Improvement properties of building materials are essential. In this dissertation thesis, the main concern had been on synthesizing a new resin to improve the properties of concrete and brick. Solvent-based polymers have been used for many years to improve the quality of building materials. In contrast to solvent-based polymers, water-based emulsion polymers are one of the available solutions that have been used to improve the quality of building materials. Several advantages can be enumerated for water-based emulsion polymers such as lower volatile organic compounds (VOC), easier application, lower carbon dioxide emissions in the production, and fossil resource preservation. Water-based emulsion polymers are synthesized from simple homopolymers to copolymers with various monomers and additives. In this research, the synthesis and characterization of water-based acrylic styrene emulsion copolymer had been the main concern. Acrylic monomers could develop the qualities such as thermoplasticity, water solubility, and a longer lifespan of the polymer, while styrene monomers will impart water resistance and stiffness properties. In this research, the first step had been the synthesis of a water-based emulsion copolymer. Furthermore, considering the importance of biodegradability of the synthesized copolymer, the research followed by the replacement of ingredients such as emulsifiers with higher biodegradability characteristics with eco-friendly by-products, i.e. reducing the microplastic hazards. As a result, the copolymer could be decomposed better, and consequently, problems with the release of microplastics will be reduced. The synthesized water-based acrylic styrene emulsion copolymer was characterized by FTIR, DSC, and TGA. The FTIR results confirmed successful emulsion polymerization of acrylic styrene copolymer. DSC results confirmed the formation of an amorphous thermoplastic type of copolymer with a single glass transition temperature. The TGA result also confirms a single decomposition temperature. The film formation was carried out using a film applicator to evaluate the film formation properties. The substitution of the superseded emulsifiers (both anionic and nonionic) did not alter the characteristics of the synthesized copolymer, while some of the qualities such as water absorbance of the dried copolymer are improved (a water absorption test was carried out). To improve the quality of both synthesized emulsion copolymers (with conventional and superseded emulsifiers), the nanocomposite of the emulsion copolymer was prepared (Cloisite 30B at a concentration of 0.2 to 1 %). The synthesized nanocomposite showed better water resistance in the coating application in contrast with emulsion copolymer. The next stage of the research has been concentrated on the application of the synthesized water-based emulsion copolymer to building materials (concrete and brick). The synthesis copolymer has been applied as a coating on the surface of the concrete and bricks. Moreover, the synthesis copolymer was used as one of the ingredients in the mixture of the concrete. The promising results for the coating improved when the synthesis polymer was modified with nanoparticles (Cloisite 30B at a concentration of 1 % weight of the latex). Incorporating the synthesized copolymer in the mixture of concrete caused decreasing in the density of concrete by 4 % ( via air voids formation mechanism). However, water absorption was improved when synthesized copolymer was mixed with the concrete. The synthesized copolymer and the nanocomposite is a suitable coating for the concrete and brick. Furthermore, this copolymer is a suitable water-based coating with improved properties in building materials.

