women with either dysplasia or cancer differed from those of normal women. Chemometric and classical spectroscopic analysis showed a continuum of changes paralleling the transition from normalcy to malignancy. These findings suggest that (i) the structural changes underlying the spectroscopic changes are involved in or are a product of cervical carcinogenesis and (ii) the neoplastic process may be more extensive than currently recognized with morphological criteria. This approach may be useful for the structural study of neoplasia and also may be of help in the diagnosis or classification of cervical disorders.

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Using an in situ-generated calcium-based initiating species derived from pentaerythritol, the bulk synthesis of well-defined 4-arm star poly(L-lactide) oligomers has been studied in detail. The substitution of the traditional initiator, stannous octoate with calcium hydride allowed the synthesis of oligomers that had both low PDIs and a comparable number of polymeric arms (3.7 – 3.9) to oligomers of similar molecular weight. Investigations into the degree of control observed during the course of the polymerization found that the insolubility of pentaerythritol in molten L-lactide resulted in an uncontrolled polymerization only when the feed mole ratio of L-lactide to pentaerythritol was 13. At feed ratios of 40 and greater, a pseudo-living polymerization was observed. As part of this study, in situ FT-Raman spectroscopy was demonstrated to be a suitable method to monitor the kinetics of the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactide. The advantages of using this technique rather than FT-IR-ATR and 1H NMR for monitoring L-lactide consumption during polymerization are discussed.

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A series of kaolinite-potassium acetate intercalation composite was prepared. The thermal behavior and decomposition of these composites were investigated by simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetric analysis (DSC-TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transformation infrared (FT-IR). The XRD pattern at room temperature indicated that intercalation of potassium acetate into kaolinite causes an increase of the basal spacing from 0.718 to 1.428nm. The peak intensity of the expanded phase of the composite decreased with heating above 300°C, and the basal spacing reduced to 1.19nm at 350°C and 0.718nm at 400°C. These were supported by DSC-TGA and FT-IR measurements, where the endothermic reactions are observed between 300 and 600°C. These reactions can be divided into two stages: 1) Removal of the intercalated molecules between 300-400°C. 2) Dehydroxylation of kaolinite between 400-600°C. Significant changes were observed in the infrared bands assigned to outer surface hydroxyl, inner surface hydroxyl, inner hydroxyl and hydrogen bands.

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Organoclays were synthesised through ion exchange of a single surfactant for sodium ions, and characterised by a range of method including X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The change in surface properties of montmorillonite and organoclays intercalated with the surfactant, tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TDTMA) were determined using XRD through the change in basal spacing and the expansion occurred by the adsorbed p-nitrophenol. The changes of interlayer spacing were observed in TEM. In addition, the surface measurement such as specific surface area and pore volume was measured and calculated using BET method, this suggested the loaded surfactant is highly important to determine the sorption mechanism onto organoclays. The collected results of XPS provided the chemical composition of montmorillonite and organoclays, and the high-resolution XPS spectra offered the chemical states of prepared organoclays with binding energy. Using TGA and FT-IR, the confirmation of intercalated surfactant was investigated. The collected data from various techniques enable an understanding of the changes in structure and surface properties. This study is of importance to provide mechanisms for the adsorption of organic molecules, especially in contaminated environmental sites and polluted waters.

