Bien que thermodynamiquement et cinétiquement stable, le dioxyde de carbone est une molécule qui peut être convertie en carbonates cycliques à cinq ou six atomes respectivement au départ d’époxydes ou d’oxétanes moyennant l’utilisation d’un catalyseur approprié. Ces carbonates cycliques sont utilisés comme solvants verts, électrolytes pour les batteries au lithium ou comme intermédiaires pour la synthèse de polymères. Cependant, les performances catalytiques doivent être améliorées en particulier pour lecouplage du CO2 avec les huiles végétales époxydées ou les oxétanes. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé un nouveau catalyseur homogène bicomposant organique composé d’un sel d’ammonium jouant le rôle de catalyseur et d’un co-catalyseur fluoré simple ou double donneur de liaison hydrogène. Dans un premier temps, l’efficacité de ces nouveaux catalyseurs a été évaluée et optimisée pour le couplage entre un époxyde terminal et le CO2 via des études cinétiques par spectroscopie FTIR ou Raman in-situ sous pression. Ces études ont démontré que l’utilisation combinée de sels d’ammonium et d’alcools fluorés induit un effet synergique permettant la fixation rapide et sélective du CO2 sur les époxydes modèles et les huiles végétales époxydées dans des conditions douces et sans solvant. L’utilisation de cette plateforme catalytique performante a ensuite été exploitée pour la synthèse d’oligocarbonates hydroxyles téléchéliques au départ d’oxétanes nettement moins réactifs que les époxydes. Ces oligocarbonates ont finalement été valorisés pour la synthèse de polyuréthanes CO2-sourcés par extension de chaines en présence de diisocyanates. En complément de ces travaux, une compréhension fine des mécanismes réactionnels a été réalisée via calculs DFT qui ont mis en évidence que l’efficacité catalytique de ces catalyseurs était liée à la stabilisation multiple des intermédiaires et états de transition par liaisons hydrogènes. A ce jour, via une étude comparative, nous avons mis en évidence que ce système catalytique bicomposant constitue un des catalyseurs organiques les plus performants pour le couplage du CO2 et d’époxydes et le seul système organique permettant la conversion d’oxétanes en synthons d’intérêt. / Although it is a thermodynamically and kinetically stable molecule, carbon dioxide can beconverted into five- and six-membered cyclic carbonates by coupling with epoxides or oxetanes, respectively, using appropriate catalysts. Cyclic carbonates are used as green solvents, electrolytes for Liion batteries or intermediates for the synthesis of polymers. However, the catalytic performance must be further enhanced in particular for the coupling of CO2 with epoxidized vegetable oils or oxetanes. In this context, we developed a new highly efficient bicomponent homogeneous organocatalyst composed of anammonium salt as the catalyst and fluorinated single or double hydrogen bond donors as co-catalysts. First,a screening of onium-based catalysts and hydrogen-bond donors was performed. Performances of thecatalysts and optimization of the reaction was realized through detailed kinetics studies using in-situ FTIR/Raman spectroscopy under pressure. We demonstrated that fluorinated alcohols showed unexpected co-catalytic activity due to synergisms between the onium salt and fluorinated co-catalysts enabling the fast and selective addition of CO2 on to model epoxides and epoxidized vegetable oils under solvent-free and mild experimental conditions. The use of this powerful dual catalyst was then extended to the first organocatalytic coupling of CO2 with less reactive oxetanes to produce hydroxyl telechelic oligocarbonates that were used asprecursor of CO2-based polyurethanes by chain-extension with a diisocyanate. In addition, a fine comprehension of the mechanisms was investigated by DFT calculations highlighting that the co-catalytic performance of the onium salt/fluorinated alcohol binary catalyst arose from the strong stabilization of the intermediates and transitions states by hydrogen-bonding. To date, through comparative studies, we evidenced that this new catalyst is one

