>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Physics is the study of natural phenomena. Nuclear physicists have since the discovery of the nucleus been working on understanding its dynamics. The nuclear chart, analogous to the periodic table of elements, is illustrated in Fig. 1.1 and color coded according to decay modes. Several theoretical models, based on various hypothesis, have been developed during the years in order to understand nuclear phenomena such as nucleon-nucleon (n-n) interactions, binding energies, radii, excited states, etc. Unfortunately, no-unique model is actually able to grasp all nuclear phenomena at the desired level of accuracy. Among the di erent models, we notice that two distinct hypotheses can be used to describe nuclear properties. Firstly, the independent particle shell model (IPSM) + the n-n residual interaction, which assumes that a nucleon moves independently in a potential generated by other nucleons. Secondly, the macroscopic models, where a nucleus is considered as a whole, i.e. neutrons and protons behave cooperatively and are mutually coupled to each other; highlighting the short-ranged character of the nuclear force. The liquid-drop model is an example of such macroscopic models. Re nement of these models is dependent on experimental observations that are better detailed for nuclei along the line of - stability, making up a small fraction of the known isotopes, as shown in Fig. 1.1. In practice, various techniques for studying exotic nuclei up to neutron and proton drip-lines have been devised, including the use of radioactive ion beams. However, the main challenges are the synthesization and short lived periods of these exotic nuclei resulting in insu cient data collection from which the characteristics and structural information are extracted. In general, nuclei have unique structures represented by a particular con guration as given by the shell model (SM). These structures impact a number of physical quantities, e.g. transition probabilities, cross sections and photon-strength functions. Experimental methods such as Coulomb excitation or electromagnetic radiation are used to probe these structures without invoking the nuclear force.

Waste cooking oils (WCOs) are generated every day in the world, and a large amount of WCOs are disposed in landfills as solid wastes. It would cause serious problems. In this study, a novel method for recycling WCO has been developed based on hydrolysis and hydrogenation processes. The final products are value-added and melting point-adjustable WCO fatty acid (WCOFA) phase change materials (PCMs). Moreover, chemical structures characterization and thermal properties investigation have been conducted to discover the chemical structure-thermal properties relations. Building energy modeling was conducted with the properties of WCOFA. With WCOFAs integrated in the building structural insulated panel (SIP), the total yearly energy consumption (EC) would be reduced up to 18.76% based on the geometry of ZOE lab in UNT and the weather data of DFW area. A small-scale experimental building was used to examine the insulation performance of PCMs. It showed that the EC was reduced by 14.80% and cooling system running time was decreased by 12.94%. In addition, the PCM integrated firefighting gloves were tested to discover the thermal insulation performance of PCMs. It was found that the overall thermal protection time could be extended by 2-5 times in conductive tests and around 1.5 times in the radiant/convective tests with 1-mm-thick PCM layer in all six brands of gloves. With the increased moisture content levels, the thermal protection time could be extended 1.4-2.1 times in conductive tests and 1.2-1.5 times in radiant/convective tests.