Smörjmedel är en nödvändighet för maskiner för att minska slitage och energiförbrukning. Dock är över 95% av de använda smörjmedlen i dag fossilbaserade. Smörjmedel baserade på vegetabiliska oljor finns tillgängliga men har ofta en lägre oxidativ stabilitet och sämre lågtemperaturegenskaper än deras fossilbaserade motsvarigheter. Ett annat hinder att övervinna är att ersätta vanligt använda förtjockningsmedel i halvfast smörjmedel med biobaserat alternativ vilket också visat sig vara en utmanande uppgift. Representanter för marina biomassa som mikro- och makroalger har potential att användas i framtiden som förnybar råvara källor på grund av deras kemiska sammansättningar såväl som gynnsamma odlingsförhållanden. Mikroalger har ett högt lipidinnehåll och vissa arter har ett högt innehåll av kolväten som liknar råolja. Makroalger har ett högt innehåll av polysackarider med en förtjockningsförmåga i vatten. Även om mikroalger innehåller lovande kolväten och lipider som kan användas i smörjmedelsapplikationer är det idag inte ekonomiskt möjligt att använda mikroalger för att producera produkter med lågt värde. Även makroalger är för kostsamma att kultivera för billiga produkter, För att kunna använda polysackarider som tillsatser i olja måste de vara mer hydrofoba. I denna studie oxiderades alginat först i en ringöppningsreaktion, för att senare reduceras i en Schiff-basformation och reduktion till en mer amfifil polysackarid. Resultaten visade en hög nedbrytning av polysackariden både i oxidationsreaktionen och i reduktionsreaktionen, från en startmolekylvikt av 580 000 g/mol till ~ 10 000 g/mol. Etanol kunde användas i oxidationsreaktionen för att öka den möjliga alginatkoncentrationen. Både FTIR- och 1H-NMR-resultaten indikerade en lyckad oxidation och reduktion. Framtida arbete involverar inblandning av det hydrofobt modifierade alginatet i en basolja och utvärdering av effekten av den erhållna biobaserade basoljekomponenten på oljeegenskaperna, till exempelökning av viskositeten, oxidationsstabilitet och förtjockningsbeteenden. / Lubricants are a necessity for machineries in order to reduce friction and wear. However, over 95% of the lubricants used today are fossil-based. Vegetable oil-based lubricants are available but often possess lower oxidative stability and poorer low temperature properties than their fossil-based counterparts. Vegetable oils are therefore not a perfect solution to reduce crude oil usage. Another obstacle to overcome would be a replacement of commonly used thickeners in semisolid lubricants with bio-based alternative, which has proven to be a challenging task. Marine biomass representatives such as micro-and macroalgae have the potential to be used in the future as renewable feedstock sources due to their chemical compositions as well as beneficial cultivation conditions such as usage of non-arable land and saltwater. Microalgae have a high lipid content, and in some species a high content of hydrocarbons similar to crude oil. Macroalgae have a high content of polysaccharides, some with gelling abilities. Even though microalgae contain promising hydrocarbons and lipids that can be used in lubricant applications, it is currently not economically feasible to use microalgae to produce low valueproducts. Macroalgae are also too expensive to cultivate to be used in low price products. In order to use polysaccharides as additives in oil, they need to be more amphiphilic. In this study, alginate, derived from brown seaweed, was first oxidized in a ring opening reaction to later be reduced in a Schiff base formation and reduction to introduce more hydrophobic side groups. The results revealed a severe degradation of the polysaccharide both in the oxidation and in the reduction reaction, from a starting molecular weight of 580 000 g/mol to ~ 10 000 g/mol. Ethanol was proved to be a suitable solvent in the oxidation reaction which increased the possible alginate concentration. Both FTIR and 1H-NMR results indicated a successful oxidation and reduction. Future work involves incorporation of the hydrophobically modified alginate in a base oil and evaluation of the presence of the obtained bio-based base oil component on the oil properties, for example viscosity increase, oxidation stability and thickening behaviors.

The focus of the project was to alter and optimize the water repellant textile coating formulations to reach enhanced durability. For this purpose, the project was approached with three methods. Firstly, bio-based components were implemented in the mother emulsion to act as surfactant and crosslinking agent and to provide hydrophobic properties. Secondly different binders were added to crosslink and increase the coating resistance towards washes. Lastly additives at nano-scale were added to increase surface roughness in order to obtain higher hydrophobicity and improved of crosslinking capacity due to the presence of more functional groups.  The stability of all emulsions was controlled using different techniques such as optical microscopy to determine particle size, distribution and any observable instability (flocculation etc.), normal aging at room temperature and accelerated aging using higher temperature. All coatings were applied using a laboratory padder on standard PA and PES pieces of textiles and hydrophobic performance was evaluated through ISO 4920 spray test. By standard washing and repeating spray test, durability could be assessed. Further structure and property studies have been run using other tests such as: contact angle measurement, breathability of the coating and SEM observations. Based on the obtained results the incorporation of low HLB, bio-based surfactants in low amount (~0,25%) resulted in an increase in the hydrophobic performance of the tested textiles. However, a decrease in shelf life could be observed with these surfactants at room temperature. Sonication was successfully used to increase both stability and shelf life significantly. Some binders and nanoparticles proved to be successful in increasing the coating quality and thus the durability. Overall many of the developed formulations could enhance performance on PA compared to the already present commercial product. On PES textile, however, the developed strategies yielded hydrophobic effect close to the commercial product.

