A range of mesoporous materials based on SBA-15 have been prepared and characterised. The materials were templated by neutral block copolymer P123, and typically have a hexagonal (p6mm) pore structure, with high surface areas and narrow pore size distributions. The removal of the surfactant template by calcination and solvent extraction has been investigated. The aqueous stability of this material, and the hydrolysis of the surface was studied. Organic functional groups were incorporated into the silica surface by co-condensation, or by post synthesis grafting. A range of functional groups were incorporated, including amine, carboxy, allyl and thiol groups. The pore size of the materials was controlled by the addition of trimethoxybenzene during synthesis, which significantly increased the pore size and uptake capacity of the materials. The adsorption of CALB by SBA-15 was investigated, with support materials extracted by calcination or solvent extraction. Rapid uptake at high loading was observed, with a maximum loading of 450 mg g-1 measured. The leaching of the enzyme from the support was investigated, and found to be high with unfunctionalised supports. The leaching from functionalised supports incorporating sulfur groups was significantly reduced. The activity of the immobilised CALB was measured by tributyrin hydrolysis in aqueous media, and by enantioselective transesterification of (R)-1-phenylethanol in organic media. The effect of surface functionalisation for reusability and thermal stability in aqueous systems was investigated. Preliminary studies of supported CALB for dynamic kinetic resolution were carried out, with an investigation of acidic zeolites and a mesoporous supported catalyst for 1-phenylethanol racemisation. The encapsulation of immobilised CALB was investigated, and the activity and reusability of these systems studied.

Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are coolants and lubricants, which are widely employed in metal cutting works. They are designed to be a long lasting product. Manufacturers have designed MWFs with lack of awareness of end-of-life disposal by including biocides, which make biological treatment challenging. Here, Syntilo 9913 was used as a case study to develop a cradle-to-grave product that was biologically stable in use but amenable to sustainable hybrid biological treatment at end-of-life. The product was reverse engineered employing factorial design approach based on a priori knowledge of the product components. From the combinatorial work, it was observed that chemical interactions can results in synergistic and antagonistic effects in terms of the toxicity and biodegradability. One of the major components of most MWFs are amines such as Triethanolamine (TEA). TEA does not biodeteriorate in single compound screening, but in combination with many other components TEA was found to cause "softening" of MWF formulations. Octylamine was found to be best for "bio-hardening" but it was not economically sustainable. Hence, the modified biocide-free synthetic MWF, Syntilo 1601, was reformulated with TEA, isononanoic acid, neodecnoic acid, Cobratec TT50S, and pluronic 17R40, which were resistant to biological treatment. Although, no change in the overall oxidation state of the MWF, metabolic activity did occur as breakdown products were observed. This suggested that both raw materials and metabolic breakdown products were recalcitrant. Thus, immobilisation agents were applied to aid further biodegradation by removing toxic bottleneck compounds. It was found that hybrid nano-iron and kaffir lime leaf performed similarly in removing chemical oxygen demand and ammonium from the system. Work in this Thesis demonstrated that the combined use of biological treatment and immobilisation agents effectively overcome the limitations of biological treatment alone by removing bottleneck compounds, which allowed greater COD reduction. This laboratory scale is a proof of principle, which needs to be tested at full scale.