Abstract The energy consumption around the globe is on the rise due to the exponential population growth and urbanization. There is a need for alternative and non-conventional energy sources, which are CO2-neutral, and a need to produce less or no environmental pollutants and to have high energy efficiency. One of the alternative approaches is hydrogen economy with the fuel cell (FC) technology which is forecasted to lead to a sustainable society. Hydrogen (H2) is recognized as a potential fuel and clean energy carrier being at the same time a carbon-free element. Moreover, H2 is utilized in many processes in chemical, food, metallurgical, and pharmaceutical industry and it is also a valuable chemical in many reactions (e.g. refineries). Non-renewable resources have been the major feedstock for H2 production for many years. At present, ~50% of H2 is produced via catalytic steam reforming of natural gas followed by various down-stream purification steps to produce ~99.99% H2, the process being highly energy intensive. Henceforth, bio-fuels like biomass derived alcohols (e.g. bio-ethanol and bio-glycerol), can be viable raw materials for the H2 production. In a membrane based reactor, the reaction and selective separation of H2 occur simultaneously in one unit, thus improving the overall reactor efficiency. The main motivation of this work is to produce H2 more efficiently and in an environmentally friendly way from bio-alcohols with a high H2 selectivity, purity and yield. In this thesis, the work was divided into two research areas, the first being the catalytic studies using metal decorated carbon nanotube (CNT) based catalysts in steam reforming of ethanol (SRE) at low temperatures (<450 °C). The second part was the study of steam reforming (SR) and the water-gas-shift (WGS) reactions in a membrane reactor (MR) using dense and composite Pd-based membranes to produce high purity H2. CNTs were found to be promising support materials for the low temperature reforming compared to conventional catalyst supports, e.g. Al2O3. The metal/metal oxide decorated CNTs presented active particles with narrow size distribution and small size (~2–5 nm). The ZnO promoted Ni/CNT based catalysts showed the highest H2 selectivity of ~76% with very low CO selectivity <1%. Ethanol was shown to be a more suitable and viable source for H2 than glycerol. The dense Pd-Ag membrane had higher selectivity but a lower permeating flux than the composite membrane. The MR performance is also dependent on the active catalyst materials and thus, both the catalyst and membrane play an important role. Overall, the membrane–assisted reformer outperforms the conventional reformer and it is a potential technology in pure H2 production. The high purity of H2 gas with a CO-free reformate for fuel cell applications can be gained using the MR system. / Tiivistelmä Maailman energiankulutus on kasvussa räjähdysmäisen väestönkasvun ja voimakkaan kaupungistumisen myötä. Tällä hetkellä energian tuottamisen aiheuttamat ympäristöongelmat ja taloudellinen epävarmuus ovat seikkoja, joiden ratkaisemiseksi tarvitaan vaihtoehtoisia ja ei-perinteisiä energialähteitä, joilla on korkea energiasisältö ja jotka tuottavat vähän hiilidioksidipäästöjä. Eräs vaihtoehtoisista lähestymistavoista on vetytalous yhdistettynä polttokennotekniikkaan, minkä on esitetty helpottavan siirtymistä kestävään yhteiskuntaan. Vety on puhdas ja hiilivapaa polttoaine ja energian kantaja. Lisäksi vetyä käytetään monissa prosesseissa kemian-, elintarvike-, metalli- ja lääketeollisuudessa ja se on arvokas kemikaali monissa prosesseissa (mm. öljynjalostamoissa). Uusiutumattomat luonnonvarat ovat olleet tähän saakka merkittävin vedyn tuotannon