Optical and structural properties of PEO-like plasma polymers

This paper deals with the study of optical, structural and biocompatible properties of PEO-like plasma polymerized films resulting from RF excited diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (CH3O(CH2CH2O)(2)CH3 diglyme) glow discharges. The study was carried out using visible-ultraviolet and FTIR spectroscopies and contact angle measurements. FTIR spectra of plasma polymerized diglyme showed a stronger presence of ethylene glycol groups in film structure for lower RF power levels. The contact angle measurements for water revealed an increasing from 30degrees to 62,5degrees when the RF power was varied from 2 to 45 W, indicating the decreasing of the hydrophilic character of diglyme films with the increasing of RF power. This trend is in agreement with FTIR results. The data from visible-ultraviolet reflectance and transmittance spectra revealed alterations on optical properties of plasma polymerized diglyme films. The film's optical gap varied from 3.8 to 3 eV for RF power running from 5 to 45 W.

Argon ion implantation inducing modifications in the properties of benzene plasma polymers

Benzene plasma polymer films were bombarded with Ar ions by plasma immersion ion implantation. The treatments were performed using argon pressure of 3 Pa and 70 W of applied power. The substrate holder was polarized with high voltage negative pulses (25 kV, 3 Hz). Exposure time to the immersion plasma, t, was varied from 0 to 9000 s. Optical gap and chemical composition of the samples were determined by ultraviolet-visible and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopies, respectively. Film wettability was investigated by the contact angle between a water drop and the film surface. Nanoindentation technique was employed in the hardness measurements. It was observed growth in carbon and oxygen concentrations while there was decrease in the concentration of H atoms with increasing t. Furthermore, film hardness and wettability increased and the optical gap decreased with t. Interpretation of these results is proposed in terms of the chain crosslinking and unsaturation. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Treatment of PET and PU polymers by atmospheric pressure plasma generated in dielectric barrier discharge in air

Plasma treatments are frequently employed to modify surface properties of materials such as adhesivity, hydrophobicity, oleophobicity etc. Present work deals with surface modification of common commercial polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane (PU) by an air dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at atmospheric pressure. The DBD treatment was performed in a plain reactor in wire-duct geometry (non-uniform field reactor), which was driven by a 60 Hz power supply. Material characterization was carried out by water contact angle measurements, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The plasma-induced modifications are associated with incorporation of polar oxygen and nitrogen containing groups on the polymer surface. The AFM analysis reveals that the plasma treatment roughens the material surface. Due to these structural and morphological changes the surface of DBD-treated polymers becomes more hydrophilic resulting in enhanced adhesion properties. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Change of the vortex lattice symmetry in the vicinity of the macro-to-mesoscopic threshold

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Color Stability of Polymers for Facial Prosthesis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effect of disinfection on adhesion of reline polymers

Cylinders (3.5 x 5.0 mm) of the reline resins Kooliner (K), New Truliner (N), Tokuso Rebase Fast (T), and Ufi Gel Hard (U) were bonded to cylinders (20 x 20 mm) of the denture base resin Lucitone 550 (L), and samples were divided into two controls and four test groups (n = 8). Shear tests (0.5 mm/min) were performed after polymerization or immersion in water (37 degrees C) for 7 days (controls); two or seven cycles of disinfection by immersion in sodium perborate (50 degrees C/10 min) or microwave irradiation (650 W/6 min). Statistical analyses (alpha = 0.05) revealed that two cycles of microwave and chemical disinfection increased the mean bond strengths of materials T (9.08 to 12.93 MPa) and L (18.89 to 23.02 MPa). For resin L, seven cycles of chemical (15.72 MPa) and microwave (17.82 MPa) disinfection decreased the shear bond strength compared with the respective control (21.74 MPa). Resins U (13.12 MPa), K (8.44 MPa), and N (7.98 MPa) remained unaffected.

Influence of Microwave Disinfection on the Dimensional Stability of Denture Reline Polymers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Using a one-dimensional lattice applied to the thermodynamic study of DNA

In this work it is analyzed a one-dimensional lattice which is composed by mass-spring systems with one additional Rosen-Morse potential on site. This kind of lattice is used to study thermodynamic properties of DNA, especially its thermal denaturation. on the context of this work, the Rosen-Morse potential simulates hydrogen bonds between double strands of the molecule. From the graphic of the average stretching of base pairs versus temperature it is possible to observe the thermal denaturation of the system. This result shows that it is possible to obtain phase transition with an asymmetric potential without an infinite barrier.