Ce travail a consisté à préparer des catalyseurs en immobilisant la lipase Mucor miehei dans des matériaux silicatés poreux pour la production de biodiesel à partir d'huiles végétales. Pour développer cette étude, plusieurs systèmes à base de tensioactifs ont été utilisés afin de synthétiser des matériaux silicatés à porosité contrôlée en empruntant des protocoles décrits dans la littérature ou mis au point au laboratoire. Le point commun de ces matériaux, qu'ils soient mésoporeux ou méso-macroporeux est l'organisation hexagonale de leurs mésopores. Les matériaux méso-macroporeux ont été préparés à partir d'émulsions huile dans eau (H/E) et à partir de doubles émulsions (E/H/E) ou encore de nanoparticules solides lipidiques (SLN). Ces différentes matrices ont servi de support pour l'immobilisation de la lipase. Ainsi, plusieurs méthodes ont été investiguées. Premièrement, la lipase a été fixée au support par physisorption en immergeant le matériau dans une solution enzymatique. Deuxièmement, la lipase a été liée de façon covalente à la matrice par des liaisons urée. Pour cela, le matériau a du être fonctionnalisé après sa synthèse. Enfin, l'encapsulation de l'enzyme a été effectuée uniquement avec les supports préparés à partir de doubles émulsions et de SLN. L'ensemble de ces bioréacteurs a été testé en effectuant une réaction de transestérification de l'huile de colza en présence de méthanol. Les conditions de cette méthanolyse ont été optimisées à l'aide d'un plan d'expériences / This work was to prepare catalysts by immobilizing Mucor miehei lipase into silicate porous materials for the biodiesel production from vegetable oils. To develop this study, several systems based on surfactants were used to synthesize silicate materials with controlled porosity by taking protocols described in the literature or developed in the laboratory. The common point of these materials, whether mesoporous or meso-macroporous, is a hexagonal organization of their mesopores. Meso-macroporous materials were prepared from oil-in- water emulsions (O/W) and from double emulsions (W/O/W) or from solid lipid nanoparticles(SLN). These different materials served as a matrix for immobilization of the lipase. Several methods of immobilization were investigated. Firstly, the lipase was fixed into support by physisorption by immersing material in an enzymatic solution. Secondly, the lipase was linked covalently to matrix with urea bonds. In our case, the material had to be functionalized after this synthesis. Finally, the encapsulation method of the enzyme was carried out only with materials prepared form double emulsions and SLN. All bioreactors were tested by performing a transesterification reaction with methanol. The conditions of this methanolysis were optimized with an experimental design

There is an important need to immobilise enzymes for use in industry, to do this I have the promising idea that by conjugating the enzyme to a hydrogel network, thus fabricating a stable biocatalytic network would be a potential method for immobilising enzymes for the manufacture of fine chemicals, this has not been done before for octapeptide systems. Hydrogels have been previously shown as a viable way of immobilising and stabilising enzymes. In this thesis the octapeptide VKVKVEVK (V is valine, K is lysine and E is glutamic acid) is used to immobilise enzymes tagged with VKVKVEVK. This peptide sequence is chosen as it forms stable hydrogels at enzyme appropriate conditions (pH 7). The enzymes chosen are; PETNR as it is well understood and is therefore a good starting point, CDH and CHMO were also chosen as they could combine with PETNR to form a cascade reaction. PETNR was both chemically conjugated to VKVKVEVK (SpepPETNR) and also genetically modified to express the peptide tag (CpepPETNR), whilst CDH and CHMO were genetically modified to express the tag (NpepCDH and CpepCHMO respectively). For S/CpepPETNR retention within the hydrogels was superior to retention for untagged PETNR. NpepCDH was found to not precipitate within the hydrogel whilst untagged was found to do so. CpepCHMO functionalised hydrogels were found to be heterogeneous. Characterisation of CpepPETNR functionalised hydrogels was undertaken using micro differential scanning calorimetry (µDSC), rheology, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). From the µDSC evidence of 'protective immobilisation' was observed by the increase in denaturation energy (+253 kJ mol-1) in the hydrogel in comparison to in solution (+18 kJ mol-1). The ability of S/CpepPETNR functionalised hydrogels to perform the ketoisophorone to levodione biotransformation reaction was explored with yields of 86%. S/CpepPETNR within VKVKVEVK hydrogels was found to retain ~90% conversion for at least 9 months at room temperature. Incubation overnight at 90°C resulted in a yield of 84% of levodione. These two results added more evidence for 'protective immobilisation'. Hydrogels functionalised with NpepCDH or CpepCHMO were characterised using rheology and atomic force microscopy. The biotransformation ability of NpepCDH was elucidated; the overall yield of carvone was a maximum of 54% from the hydrogel phase. NpepCDH was used alongside CpepPETNR for the cascade reaction producing dihydrocarvone in low yields; however, an improvement from 2% to 13% in yield is presented. The yield of lactone products from CpepCHMO functionalised hydrogel was low at 15%. The CpepPETNR/ CpepPETNR cascade reaction proceeded with a yield of 36%. The initial activities of CpepPETNR, NpepCDH and CpepCHMO were assayed in both solution and in gel phase using a modified method. The activities were assessed with varying conditions; temperature, pH, quantity of ethanol and incubation at high and low temperatures. Generally, it was found that immobilisation within the hydrogel phase resulted in 'protective immobilisation' against non-optimal conditions. This work will be of benefit to those who are interesting immobilising enzymes within hydrogels in the future.