raaka-aine. Tällä hetkellä noin 50 % vedystä tuotetaan maakaasun katalyyttisellä höyryreformoinilla. Puhtaan (yli 99,99 %) vedyn tuotanto vaatii kuitenkin useita puhdistusvaiheita, jotka ovat erittäin energiaintensiivisiä. Integroimalla reaktio- ja puhdistusvaihe samaan yksikköön (membraanireaktori) saavutetaan huomattavia kustannussäästöjä. Biopolttoaineet, kuten biomassapohjaiset alkoholit (bioetanoli ja bioglyseroli), ovat vaihtoehtoisia lähtöaineita vedyn valmistuksessa. Tämän työn tavoitteena on tuottaa vetyä bioalkoholeista tehokkaasti (korkea selektiivisyys ja saanto) ja ympäristöystävällisesti. Tutkimus on jaettu kahteen osaan, joista ensimmäisessä tutkittiin etanolin katalyyttistä höyryreformointia matalissa lämpötiloissa (<450 °C) hyödyntämällä metallipinnoitettuja hiilinanoputkia. Työn toisessa osassa höyryreformointia ja vesikaasun siirtoreaktioa tutkittiin membraanireaktorissa käyttämällä vedyn tuotantoon tiheitä palladiumpohjaisia kalvoja sekä huokoisia palladiumkomposiittikalvoja. Hiilinanoputket (CNT) havaittiin lupaaviksi katalyyttien tukimateriaaleiksi verrattuna tavanomaisesti valmistettuihin tukiaineisiin, kuten Al2O3. CNT-tukiaineelle pinnoitetuilla aktiivisilla aineilla (metalli-/metallioksidit) todettiin olevan pieni partikkelikoko (~2–5 nm) ja kapea partikkelikokojakauma. Sinkkioksidin (ZnO) lisäyksellä Ni/CNT-katalyytteihin saavutettiin korkea vetyselektiivisyys (~76 %) ja erittäin alhainen hiilimoksidiselektiivisyys (<1 %). Etanolin todettiin olevan parempi vedyn raaka-aine kuin glyserolin. Tiheillä Pd-Ag-kalvoilla havaittiin olevan vedyn suhteen korkeampi selektiivisyys mutta matalampi vuo verrattuna palladiumkomposiittikalvoihin. Membraanireaktorin suorituskyky oli riippuvainen myös katalyytin aktiivisuudesta, joten sekä kalvolla että katalyyttimateriaalilla oli merkittävä rooli kyseisessä reaktorirakenteessa. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että membraanierotukseen perustuva reformointiyksikkö on huomattavasti perinteistä reformeriyksikköä suorituskykyisempi mahdollistaen tehokkaan teknologian puhtaan vedyn tuottamiseksi. Membraanitekniikalla tuotettua puhdasta vetyä voidaan hyödyntää mm. polttokennojen polttoaineena.

Objective: Decrease of olfactory function in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a well-investigated fact. Studies indicate that pharmacological treatment of PD fails to restore olfactory function in PD patients. The aim of this investigation was whether patients with PD would benefit from “training” with odors in terms of an improvement of their general olfactory function. It has been hypothesized that olfactory training should produce both an improved sensitivity towards the odors used in the training process and an overall increase of olfactory function. Methods: We recruited 70 subjects with PD and olfactory loss into this single-center, prospective, controlled non-blinded study. Thirty-five patients were assigned to the olfactory training group and 35 subjects to the control group (no training). Olfactory training was performed over a period of 12 weeks while patients exposed themselves twice daily to four odors (phenyl ethyl alcohol: rose, eucalyptol: eucalyptus, citronellal: lemon, and eugenol: cloves). Olfactory testing was performed before and after training using the “Sniffin' Sticks” (thresholds for phenyl ethyl alcohol, tests for odor discrimination, and odor identification) in addition to threshold tests for the odors used in the training process. Results: Compared to baseline, trained PD patients experienced a significant increase in their olfactory function, which was observed for the Sniffin' Sticks test score and for thresholds for the odors used in the training process. Olfactory function was unchanged in PD patients who did not perform olfactory training. Conclusion: The present results indicate that olfactory training may increase olfactory sensitivity in PD patients.