Marine ecosystems can be a promising reservoir of various kinds of chemical components, applicable as pharmaceutical materials, food, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and others for different industry. As an example, Tunicates, a group of marine animals, have been attracted a lot of attention in medical application, food market, water pollution issues, and Cellulose nanomaterial production due to their consisting of chemical compounds such as cellulose, amino-sugars, and proteins or protein-polysaccharide complexes e.g. collagen, glycosaminoglycan, chitin, scleroprotein, iodine-binding proteins, and elastin. In this project,  two dominant species of Scandinavian Tunicates, i.e. Ciona intestinalis and Clavelina lepadiformis, harvested from Norwegian ocean have been classified according to body sizes, depths from the ocean surface, ages and species, and separated physically into outer layer and internal organs, followed by measurements of sugar composition, oil content, and  protein content. Application potentials have been investigated by trials for production of pure crystalline cellulose, bioethanol, and biodiesel, and by analysis of amino acid composition of the samples. The cellulose percentage and cellulose yield for the chemically pure cellulose obtained, is around 96% and 54% respectively, and the protein content is decreased step by step by the acid, alkali, and bleaching process applied. Bioethanol can be obtained by fermentation of tunicate hydrolysate with strains A and C which are derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The biodiesel yield of tunicate samples is around 4-6% as an average. The amino acid compositions in our tunicate samples are similar to egg albumin, implying tunicate being an alternative material for animal feed production. Several processing treatments have been conducted with the aims to fractionate tunicate biomass components or enhance the cellulose accessibility and reactivity. After a single processing step, Ba(OH)2 treated samples seemed to be the best in terms of both cellulose preservation (66.5% cellulose) and protein removal (6% protein in the treated residue). Results from the physical separation plus washing reveal that the highest amount of cellulose and protein presents is found in the outer (Tunic) part and internal organs of Tunicate samples respectively. Data obtained from FTIR(Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) and SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope) indicate that among all processing trials, H3PO4 is the most effective in decreasing the cellulose crystallinity, which renders a higher accessibility for acidic or enzymatic reaction during bioethanol production due to a higher amount of amorphous structure of cellulose. From the analysis results of component contents and structures, it could be concluded that increase of deepness results in a decrease of sugar content of the Tunicate samples while there are no differences in protein and carbohydrate content in different tunicate species. The body size has a positive influence on the protein content and the sample age alters the contents of both sugar and protein. In addition, Tunicate oil has high phospholipid content instead of glycerol ester, the latter being the common oil from vegetable origins. Moreover, lots of free fatty acid is present, and the composition profile of Tunicate fatty acids seems to be similar to fish oil, as revealed by NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy), FTIR, and GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry).