The nuclear waste inventory of the UK comprises large quantities of intermediate level wastes (ILW), which will be immobilised by encapsulation within a cementitious grout in stainless steel containers, followed by disposal in a deep engineered geological disposal facility (GDF) within a suitable geological formation. These wastes contain, in addition to radioactive elements, a heterogeneous mix of organic materials, including plastics, cellulose and rubber. Cellulosic items, such as cloth, tissue, filters, paper and wood, are considered particularly problematic, because they are known to be susceptible to degradation under alkaline conditions, forming small chain organic acids with the ability to complex metals and radionuclides. It is predicted that under alkaline conditions isosaccharinic acid (ISA) will form particularly strong complexes with Ni(II), Am(III), Eu(III), Np(IV), Th(IV), and U(IV). As a result, the presence of ISA could affect the migration behaviour of these elements, by increasing their solubility and reducing sorption, thus enhancing their mobility into the near and far field surrounding a GDF. During site operation and then after closure of a GDF, microbial communities have the potential to colonise the steep biogeochemical gradients, running from highly alkaline in the GDF “near field” to circumneutral pH conditions in the surrounding geosphere. Within these steep pH gradients microbial processes can control the fate of organic compounds, such as ISA, and have therefore been considered as an effective self-attenuating mechanism to remove ISA from the groundwater. This thesis aims to deliver a greater understanding of the microbial processes that can potentially use ISA as a carbon source and electron donor, removing it from solution, and thus having a positive impact on radionuclide mobility under GDF-relevant conditions. A microbial enrichment approach was chosen that approaches GDF-relevant conditions to explore the biodegradation of ISA. Cross-disciplinary analyses of water chemistry (pH, Eh, photospectroscopy, IC, ICP), mineralogy (ESEM, XRD, TEM, XAS) and microbiology (light microscopy, next generation sequencing) have demonstrated the ability of bacteria to degrade ISA over a wide range of biogeochemical conditions. Furthermore, key radionuclides (and their non-active analogues), including Ni(II) and U(VI), were precipitated from the groundwater system during ISA biodegradation. Moreover, in the case of uranium, microbial metabolism led to the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV), which is also less soluble. This study highlights the potential for microbial activity to help remove chelating agents from groundwaters surrounding an ILW GDF, and suggests that safety cases that do not include microbial processes may be overly conservative, over-estimating the impact of ISA on radionuclide transport.

L'étude et le développement des procédés de fabrication de levures immobilisées en vue de la réalisation de fermentations de vins a débuté au milieu des années 80. Malgré les bénéfices potentiels que cette technologie pouvait apporter pour le secteur œnologique, peu de procédés d'immobilisation ont réussi à dépasser l'échelle laboratoire ou pilote et ceux qui sont arrivés à l'échelle industrielle n'ont pas eu le succès désiré pour des questions d'ordre technique ou économique. Le premier objectif de ce travail concerne la mise au point du procédé industriel en insistant sur les aspects les plus sensibles, et qui comme tels ont exigé des études complémentaires. Le deuxième objectif de ce travail vise à caractériser du point de vue cinétique et lorsque possible sensoriel, les fermentations avec les levures immobilisées pour la production de vins effervescents et pour la désacidification biologique de moûts. Le troisième et dernier objectif de ce travail consiste à évaluer l'utilisation de levures immobilisées pour la réalisation de la fermentation alcoolique en continu de moût. Pour cela on a fait appel à des fermenteurs continus à lit fixe et à lit fluidisé. / The study and development of yeast immobilization processes for wine fermentations started in the mid 80’s. Even though this technology could be of great benefit for the oenological sector very few process left the laboratory or pilot scale and those which arrived to industrial scale didn’t have the ambitioned success due to technical or economical constraints. The first goal of this work was to develop an industrial process for yeast immobilisation with emphasis on the most sensitive aspects which required further studies. The second objective of this work was to characterise the fermentation kinetics of immobilised yeasts cells during the production sparkling wines and during the deacidification of grape must. Whenever possible the wines produced were also characterised from a sensorial point of view. The third and last goal was to evaluate the use of immobilised yeast cells for continuous fermentation of grape must. For that we have used continuous fixed bed and fluidized bed fermenters.