This diploma thesis is aimed to the corona-like discharge in solutions of alcohols, specifically in ethanol, methanol, glycerol, butanol and isopropyl alcohol. The electric discharge was diagnosed by two methods. The first method was the measuring of electrical characteristics. Current-voltage characteristics were constructed from the measured average values of voltage and current. The breakdown voltages were determined from the current-voltage characteristics. The breakdown voltages of the individual alcohol solutions were dependent on the alcohol concentration, polarity of the electrodes in the reactor and solution conductivity. The breakdown voltage was determined for solutions of butanol, glycerol and isopropyl alcohol with a concentration of 20 vol. % and conductivity of 200 µS. The highest value of the breakdown voltage was determined for solution of glycerol at 580 V. The lowest voltage at which the discharge was observed was estimated for butanol (320 V), but due to the limited miscibility with water this value is inaccurate, and therefore in the second part of experiment butanol was not used. Alcohol series was supplemented with methanol. The second diagnostic method was the proton ionization mass spectrometry with the time of flight analyzer. The products formed in the reactor due to the plasma discharge were identified from the mass spectrum. Mostly, aliphatic hydrocarbons and their radicals were detected. The amount of products was observed in the dependence on the changing experimental conditions: alcohol concentration in the solution, the polarity of the electrodes in the reactor and the duration of the discharge. Only a small amount of compounds were detected in methanol. However, more molecules were formed with the increasing carbon chain in the alcohol molecule. More compounds were also detected with the increasing alcohol concentration and in case of the negative polarity of the main electrode. The formation of acetaldehyde as a typical discharge product was studied in details. Its production in time was observed and the reaction pathways of its formation in the ethanol solution were suggested.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Untersuchung von a-Azidoalkoholen, welche über die Reaktion von aliphatischen sowie aromatischen Aldehyden mit HN3 leicht zugänglich sind und die im Gleichgewicht mit den jeweiligen Ausgangsstoffen vorliegen. Bei Raumtemperatur stellt sich dieses Gleichgewicht sehr schnell ein und man erhält spezifische Konzentrationen an Eduktaldehyd, Stickstoffwasserstoffsäure und a-Azidoalkohol. Die Reaktion von Aldehyden mit HN3 generiert dabei ein neues Chriralitätszentrum, wodurch die Umsetzung chiraler Aldehyde, wie z. B. von Zuckerderivaten, zwei anomere Produkte hervorbringt. Die erstmalig erfolgreichen Synthesen zur Erzeugung von 4-Brom-4-methylpentanal sowie 4-Azido-4-methylpentanal werden ebenfalls beschrieben. Letztere Verbindung reagiert dabei ebenso wenig via einer intramolekularen 1,3-dipolaren Cycloaddition zum entsprechenden 4,5-Dihydro-1,2,3,4-oxatriazol-Derivat wie das analoge-Azidobutanal, was im Gegensatz zu Literaturangaben steht. Des Weiteren werden einige interessante Reaktionen der a-Azidoalkohole untersucht. Die Oxidation mit Pyridiniumchlorochromat (PCC) bei –60°C führt zu Carbonylaziden. Die Photolyse bei –50°C generiert unter Stickstofffreisetzung Nitrene, welche mittels Wasserstoffwanderung und anschließender Tautomerisierung des resultierenden Intermediats zu Säureamiden umlagern. Die ebenfalls mögliche 1,2-Wanderung einer Gruppe R in a-Position führt dabei zu einem Intermediat, aus welchem sofort das entsprechende Formamid-Derivat entsteht. a-Azidoalkohole reagieren mit PBr3 in einer sauberen Reaktion durch die Substitution der Hydroxylfunktion unter Bildung der jeweiligen 1-Azido-1-brom-Verbindung. / In this work, α-azido alcohols which exist in equilibrium with the starting materials have been studied by the reactions of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes with HN3. In some cases the title compounds can be isolated from the mixture at low temperature. At room temperature, however, the equilibrium is fast and there are again specific concentrations of the aldehyde, hydrazoic acid, and the α-azido alcohol. The reaction of aldehydes with HN3 creates a new chiral center and a chiral aldehyde, e.g. sugar derivatives, produces two anomeric products. The first procedures to prepare 4-bromo-4-methylpentanal and 4-azido-4-methylpentanal are also reported. The latter compound and also the parent 4-azidobutanal do not lead to 4,5-dihydro-1,2,3,4-oxatriazoles by intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, although it was claimed in the literature. Furthermore, some interesting reactions of the α-azido alcohols have been investigated. The oxidation of α-azido alcohols with pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) at −60 °C leads to formation of carbonyl azides. The photolysis of α-azido alcohols at −50 °C generates nitrenes with liberation of dinitrogen, which lead to the formation of acid amides after the migration of hydrogen and subsequent tautomerism of the intermediate. 1,2-Migration of a group R in the α-position can produce an intermediate stage which is rapidly converted into formamide derivative. α-Azido alcohols react with PBr3 to give 1-azido-1-bromo derivatives in a clean reaction by substitution of hydroxyl group at the α-position.