Det finns en växande efterfrågan på nya material från biomassa för produktion av nya och ersättning av befintliga kemikalier, bränslen och material. Genom att förstå den kemiska sammansättningen hos ett material och dess strukturella egenskaper kan vi enklare hitta lämpliga användningsområden. Optotracing är en ny metod för fluorescensbaserad visualisering av biopolymerer. I detta projekt användes optotracertekniken som metod för fluorescensbaserad visualisering av hemicellulosa, cellulosa och lignin. Detta examensarbete bestod av två delprojekt. Först undersöktes om optotracing kunde användas för att identifiera och differentiera hemicellulosa. Därefter studerade vi möjligheten att använda optotracing för att bekräfta provsammansättningen hos nanocellulosa och för att mäta de fysiska dimensionerna av cellulosananofibriller. Av hemicellulosaproverna som analyserades med optotracern Carbotrace680 detekterades xyloglukan och galaktomannan. Förekomsten av cellulosa i både kommersiellt tillgängliga prover och extrakt kunde bedömas av Carbotrace680. Spektroskopimetoden möjliggör även detektion av lignin. Fibrillära fina strukturer detekterades med konfokalmikroskop och med svepelektronmikroskop. I detta projekt kunde även möjligheten att använda optotracing-tekniken för anatomisk kartläggning och därmed ta reda på sammansättningen i förhållande till den fysiska platsen i växter bekräftas. / There is a growing demand for new materials from biomass to produce new and replacement of existing chemicals, fuels, and materials. By understanding the chemical composition of a material and its structural characteristics, we can more easily find suitable applications. Optotracing technology is a novel method for fluorescence-based visualization of biopolymers. In this project, the optotracer technology was used as a method for fluorescence-based visualization of hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin. This thesis consisted of two sub-projects. First, it was investigated whether optotracing could be used to identify and differentiate hemicelluloses. Second, it was investigated whether optotracing could be used to analyze nanocellulose to confirm sample composition and to measure the physical dimensions of cellulose nanofibrils. Out of the hemicellulose samples that were analyzed with the optotracer Carbotrace680, xyloglucan and galactomannan were detected. The presence of cellulose in both commercially available samples and extracts could be assessed by Carbotrace680. Furthermore, the spectroscopy method also allowed us to detect lignin. Fibrillar fine structures were detected by confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In this project, the possibility of using the optotracing technology for anatomical mapping and thus finding out the composition in relation to the physical location in plants could also be confirmed.

Electrical machines have been widely used along the last decades with large life length under operating conditions. However, they will become more important in the upcoming years because of the emerging electric car industry. Thus, the maintenance cost of this technology can be reduced by extending the lifetime in the electrical machines. Despite the fact that existing numerous studies within the life length in these devices, only few study the effect of the thermomechanical stresses of insulation. The core of this master thesis is to study the influence of these stresses in the insulation material of a winding. The tested electrical machines were subjected to different test conditions, allowing to analyse multiple aging effects in the winding. To achieve these effects, power cycling tests were carried out on stators, where the windings were tested in cycles with different ΔT and two cooling methods: air cooling and oil cooling. The results showed large aging differences between the two cooling methods employed. The aging effect in the oil cooling method was higher than in the air cooling method for the same number of cycles. However, the aging effects regarding the same cooling process had not wide differences between the different test temperatures.

The air intake manifold is an integral part of modern internal combustion engines. Currently manufactured in glass fibre reinforced PA66, inquiries have been raised regarding a change of material to glass fibre reinforced PP. A new engine project is the purpose for which this proposed material is evaluated. The thermochemical environment in the air intake system puts high demands on the material. Ageing treatments and tensile testing was conducted on samples of the new material, as well as on the currently used PA66 to evaluate mechanical response of each material to treatments made to simulate the air intake environment. Furthermore, understanding of the chemical setup is lacking and needs to be studied. Experiments was performed to study the chemistry of the intake environment. Results indicated that PP can retain sufficient mechanical rigidity and strength when subjected to parameters made to simulate the air intake. Moreover, results regarding the chemical environment in the air intake system provided limited information.