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The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) allows the presentation of a thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the format of published or submitted papers, where such papers have been published, accepted or submitted during the period of candidature. This thesis is composed of Seven published/submitted papers and one poster presentation, of which five have been published and the other two are under review. This project is financially supported by the QUTPRA Grant. The twenty-first century started with the resurrection of lignocellulosic biomass as a potential substitute for petrochemicals. Petrochemicals, which enjoyed the sustainable economic growth during the past century, have begun to reach or have reached their peak. The world energy situation is complicated by political uncertainty and by the environmental impact associated with petrochemical import and usage. In particular, greenhouse gasses and toxic emissions produced by petrochemicals have been implicated as a significant cause of climate changes. Lignocellulosic biomass (e.g. sugarcane biomass and bagasse), which potentially enjoys a more abundant, widely distributed, and cost-effective resource base, can play an indispensible role in the paradigm transition from fossil-based to carbohydrate-based economy. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB has attracted much commercial interest as a plastic and biodegradable material because some its physical properties are similar to those of polypropylene (PP), even though the two polymers have quite different chemical structures. PHB exhibits a high degree of crystallinity, has a high melting point of approximately 180°C, and most importantly, unlike PP, PHB is rapidly biodegradable. Two major factors which currently inhibit the widespread use of PHB are its high cost and poor mechanical properties. The production costs of PHB are significantly higher than for plastics produced from petrochemical resources (e.g. PP costs $US1 kg-1, whereas PHB costs $US8 kg-1), and its stiff and brittle nature makes processing difficult and impedes its ability to handle high impact. Lignin, together with cellulose and hemicellulose, are the three main components of every lignocellulosic biomass. It is a natural polymer occurring in the plant cell wall. Lignin, after cellulose, is the most abundant polymer in nature. It is extracted mainly as a by-product in the pulp and paper industry. Although, traditionally lignin is burnt in industry for energy, it has a lot of value-add properties. Lignin, which to date has not been exploited, is an amorphous polymer with hydrophobic behaviour. These make it a good candidate for blending with PHB and technically, blending can be a viable solution for price and reduction and enhance production properties. Theoretically, lignin and PHB affect the physiochemical properties of each other when they become miscible in a composite. A comprehensive study on structural, thermal, rheological and environmental properties of lignin/PHB blends together with neat lignin and PHB is the targeted scope of this thesis. An introduction to this research, including a description of the research problem, a literature review and an account of the research progress linking the research papers is presented in Chapter 1. In this research, lignin was obtained from bagasse through extraction with sodium hydroxide. A novel two-step pH precipitation procedure was used to recover soda lignin with the purity of 96.3 wt% from the black liquor (i.e. the spent sodium hydroxide solution). The precipitation process is presented in Chapter 2. A sequential solvent extraction process was used to fractionate the soda lignin into three fractions. These fractions, together with the soda lignin, were characterised to determine elemental composition, purity, carbohydrate content, molecular weight, and functional group content. The thermal properties of the lignins were also determined. The results are presented and discussed in Chapter 2. On the basis of the type and quantity of functional groups, attempts were made to identify potential applications for each of the individual lignins. As an addendum to the general section on the development of composite materials of lignin, which includes Chapters 1 and 2, studies on the kinetics of bagasse thermal degradation are presented in Appendix 1. The work showed that distinct stages of mass losses depend on residual sucrose. As the development of value-added products from lignin will improve the economics of cellulosic ethanol, a review on lignin applications, which included lignin/PHB composites, is presented in Appendix 2. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are dedicated to investigations of the properties of soda lignin/PHB composites. Chapter 3 reports on the thermal stability and miscibility of the blends. Although the addition of soda lignin shifts the onset of PHB decomposition to lower temperatures, the lignin/PHB blends are thermally more stable over a wider temperature range. The results from the thermal study also indicated that blends containing up to 40 wt% soda lignin were miscible. The Tg data for these blends fitted nicely to the Gordon-Taylor and Kwei models. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) evaluation showed that the miscibility of the blends was because of specific hydrogen bonding (and similar interactions) between reactive phenolic hydroxyl groups of lignin and the carbonyl group of PHB. The thermophysical and rheological properties of soda lignin/PHB blends are presented in Chapter 4. In this chapter, the kinetics of thermal degradation of the blends is studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This preliminary investigation is limited to the processing temperature of blend manufacturing. Of significance in the study, is the drop in the apparent energy of activation, Ea from 112 kJmol-1 for pure PHB to half that value for blends. This means that the addition of lignin to PHB reduces the thermal stability of PHB, and that the comparative reduced weight loss observed in the TGA data is associated with the slower rate of lignin degradation in the composite. The Tg of PHB, as well as its melting temperature, melting enthalpy, crystallinity and melting point decrease with increase in lignin content. Results from the rheological investigation showed that at low lignin content (.30 wt%), lignin acts as a plasticiser for PHB, while at high lignin content it acts as a filler. Chapter 5 is dedicated to the environmental study of soda lignin/PHB blends. The biodegradability of lignin/PHB blends is compared to that of PHB using the standard soil burial test. To obtain acceptable biodegradation data, samples were buried for 12 months under controlled conditions. Gravimetric analysis, TGA, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), FT-IR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used in the study. The results clearly demonstrated that lignin retards the biodegradation of PHB, and that the miscible blends were more resistant to degradation compared to the immiscible blends. To obtain an understanding between the structure of lignin and the properties of the blends, a methanol-soluble lignin, which contains 3× less phenolic hydroxyl group that its parent soda lignin used in preparing blends for the work reported in Chapters 3 and 4, was blended with PHB and the properties of the blends investigated. The results are reported in Chapter 6. At up to 40 wt% methanolsoluble lignin, the experimental data fitted the Gordon-Taylor and Kwei models, similar to the results obtained soda lignin-based blends. However, the values obtained for the interactive parameters for the methanol-soluble lignin blends were slightly lower than the blends obtained with soda lignin indicating weaker association between methanol-soluble lignin and PHB. FT-IR data confirmed that hydrogen bonding is the main interactive force between the reactive functional groups of lignin and the carbonyl group of PHB. In summary, the structural differences existing between the two lignins did not manifest itself in the properties of their blends.