<p>Predviđena istraživanja u ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji su usmerena u pravcu&nbsp;<br />modifikacije klasičnih metoda i postupaka za transformaciju karboksilne grupe&nbsp;<br />prirodnih i sintetičkih karboksilnih kiselina. Modifikacije su rađene novim,&nbsp;<br />savremenim, ekonomski i ekolo&scaron;ki opravdanim metodama rada u&nbsp;<br />mikrotalasnom reaktoru. Modifikovanim sintetskim postupcima u&nbsp;<br />mikrotalasnom reaktoru urađena je sinteza amida, hidroksamskih&nbsp; derivata,&nbsp;<br />kao i redukcija individualnih naftnih kiselina i&nbsp; sme&scaron;e&nbsp; prirodnih naftnih kiselina&nbsp;<br />&bdquo;Velebit&ldquo; do alkohola. Prirodne naftne kiseline kori&scaron;ćene u ovom radu su prvo&nbsp;<br />izolovane iz gasne frakcije (interval destilacije 168-290 &deg;C) vojvođanske nafte&nbsp;<br />&bdquo;Velebit&ldquo; a potom preči&scaron;ćene i razdvojene na uže frakcije na osnovu različite&nbsp;<br />kiselosti. Nakon toga, izvr&scaron;ena je njihova karakterizacija GC-MS-EI analizom&nbsp;<br />(čime je potvrđeno da dolazi do strukturne diferencijacije kiselina). U radu je&nbsp;<br />takođe ispitana biolo&scaron;ka aktivnost sintetizovanih derivata. Proučavan je uticaj&nbsp;<br />prirodnih naftnih kiselina &bdquo;Velebit&ldquo; i njenih derivata na rast&nbsp; pet sojeva&nbsp;<br />Pseudomonas sp., kao i uticaj odabranih sintetisanih jedinjenja na proliferaciju&nbsp;<br />četiri ćelijske linije humanih tumora pri čemu je kao kontrola služila jedna&nbsp;<br />zdrava humana ćelijska linija.</p> / <p>The investigation of this doctoral dissertation is directed toward the modification of the &nbsp;transformation of the carboxylic group of natural and synthetic carboxylic acids. The dissertation takes into consideration the classical methods and procedures of the reaction and modifies them using microwave reactor. The synthesis of amides, hydroxamic derivatives, as well as the reduction&nbsp; of individual petroleum acids and acid mixtures of natural oil &quot;Velebit&quot; to alcohol were achieved&nbsp; by the modifications made to the synthetic methods in the microwave reactor. The natural oil acids used within this study were first isolated from the gas fraction (distillation interval 168-290 &deg;C) of the Vojvodina&#39;s crude oil &quot;Velebit&quot;, and then purified and separated by the narrow fractions under the different acidity. After that, their characterisation was made by the GC-MS-EI analysis which confirmed that the structural differentiation of&nbsp;&nbsp; acids had been achieved. Also, the biological activity of the synthesized derivatives are analysed. The impact of natural petroleum acids &quot;Velebit&quot; and its derivatives on the growth of five strains of&nbsp; Pseudomonas&nbsp; sp. was studied, as well as the impact of selected synthesized compounds on the proliferation of four human tumor cell lines wherein one healthy human cell lines used as the control.</p>