Lors de ces travaux de thèse effectués en co-tutelle, nous nous sommes intéressés à la fois : <br />(i) à de nouvelles approches synthétiques de macrolactones hydroxylées à 10 chaînons via deux étapes clés de formation d'un hétéroadduit bicyclique et d'ouverture oxydante de ce bicycle.<br />(ii) à la glycosidation de 9-décanolides naturels par une méthodologie utilisant un réactif à iode hypervalent sous une forme immobilisable.<br />Le travail de synthèse multi-étapes a nécessité une étude de la réactivité, en hétérocycloaddition [4+2] à demande électronique inverse, de nouveaux hétérodiènes visant à favoriser une configuration endo des adduits bicycliques obtenus. Ceux-ci ont alors montré des réactivités particulières pouvant conduire à une certaine diversité structurale. Nous avons également développé un nouveau diénophile chiral issu de la cyclohexanone porteur d'une copule oxazolidinone. L'hétérocycloaddition catalysée par l'Eu(fod)3 de ce diénophile avec des arylidènepyruvates de méthyle, s'opère avec un double stéréocontrôle endo et facial excellent et de très bons rendements. Ces résultats ont ensuite pu être mis en application lors de l'accès à des cibles macrolactoniques à 10 chaînons d'origine naturelle (décarestrictines et herbarumines). <br /> Dans une seconde partie, nous avons mis au point la synthèse de nouveaux réactifs à base d'iode hypervalent fonctionnalisés par un groupement sulfonate d'iso-butyle. Nous avons montré que ce groupement permettait l'immobilisation des réactifs iodés hypervalents et surtout de leurs produits d'évolution. L'utilisation d'une résine échangeuse d'ion fonctionnalisée par un azoture permet en effet cette immobilisation via une substitution nucléophile du groupement sulfonate. Nous avons ainsi préparé quatre iodanes (III) à ancre sulfonate originaux et avons testé ces réactifs dans diverses réactions parmi lesquelles l'ouverture oxydante de bicycles, et la O-glycosidation d'alcools polyfonctionnels. Cette dernière nous a permis d'obtenir des structures hybrides décarestrictine-sucre de façon rapide et en limitant les étapes de purification en utilisant la méthodologie précédemment mise au point.

A range of mesoporous materials based on SBA-15, KIT-6 and FDU-12 have been prepared using neutral block copolymers Pluronic P123 and F127 and characterised using methods including electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption. Typically the materials have a hexagonal (p6mm) or cubic (Fm3m and Ia-3d) symmetry and pore geometry and are rendered porous by either calcination or solvent extraction. Organic functional groups were incorporated into the silica walls of the materials by co-condensation in the form of propyl thiols and additives in the form of alkanes were added to control pore size and geometry. The effects of temperature, additives, organic functionalisation, synthesis time and sol-gel composition were investigated and the resulting materials were tested as supports for protein adsorption, enzyme immobilisation, and drug delivery. Two FDU-12 materials of differing entrance and cavity sizes were used to adsorb a range of proteins with molecular weight 17 to 160 kDa to determine if there was a size exclusion effect. It was seen that the larger pore material was able to adsorb proteins of a larger size (molecular weight 105 kDa) and an exclusion effect was observed when the dimension of the proteins became too great (larger than 130 kDa). There was no clear trend for the smaller pore material where each protein was adsorbed to some extent by the material but apart from the smallest protein, myoglobin, mainly on the surface and not within the pores. The adsorption of the lipase B from Candida Antartica, CALB, was studied on a range of mesoporous supports with their templates removed by either calcination or extraction. The effect of pore size and functionalisation was investigated in terms of maximum loading and rate of loading. By functionalising the KIT-6 material the maximum loading of CALB was reduced from 45.5 to 32 mg/g whereas functionalising the FDU-12 material increased the maximum from 33 to 42.5 mg/g. The activity of the immobilised CALB was measured by enantioselective transesterification of (R)-1-phenylethanol in methyltetrabutyl ether (MTBE). The effect of loading, surface functionalisation and reusability in organic media were investigated. Functionalisation with propyl thiol was seen to increase the rate of conversion after 30 minutes for both KIT-6 and FDU-12 materials. Selected FDU-12 and KIT-6 materials with window sizes from 6 to 12 nm and with and without functionalisation were used to carry out a drug release study using Bovine serum albumin (BSA). BSA was loaded onto the material and the uptake quantified using nitrogen adsorption, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. The release of BSA into simulated body fluid at 37 ºC was measured using HPLC. Functionalisation was seen to have little effect. The type of cubic morphology controlled the rate at which the BSA was released. The KIT-6 3D channel material exhibited a burst release initially followed by a steady release of BSA whereas the mesocage FDU-12 material had a slower and more linear release profile, closer to that desired.