Thermodynamics of a Peyrard-Bishop One-Dimensional Lattice with On-site Hump Potential

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Nonlinear Lattice Within Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics Formalism

In the last decades, the study of nonlinear one dimensional lattices has attracted much attention of the scientific community. One of these lattices is related to a simplified model for the DNA molecule, allowing to recover experimental results, such as the denaturation of DNA double helix. Inspired by this model we construct a Hamiltonian for a reflectionless potential through the Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics formalism, SQM. Thermodynamical properties of such one dimensional lattice are evaluated aming possible biological applications.

Thermodynamic analysis of a non linear lattice

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Synthesis, characterization and solution properties of amphiphilic N-isopropylacrylamide-poly(ethylene glycol)-dodecyl methacrylate thermosensitive polymers

Terpolymers of N-isopropylacrylamide, dodecyl methacrylate (DOMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) methacrylate, were synthesized by random copolymerization, and the composition was controlled to achieve systems having different thermosensitivities. H-1 NMR spectra and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) were employed to characterize the different samples obtained. The solution properties were studied by employing spectrophotometry, fluorescence, and dynamic light scattering techniques. The chemical compositions in the final terpolymers are close to those in the feed. The polymers exhibited cloud point temperatures (T-es) varying from 17 to 52 degrees C. Micropolarity studies using I-1/I-3 ratio of the vibronic bands of pyrene show the formation of amphiphilic aggregates capable of incorporating hydrophobic drugs as the polymer concentration is increased. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) increases from 3.6 x 10(-3) to 1 x 10(-2) g/l with the PEG content varying from 5 to 35 mol%. Anisotropy measurements confirm the results obtained by pyrene fluorescence and show that the aggregates resulting from intermolecular interactions present different organizations. The hydrodynamic diameters (Dh) of the aggregates determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) vary from 40 to 150 nm depending on the terpolymer composition. The T-cs and Dh values decreased with the ionic strength, and this behavior was attributed to the dehydration of the polymeric micelles. The capacity of solubilization of the aggregates was evaluated by employing pyrene, and the obtained results confirm the ability to incorporate hydrophobic molecules. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

The Interaction Between N-Isopropylacrylamide-Acrylic Acid-Ethyl Methacrylate Thermosensitive Polymers and Cationic Surfactants

The interaction between cationic surfactants and isopropylacrylamide-acrylic acid-ethyl methacrylate (IPA:AA:EMA) terpolymers has been investigated using steady-state fluorescence and spectrophotometric measurements to assess the effect of the polymer composition on the aggregation process and terpolymers' thermosensitivities. Micropolarity studies using pyrene show that the interaction of cationic surfactants with IPA:AA:EMA terpolymers occurs at surfactant concentrations much smaller than that observed for the pure surfactant in aqueous solution. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) values decrease with both the hydrocarbon length of the surfactant and the content of ethyl methacrylate. These results were interpreted as a manifestation of the increasing contribution of attractive hydrophobic and electrostatic forces between negatively charged polymer chains and positively charged surfactant molecules. The increase of ethyl methacrylate in the copolymers lowers the CAC due to the larger hydrophobic character of the polymer backbone. The cloud point determination reveals that the lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) depend strongly on the copolymer composition and surfactant nature. The binding of surfactants molecules to the polymer chain screens the electrostatic repulsion between the carboxylic groups inducing a conformational transition and the dehydration of the polymer chain.

Dissipative dynamics of matter-wave solitons in a nonlinear optical lattice

Dynamics and stability of solitons in two-dimensional (2D) Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC), with one-dimensional (1D) conservative plus dissipative nonlinear optical lattices, are investigated. In the case of focusing media (with attractive atomic systems), the collapse of the wave packet is arrested by the dissipative periodic nonlinearity. The adiabatic variation of the background scattering length leads to metastable matter-wave solitons. When the atom feeding mechanism is used, a dissipative soliton can exist in focusing 2D media with 1D periodic nonlinearity. In the defocusing media (repulsive BEC case) with harmonic trap in one direction and nonlinear optical lattice in the other direction, the stable soliton can exist. Variational approach simulations are confirmed by full numerical results for the 2D Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

3D relativistic hydrodynamic computations using lattice-QCD-inspired equations of state

In this communication, we report results of three-dimensional hydrodynamic computations, by using equations of state with a critical end Point as suggested by the lattice QCD. Some of the results are an increase of the multiplicity in the mid-rapidity region and a larger elliptic-flow parameter nu(2). We discuss also the effcts of the initial-condition fluctuations and the continuous emission.