Fossil fuel resources are not limitless so alternative renewable recourses are needed to fill the void that inevitably will be created once the supplies of this resource start do dwindle. Biomass has the potential to fill this void. Today only a small part of the world annual production of biomass is utilized by humankind, while the rest is allowed to decay naturally. To utilize this renewable resource in the production of fuel and chemicals, the so called bio-refineries specialized in fractionation and making use of all component of the biomass are needed. Ionic liquids could aid in this task. Ionic liquids (ILs) have shown great potential in the field of biomass processing in general and in the pretreatment of (ligno)-cellulose in particular. However, a few things need to be addressed before any large-scale processing can be considered: Finding new routes for IL synthesis that make "on-site" production possible; Investigation into the challenges facing IL pretreatment of (ligno)-cellulose such as possible depolymerization of cellulosic material during the pretreatment and investigating what influence different ILs have on the pretreatment of cellulosic material by methods like enzymatic hydrolysis. This work aims to address these issues and will present a route for IL synthesis making use of alcohols and carboxylic acids both commonly found in a biorefinery. Some of these ILs have also been tested for their ability of dissolve cellulose. Furthermore, this work will address the possibilities but also challenges upon IL-mediated (ligno)-cellulose processing. This includes investigating several ILs and their efficiency as a pretreatment solvent for enzymatic hydrolysis; these studies involve a large variety of different cellulosic materials. This work demonstrated that depolymerization during the IL pretreatment is a possibility and that this can complicate the recovery processes. Furthermore, this work gives guidance into what type of ILs might be suited as pretreatment solvents for different cellulosic materials, including amorphous and crystalline cellulose, processed and native lignocellulose, different types of wood samples and hemicellulose.

This research thesis reports experimental work done to design a stable magneticmicroemulsion of ionic liquid in 2-ethylhexyl laurate with the help of an ionic surfactant andan alcohol co-surfactant. The ionic liquids tested were based on a 1,3-dialkylimidazoliumcation with different alkyl chain lengths and a tetrachloroferrate anion ([FeCl4]+) to ensure theemulsion is sensitive to applied magnetic fields. Tests of solubility of these ionic liquids havebeen performed in different solvents and oils. Emulsification tests have been done withdifferent dispersing medium, surfactants as well as with different components quantities tofind the best composition possible. Polarity and chain length of alkyl radicals in ionic liquidsand hydrocarbons in alcohol co-surfactants were proved to affect the emulsification process.Shorter chains, and higher polarity of [C1C2im]+ [FeCl4]- (at 1wt%) combined with [C1C12im]+[FeCl4]- surfactant (between 3 and 5wt%) and non-polar 1-Hexanol co-surfactant (at 10 wt%)were the best combination to create a stable magnetic microemulsion in 2-ethylhexyl laurate. Applications for this microemulsion could vary from improved oil recovery to transport ofmaterials in liquid medium for examples and have all in common a better and tunablecontrollability of the used liquid via magnetic fields. / Denna forskningsuppsats rapporterar experimentellt arbete som gjorts för att designa enstabil magnetisk mikroemulsion av jonisk vätska i 2-EtylHexyllaurat med hjälp av ett jonisktytaktivt ämne och ett alkoholsamverkande ytaktivt ämne. De joniska vätskorna som testadesvar baserade på en 1,3-dialkylimidazoliumkatjon med olika alkylkedjelängder och entetraklorferratanjon ([FeCl4]+) för att säkerställa att emulsionen är känslig för applicerademagnetfält. Tester av lösligheten av dessa joniska vätskor har utförts i olika lösningsmedel ocholjor. Emulgeringstester har gjorts med olika dispergeringsmedium, ytaktiva ämnen samt medolika mängd komponenter för att hitta bästa möjliga sammansättning. Polaritet ochkedjelängd för alkylradikaler i joniska vätskor och kolväten i alkoholsamverkande ytaktivaämnen visade sig påverka emulgeringsprocessen. Kortare kedjor och högre polaritet för[C1C2im]+[FeCl4]- (vid 1 wt%) kombinerat med [C1C12im]+[FeCl4]- ytaktivt ämne (mellan 3 och 5 wt%) och opolär 1-hexanol medytaktivt medel (vid 10 wt% var den bästa kombinationen föratt skapa en stabil magnetisk mikroemulsion i 2-EtylHexyllaurat. Tillämpningar för denna mikroemulsion kan variera från förbättrad oljeutvinning tilltransport av material i flytande medium till exempel och har alla gemensamt en bättre ochavstämbar styrbarhet av den använda vätskan via magnetfält.