Glucose, as the most plentiful sugar in nature, is a renewable resource and possesses excellent record in health safety. Levulinic acid is a platform chemical which plays an important role  in  biomass transformation and reactive intermediates. Both glucose and levulinic acid can be produced by biomass conversion with green processing techno logies. Due to the rising needs for bio-based, eco-friendly and non-toxic plasticizers, glucose levulinates as bio­ plasticizers were synthesized from glucose and levulinic acid, by utilizing microwave radiation or conventional condensation reaction (direct-heating method ). Acid number for the reaction liquor was measured by acid-base titration to follow the decrease of acid groups due to the reaction and the trend in  the acid number within reaction time displayed the process of esterification and possible sensitivity of the reaction rate to reaction scale. It showed that microwave radiation had superior ability in  enhancing reaction speed but it was also more sensitive to reaction scale and generated more diverse prod ucts  than the direct-heating method. Besides, the process of reaction and formation  of ester  bonds was  followed  and confirmed by FT IR. The achieved levulinate products were extracted by 2-pro panol and ethyl acetate. The practices showed several serio us problems in 2-propanol extraction, including high dosage required  for  NaCl and solvent and difficulties in purification. The ethyl acetate proved to be a suitable solvent for this study and the  extrac ted  product s  from  the Con-24hrs  and Micro-3/4/5/6/7hrs  were  characterized  by  1H  NMR,  13C N :tvlR. and LDI-MS. The results from spectrum suggested the presence of GL,. and G J .'l. type of levulinates. That means the glucose levulinates were  successfully  synthesized  although  the  dehydration side reaction of glucose was inevitable leading to the generation of glucosidic bonds. In addition, BG (mixture of glucose and glycosidic levulinates) was evaluated by so lution casting of starch and PVC. In order to minimize the microbial contaminations in solution casting of  starch, a  modified  method  was raised and applied. The results showed that 40% BG had goo d miscibility with starch and the conclusion was further proved by DSC measurements, while the BG performed poor miscibility with  PVC.

The utilization of fiber-based packages has started to take more place at the packaging sector but is still restricted by a lack of transparency. Today this challenge is tried to be solved by paying more attention on the characteristics of nanofibers and their possibilities. The usage of nanofibers is, however, facing issues such as long dewatering times, demand to modify pulp fibers and changes in production line machines. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to bring up new insights how to enhance the translucence in fiber-based packaging materials by an impregnation treatment without fiber modification, long dewatering time or toxic impregnation compounds. Four compounds sucrose octaacetate (SOA), sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB), α-D-glucose pentaacetate (GPA) and polyvinylalcohol (PVA) were impregnated into a yellowish uncalendared base paper without surface sizing. The hypothesis was that it is possible to achieve significantly higher translucence of a glassine paper (>>50 %) by impregnation of a compound with a similar refractive index to cellulose and calendering. This study confirmed the hypothesis when calendered 23 % blade coated SAIB samples resulted in translucence over 64 %. At the same time, it was noticed that increase in density did not explain the increased translucence, but more important requirements were the properties of the impregnated compound such as melting point at room temperature, viscosity, amorphous structure and additives of the paper. It was also found that SAIB did not cause negative impacts on tensile strength or contact angle measurements. The results of this study offered fundamental information for the possible future steps towards transparent paper without pulp fiber modifications. / Användningen av fiberbaserade förpackningar ökar inom förpackningssektorn men är fortfarande begränsad av bristen på materialgenomskinlighet. Idag försöker man lösa denna utmaning genom att ägna mer uppmärksamhet åt nanofibrernas egenskaper och deras möjligheter. Användningen av nanofibrer står dock inför problem som långa avvattningstider, behov av att modifiera massafibrerna och förändringar i fiberlinjens utrustning. Därför är syftet med denna studie att ta fram nya insikter om hur man kan förbättra genomskinligheten i fiberbaserade förpackningsmaterial genom en impregneringsbehandling utan fibermodifieringar, långa avvattningstider eller giftiga impregneringskemikalier. Fyra föreningar; sackarosoktaacetat (SOA), sackarosacetatisobutyrat (SAIB), -D-glukospentaacetat (GPA) och polyvinyl alkohol (PVA) impregnerades i ett okalandrerat baspapper utan ytlimning. Hypotesen var att det är möjligt att uppnå signifikant högre genomskinlighet av ett glassinpapper (>>50%) genom impregnering av en förening med liknande brytningsindex som cellulosa följt av kalandrering. Denna studie bekräftade denna hypotes när kalandrerade 23 % bladbelagda SAIB-prover resulterade i genomskinlighet över 64 %. Samtidigt noterades att ökningen i densitet inte förklarade den ökade genomskinligheten utan viktigare krav var egenskaperna hos den impregnerade föreningen såsom smältpunkt vid rumstemperatur, viskositet, amorf struktur och tillsatser av papperet. Det visades också att SAIB inte orsakade negativ påverkan på draghållfasthet eller kontaktvinkelmätningar. Resultaten av denna studie visade grundläggande information för möjliga framtida steg mot transparent papper utan massafibermodifieringar.