Etylenglykol (etan-1,2-diol) är en dihydroxyalkohol som är en komponent i kylarvätska och andra frost- och kylskyddsmedel. Förtäring av etylenglykol leder till allvarliga skador och i värsta fall död utan behandling. I Sverige år 2020 fanns det endast ett tiotal laboratorier som erbjöd analys av etylenglykol dygnet runt. Detta leder till att prover ofta behöver skickas till större laboratorier med taxi vilket i sin tur leder till en försenad diagnosticering av patienten. Syftet med examensarbetet var att verifiera en enzymatisk kolorimetrisk metod för analys av etylenglykol i plasma på instrumentet Roche Cobas® 8000 modul c502. Reagenset som verifierades var DiscretPak™ Ethylene Glycol Reagents från företaget Catachem. Verifieringen gjordes med avseende på total precision (repeterbarhet), inomserieprecision och linjäritet. Resultaten jämfördes med analys på gaskromatograf. Provmaterialet bestod av patientprover av litiumheparinplasma,  patientprover av serum och kontrollprover från Equalis. Resultatet som erhölls vid verifieringen visade på linjär korrelation mellan den enzymatiska metoden och GC-analys. En negativ bias observerades dock i jämförelse med analys på gaskromatograf. Utvärdering av repeterbarhet gav CV 4,6% vid 9,0 mmol/L och 3,66% vid 40,0 mmol/L. Inomserieprecisionstudie gav CV 14,7% vid 1 mmol/L, 5,2% vid 4 mmol/L och 1,4% vid 17 mmol/L. Precisionen är viktigast vid de lägre koncentrationerna. Insättning av behandling med antidot är aktuellt vid 4 mmol/L. Utvärdering av linjäritet visade på ett starkt linjärt samband hos analysen vid koncentrationer &lt;50 mmol/L. Vid koncentrationer &gt;50 mmol/L fanns ett linjärt samband men en minskad överensstämmelse mellan den beräknade och den uppmätta koncentrationen observerades. Metodverifieringen ansågs vara godkänd för kliniskt bruk och analysen kommer att införas i analyssortimentet hos Klinisk Kemi i Växjö. / Ethylene glycol is an alcohol that is a common component in antifreeze. Ingestion of ethylene glycol will, without treatment, lead to severe organ damage and in worst-case death. In 2020 there was only a few laboratories in Sweden that offered analysis of ethylene glycol all hours of the day and week. This means that samples often need to be transported to laboratories at larger hospitals which leads delayed diagnosis of the patient. The purpose of this study was to verify an enzymatic method for analysis of ethylene glycol in plasma on the instrument Roche Cobas® 8000 module c502. The reagent that was used was DiscretPak™ Ethylene Glycol Reagents from Catachem. The study included evaluation of total precision, within-run precision, linearity, and a comparison with analysis with gas chromatography (GC). The sample material consisted of patient samples of plasma, patient samples of serum and quality controls from Equalis. The result of the study showed linear correlation between the enzymatic method and analysis with GC. A negative bias was observed in comparison to analysis with GC. The coefficient of variation (CV) for total precision was 4,7% at 9,0 mmol/L and 3,7% at 40,0 mmol/L. The CV for within-run was 14,7% at 1 mmol/L, 5,2% at 4 mmol/L and 1,4% at 17 mmol/L. The precision of the method is most important at lower concentrations. The evaluation of linearity showed linear correlation at concentrations &lt;50 mmol/L with. A linear correlation was observed at concentrations &gt;50 mmol/L, although the agreement with the calculated concentrations decreased. The method verification was successful as the results were deemed acceptable for clinical use.