The Life Marker Chip (LMC) instrument was developed with the aim to detect evidence of life on Mars. The detection was based on an inhibition immunoassay. In this work aptamers were evaluated as potential alternative to antibodies for the LMC. Aptamers were synthetic oligonucleotides able to bind specifically with high affinity to a wide range of target molecules, and have been also integrated as bioreceptors in several detection instruments. The generation of new aptamers against two small molecules using the FluMag-SELEX method was tested and was verified the adaptability of pre-existing aptamers against small targets to the LMC assay type. Based on the fact that the LMC was going to be integrated into the space programme ExoMars, it was also implemented into a small scale experiment the Planetary Protection and Contamination Control requirements found on a life-search mission. In addition to that aptamers compatibility with a sterilisation procedure used in life-search missions was also tested. Furthermore because of the nature of the small molecules studied, multiple analytical chemistry techniques were assessed to verify covalent chemistry surface immobilisation. Within the project timeline it was not possible to achieve a full aptamer generation process but it was possible to understand the methodology behind the procedure and give input for future work. It was found that the direct implementation of existing aptamers against small molecules into the LMC assay was not successful. It was also seen that in the case of aptamer integration onto the LMC some assay changes would probably have to be made. This information was very useful to understand if aptamers could be an alternative to antibodies and be implemented directly into the LMC. It was found that aptamers survived the preliminary sterilisation method applied, which might open the possibility of making aptamers convenient space bioreceptors, reducing time and costs of instrument Planetary Protection implementation. In conclusion aptamers were not straightforward alternatives to antibodies for the LMC because aptamers interacted differently with their targets in comparison to antibodies, particularly with small molecules. Also the biochemical simplicity of the small molecule targets introduced difficulties in aptamers generation that more complex targets would have not. Although aptamers shown incompatibility with the LMC assay format against small targets, they presented resilience to a sterilisation procedure implemented on space missions which could lead to the development of more robust bioreceptors for space missions. This information was helpful in understanding which assay formats were better for detection of small molecules using aptamers and that might contribute for future assay choices applied in detection instruments. It was also possible to make recommendations for the LMC regarding design and validation methods used in life-search missions based on the lessons learn from the developed of a small scale experiment. The developed work was presented at conferences and mentioned in an article journal, and in that way contributed to the knowledge of the space community in general.

L'un des avantages majeurs des réactions de bioconversion résulte du fait que le milieu réactionnel des biocatalyseurs est l'eau. Ce dit avantage constitue l'une des principales limitations de ces réactions de bioconversion lorsqu'il s'agit de substances lipophiles non solubles dans l'eau connue les stérols. L'efficacité d'un procédé de bioconversion de substances lipophiles solides dépend essentiellement du contact et de 1'interaction entre le biocatalyseur et ce substrat lipophile. Les solutions proposées dans la littérature font appel à des solvants et des produits chimiques de natures souvent toxiques, inflammables et explosives. Ces solutions décrites font perdre à la bioconversion son caractère de biotechnologie blanche. Dans ce travail, nous avons montré qu'en plus de ses avantages connus, l'immobilisation passive de biocatalyseurs au sein d'un support poreux peut favoriser l'interaction cellule-substrat lipophile et augmenter le taux de bioconversion sans utiliser de solvants et de produits chimiques. La réaction modèle étudiée est le clivage de la chaine latérale des stérols par des mycobactéries en vue de l'obtention des androsténones précurseurs naturels des stéroïdes, molécules à forte valeur biologique ajoutée. Le support d'immobilisation le plus performant a été le fruit sec de Luffa cylindrica. Par rapport aux supports organiques classiques tels que les gels de polyacrylamide, les mousses de polyuréthane, la silicone et les plastiques, le fruit sec de Luffa cylindrica présente les avantages suivants : (i) c'est un produit naturel, (ii) biodégradable, (iii) peu onéreux, (iv) non toxique pour les microorganismes, (v) stable du point de vue mécanique et thermique, (vi) et réutilisable.