Genom ringöppningssampolymerisation av utvalda epoxider och anhydrider möjliggjordes en enkel strategi för att syntetisera funktionella sampolymerer. Sampolymererna hade förmågan att bilda tvärbundna material, och var dessutom benägna för både hydrolytisk och enzymatisk nedbrytning. Användning av organokatalysatorn PPNCl gjorde det möjligt att bilda sampolymerer genom alternerande ringöppning av epoxider och anhydrider. Utbytet var högt, och polymererna nådde molekylvikter i intervallet 0,7–7,6 kg mol-1. De omättade bindningarna i sampolymerernas sidokedjor gav dem förmågan att bilda tvärbundna nätverk. Graden av tvärbindning dikterades av sampolymerernas molekylära struktur och molekylvikt. De termiska egenskaperna hos sampolymererna reglerades genom att variera anhydriden, där strukturella skillnader mellan de valda anhydriderna hade en inverkan Tg och T5%. Tvärbindningsreaktionen resulterade i en ökning av både Tg och T5% i förhållande till de ursprungliga linjära sampolymererna. De klyvbara estergrupperna i sampolymerkedjorna gjorde det möjligt för sampolymererna att genomgå både hydrolytisk och enzymatisk nedbrytning. De nedbrutna sampolymererna påvisade en förändring i molekylvikt och dispersitet, samt en ökad viktminskning. De nedbrutna tvärbundna materialen visade på större svällning och lägre gelinnehåll än de initiala värdena före nedbrytning. Dessa resultat ger en ökad förståelse kring hur strukturen hos epoxid/anhydrid-baserade sampolyestrar påverkar deras egenskaper, så som förmågan att bilda tvärbundna material samt deras nedbrytbarhet. Förhoppningen är att denna studie ska gynna utvecklingen av nya material inom denna klass av polyestrar, och vara till hjälp för att förutse deras potentiella tillämpningar. / The ring-opening copolymerization of selected epoxides and anhydrides enabled a simple strategy to synthesize functional copolymers with the ability to form crosslinked materials and prone to hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation pathways. The synthesis utilized PPNCl as an organocatalyst and allowed the formation of copolymer chains by alternating ring-opening of epoxides and anhydrides in high yield and molar mass in the range of 0.7-7.6 kg mol-1. The pendant unsaturated bonds in the copolymer chains endowed the copolymers with the ability to form crosslinking networks. The degree of crosslinking was dictated by the molecular structure and molar mass of the copolymers. The thermal properties of the copolymers were regulated by varying the anhydrides, the difference in the structure of each anhydride influence the Tg and T5%. Crosslinking reaction indeed increased the Tg and T5% from the native copolymers. The presence of ester as cleavable groups in the copolymer chains allowed the copolymers to undergo hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation. The degraded copolymers showed a change in molar mass and dispersity and increased mass loss. The degraded crosslinked materials showed higher swelling ratio and lower gel content than the initial values before degradation. These results deliver a better understanding of the structure-property relationships, the ability to form crosslinked materials, and the degradation behavior of epoxides/anhydrides-based copolyesters. They should favor the design of new materials belonging to this class of polyesters and to envisage their potential applications.