La photocatalyse est une voie de synthèse prometteuse de l’hydrogène comme carburant solaire. La production photocatalytique est un moyen, à la fois de stocker l’énergie solaire sous forme d’énergie chimique et de produire des carburants de manière renouvelables en utilisant l’eau ou des alcools biosourcés comme matière première. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier la déshydrogénation photocatalytique d’alcools à l’aide de sulfures de métaux de transitions, supportés sur TiO2 (MSx/TiO2). Ces sulfures de métaux de transitions ont des propriétés d’activation de l’hydrogène, des propriétés électrochimiques et des propriétés optiques intéressantes. Une série de sept MSx/TiO2 (M = Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ru, Ag, Hg) ont été étudiés. La réaction de déshydrogénation photocatalytique du propan-2-ol est utilisée comme réaction modèle. Des corrélations sont établies entre les propriétés intrinsèques de ces MSx/TiO2 et leur activité photocatalytique. De plus, la mesure d’énergie d’activation d’apparente apporte une compréhension supplémentaire sur les mécanismes photocatalytiques. Cette dernière montre que la production photocatalytique d’hydrogène est principalement limitée par les phénomènes de séparation et de transfert de charges dans les photocatalyseurs. Ainsi, une méthodologie combinant la spectroscopie de photoélectrons UV et la spectroscopie d’absorption UV-Visbile a été mis en place pour déterminer la structure électronique des poudre photocatalytiques. Ce travail conclue sur le caractère central de la structure électronique en photocatalyse. Dans le cas du photocatalyseur RuS2/TiO2, le transfert électronique est l’étape cinétiquement déterminante pour la déshydrogénation photocatalytique du propan-2-ol / Photocatalysis is a promising way to synthesize H2 as a solar fuel. On one hand, the photocatalytic H2 production stores solar energy under chemical energy. On the other hand, it produces H2 with a renewable process using water and bio-based alcohols as a feedstock. This Ph.D thesis aims to study the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols with transition metal sulfides supported on TiO2 (MSx/TiO2). Those transition metal sulfides have versatile and highly tunable properties. They can activate H2, they have promising electrochemical behavior and optical properties. Seven MSx/TiO2 (M = Co, Ni, Cu, Mo, Ru, Ag, Hg) are therefore studied. The photocatalytic dehydrogenation of propan-2-ol is used as a model reaction. Structure-activity relationships are found between the intrinsic properties of the MSx/TiO2 and their photocatalytic activity. Measuring an apparent activation energy provides additional mechanistic insights. It shows that the photocatalytic production of hydrogen is mostly limited by the charge carrier separation and by the electronic transfer. Therefore a method combining the UPS and the UV-Visbile absorption spectroscopies has been develop to establish the electronic structure of photocatalytic powders. This work concludes that the electronic structure plays a crucial role in photocatalysis. With RuS2/TiO2 photocatalyst, the electron transfer is evidenced as the rate-determining step of the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of propan-2-ol

Utilizing Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) applications have previously been extensively researched as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption. In order to make use of the waste heat from industrial processes for LTES purposes, a new demand emerged for PCMs capable of phase change in mid-temperature ranges of 100 °C - 200 °C. This higher temperature requirement made most of the previously studied material inapplicable as they had much lower melting and solidification temperatures. With this in mind, a new generation of PCMs consisting of Sugar Alcohols (SA) has been proposed. Erythritol is seen as an especially promising SA with good thermophysical properties for LTES purposes. However, it has been shown to suffer from severe supercooling, which makes it unreliable in real applications. To eradicate this issue, two additives, Graphene Oxide (GO) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at varying mass fractions were mixed with pure erythritol to form a composite which was studied using the Temperature-history (T-history) method to determine its effectiveness in reducing supercooling. Results show that at its most effective mass fraction, GO reduces supercooling by 28 o C and a 31 o C reduction is seen by the addition of PVP. The impacts on the duration of crystallization was also documented and analyzed using the same method. It was observed that the duration of crystallization was increased with increasing mass fractions of the additives. Other important properties of the composites were also studied in order to determine the overall feasibility for industrial applications. It includes analysis of the storage capacity through latent heat, changes in viscosity along with impacts on thermal diffusivity of the composites. / Att använda fasändringsmaterial (PCM) för termisk energilagring i form av latent värme (LTES) har tidigare extensivt forskats och undersökts som en lösning för att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser från energiförbrukning. För att utnyttja spillvärme från industriella processer för LTES-ändamål uppstod en efterfrågan på PCM som ändrar fas i temperaturer mellan 100 °C - 200 °C. Detta krav på högre temperatur gjorde att de flesta av de tidigare aktuella materialen inte kunde tillämpas eftersom de hade mycket lägre smält- och kristalliseringstemperaturer. Med detta i åtanke har en ny generation av PCM bestående av sockeralkoholer (SA) föreslagits. Erytritol ses som ett särskilt lovande SA med goda egenskaper för LTES-ändamål. Den har dock visat sig drabbas av svår underkylning, vilket gör den opålitligt i verkliga tillämpningar. För att utrota detta problem blandades två tillsatser, Graphene Oxide (GO) och Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) vid olika massfraktioner med ren erytritol för att bilda en komposit som studerades med metoden Temperature-history (T-history) för att bestämma dess effektivitet på att minska underkylningen. Resultaten visar att GO på sin mest effektiva massfraktion minskar underkylningen med 28 o C och tillsats av PVP lyckats minska den med som mest 31 o C. Påverkningarna på varaktighet av kristallisering dokumenterades och analyserades med samma metod. Det var observerad att varaktigheten av kristallisering ökades med ökande massfraktioner av tillsatserna. Även andra viktiga egenskaper hos kompositerna studerades för att avgöra rimligheten att använda dessa för industriella tillämpningar. Det inkluderar analys av lagringskapaciteten genom latent värme, förändringar i viskositet tillsammans med påverkan på kompositernas termiska diffusivitet.