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Materials with one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure are important for catalysis. They are the preferred building blocks for catalytic nanoarchitecture, and can be used to fabricate designer catalysts. In this thesis, one such material, alumina nanofibre, was used as a precursor to prepare a range of nanocomposite catalysts. Utilising the specific properties of alumina nanofibres, a novel approach was developed to prepare macro-mesoporous nanocomposites, which consist of a stacked, fibrous nanocomposite with a core-shell structure. Two kinds of fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 and TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites were successfully synthesised using boehmite nanofibers as a hard temperate and followed by a simple calcination. The alumina nanofibres provide the resultant nanocomposites with good thermal stability and mechanical stability. A series of one-dimensional (1D) zirconia/alumina nanocomposites were prepared by the deposition of zirconium species onto the 3D framework of boehmite nanofibres formed by dispersing boehmite nanofibres into a butanol solution, followed by calcination at 773 K. The materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results demonstrated that when the molar percentage, X, X=100*Zr/(Al+Zr), was > 30%, extremely long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods with evenly distributed ZrO2 nanocrystals formed on their surface. The stacking of such nanorods gave rise to a new kind of macroporous material without the use of any organic space filler\template or other specific drying techniques. The mechanism for the formation of these long ZrO2/Al2O3 composite nanorods is proposed in this work. A series of solid-superacid catalysts were synthesised from fibrous ZrO2/Al2O3 core and shell nanocomposites. In this series, the zirconium molar percentage was varied from 2 % to 50 %. The ZrO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites and their solid superacid counterparts were characterised by a variety of techniques including 27Al MAS-NMR, SEM, TEM, XPS, Nitrogen adsorption and Infrared Emission Spectroscopy. NMR results show that the interaction between zirconia species and alumina strongly correlates with pentacoordinated aluminium sites. This can also be detected by the change in binding energy of the 3d electrons of the zirconium. The acidity of the obtained superacids was tested by using them as catalysts for the benzolyation of toluene. It was found that a sample with a 50 % zirconium molar percentage possessed the highest surface acidity equalling that of pristine sulfated zirconia despite the reduced mass of zirconia. Preparation of hierarchically macro-mesoporous catalyst by loading nanocrystallites on the framework of alumina bundles can provide an alternative system to design advanced nanocomposite catalyst with enhanced performance. A series of macro-mesoporous TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were synthesised. The materials were calcined at 723 K and were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Infrared Emission Spectroscopy (IES), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-visible). A modified approach was proposed for the synthesis of 1D (fibrous) nanocomposite with higher Ti/Al molar ratio (2:1) at lower temperature (<100oC), which makes it possible to synthesize such materials on industrial scale. The performances of a series of resultant TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites with different morphologies were evaluated as a photocatalyst for the phenol degradation under UV irradiation. The photocatalyst (Ti/Al =2) with fibrous morphology exhibits higher activity than that of the photocatalyst with microspherical morphology which indeed has the highest Ti to Al molar ratio (Ti/Al =3) in the series of as-synthesised hierarchical TiO2/Al2O3 nanocomposites. Furthermore, the photocatalytic performances, for the fibrous nanocomposites with Ti/Al=2, were optimized by calcination at elevated temperatures. The nanocomposite prepared by calcination at 750oC exhibits the highest catalytic activity, and its performance per TiO2 unit is very close to that of the gold standard, Degussa P 25. This work also emphasizes two advantages of the nanocomposites with fibrous morphology: (1) the resistance to sintering, and (2) good catalyst recovery.