Utilizing Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) applications have previously been extensively researched as a measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption. In order to make use of the waste heat from industrial processes for LTES purposes, a new demand emerged for PCMs capable of phase change in mid-temperature ranges of 100 °C - 200 °C. This higher temperature requirement made most of the previously studied material inapplicable as they had much lower melting and solidification temperatures. With this in mind, a new generation of PCMs consisting of Sugar Alcohols (SA) has been proposed. Erythritol is seen as an especially promising SA with good thermophysical properties for LTES purposes. However, it has been shown to suffer from severe supercooling, which makes it unreliable in real applications. To eradicate this issue, two additives, Graphene Oxide (GO) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at varying mass fractions were mixed with pure erythritol to form a composite which was studied using the Temperature-history (T-history) method to determine its effectiveness in reducing supercooling. Results show that at its most effective mass fraction, GO reduces supercooling by 28 oC and a 31 oC reduction is seen by the addition of PVP. The impacts on the duration of crystallization was also documented and analyzed using the same method. It was observed that the duration of crystallization was increased with increasing mass fractions of the additives. Other important properties of the composites were also studied in order to determine the overall feasibility for industrial applications. It includes analysis of the storage capacity through latent heat, changes in viscosity along with impacts on thermal diffusivity of the composites. / Att använda fasändringsmaterial (PCM) för termisk energilagring i form av latent värme (LTES) har tidigare extensivt forskats och undersökts som en lösning för att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser från energiförbrukning. För att utnyttja spillvärme från industriella processer för LTES-ändamål uppstod en efterfrågan på PCM som ändrar fas i temperaturer mellan 100 °C - 200 °C. Detta krav på högre temperatur gjorde att de flesta av de tidigare aktuella materialen inte kunde tillämpas eftersom de hade mycket lägre smält- och kristalliseringstemperaturer. Med detta i åtanke har en ny generation av PCM bestående av sockeralkoholer (SA) föreslagits. Erytritol ses som ett särskilt lovande SA med goda egenskaper för LTES-ändamål. Den har dock visat sig drabbas av svår underkylning, vilket gör den opålitligt i verkliga tillämpningar. För att utrota detta problem blandades två tillsatser, Graphene Oxide (GO) och Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) vid olika massfraktioner med ren erytritol för att bilda en komposit som studerades med metoden Temperature-history (T-history) för att bestämma dess effektivitet på att minska underkylningen. Resultaten visar att GO på sin mest effektiva massfraktion minskar underkylningen med 28 oC och tillsats av PVP lyckats minska den med som mest 31 oC. Påverkningarna på varaktighet av kristallisering dokumenterades och analyserades med samma metod. Det var observerad att varaktigheten av kristallisering ökades med ökande massfraktioner av tillsatserna. Även andra viktiga egenskaper hos kompositerna studerades för att avgöra rimligheten att använda dessa för industriella tillämpningar. Det inkluderar analys av lagringskapaciteten genom latent värme, förändringar i viskositet tillsammans med påverkan på kompositernas termiska diffusivitet.