Adsorbent solid phases having suitable designs applicable to the generic recovery of nanoparticulate products have been demonstrated. Practical recovery of nanoparticulate mimics, of products such as plasmid DNA and viruses, as putative gene therapy vectors from both single component model systems and complex feedstocks has been studied. The adsorbents employed in the study had one of four discrete designs (Type I-IV), including (I) microporous (pore size 0.02um- 0.2um), (II) macroporous (pore size > 0.6um), (III) solid (non-porous) and (IV) pellicular (pore size 0.2nm-0.4um). Commercially available adsorbents (STREAMLINE, Amersham Biosciences; Toyopearl HW-40, Tosohaas; POROS SOD, Applied Biosystems) and custom designed adsorbents (PVA composites supplied by Igor Galaev, Lund University; Celbead adsorbents supplied by Arvind Lali, Mumbai University; 2% ZsA and perfluorocarbon emulsions developed at the University of Birmingham) were included in the study. Insect cell culture lysate was employed as an industrially relevant feedstock and experiments were completed exploiting representative nanoparticulate production systems. The adsorptive capacity and desorption efficiency of both nanoparticulate products and cellular component were strongly influenced by the physical design and geometry of the adsorbent solid phases together with the concentrations of interacting chemical ligands available for adsorption. Microporous adsorbents (as defined above) developed for the purification of macromolecular products appeared to be less suited for the recovery of nanoparticulate products from complex feedstocks than macroporous or pellicular adsorbents.

The local dynamics of sandwaves and their crest-shedding turbulent flows has received little mechanistic attention, unlike recent advances in allied fields such as bubbly shear flows. One main purpose of the present project is to address these questions of particle engagement and transport by transient large eddies in the free shear layer over sandwaves. Experimental studies were conducted on the trajectories of model particles over suitably scaled fixed bedforms in a purpose built flume. Three important results emerged. Firstly, trajectories of particles jetted over the crest fell into seven primary modes from short paths beyond the crest to extended downstream transport. Secondly, the vertical profiles of particle concentration exhibited peaks at crest elevation over the trough, comparing with recent field observations by (Soulsby, 1989). Thirdly, flapping excursions of the shear layer were found to enhance lee slope scour and probably account for the sediment clouds observed in Soulsby's field study, here further conjectured to result in sandwave washout at high flow velocities. Favourable comparisons with previous studies are described.

The development and use of functional medical imaging has grown rapidly in importance over the last few decades. The field of medicine primarily uses nuclear imaging techniques for the non-invasive study of physiological processes within the human body. At the University of Birmingham a considerable research effort has been made into adapting these techniques for the study of flow and mixing in solid and liquid systems. However, despite capability, little work has been reported on imaging gases for industrial use. The emission tomography techniques available at Birmingham were adapted and utilised for the study of gaseous flow processes. The work presented in this thesis provides details of the development of a radioactive gas imaging technique capable of studying chemical flow processes. Feasibility studies were performed to compare the capabilities of Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) for imaging dynamic gas flows in a gas fluidised bed, a bubble column and a low pressure adsorption column leading to a more detailed study of CO\(_2\) adsorption at high pressure using PET. In order to verify the technique a comparison between breakthrough data obtained using a CO\(_2\) analyser and the PET image data was made and a qualitative study of the adsorption kinetics inside the column is provided.

Understanding the interactions between proteins and biomaterials underpins the development of novel biomaterials that could produce a specific response towards the surrounding tissue, depending on the application. In this thesis, a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and experimental techniques was deployed to systematically study the effect of the biomaterial surface chemistry on the adsorption of proteins, and consequently the effect of proteins on the lifetime of a metallic biomaterial. It was found that the surface chemistry could have a significant impact on the protein adsorption process because it affects the adsorption kinetics, the driving forces of adsorption, the conformation of the adsorbed protein, and the functionality of the adsorbed protein. Furthermore, the adsorbed proteins could greatly affect the lifetime of a metallic biomaterial via tribocorrosion process where the biomaterial surface is subjected to friction.

Considerable progress in understanding and predicting two-phase flow phenomena has been advanced over the past 10 years or so using a combination of model development, computational techniques and well-designed experiments. However, there remain many modelling uncertainties mainly associated with inadequate physical prescriptions rather than with limitations of the numerical schemes. The present project addresses some of these questions, in particular in relation to dispersive transport by transient large eddies in free shear flows.

The lithium amide halides are a promising series of materials for hydrogen storage as they release hydrogen at a lower temperature than lithium amide on reaction with lithium hydride. The amide chloride system has been studied in detail, and two phases with reduced chloride content, Li\(_7\)(NH\(_2\))\(_6\)Cl and Li\(_6\)Mg\(_1\)\(_/\)\(_2\)(NH\(_2\))\(_6\)Cl, have been identified by powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Both were seen to release hydrogen on reaction with LiH at a lower temperature than lithium amide, and ammonia release was suppressed. Rehydrogenation of the imide products of reaction of both new phases occurred more readily under the conditions used than for the known phase Li\(_4\)(NH\(_2\))\(_3\)Cl. The hydrogen cycling properties of Li\(_7\)(NH\(_2\))\(_6\)Cl were investigated alongside Li\(_7\)(NH\(_2\))\(_6\)Br and Li\(_3\)(NH\(_2\))\(_2\)I. The systems successfully cycled hydrogen, and the reversible structural changes that happened during cycling were studied. All three materials, however, showed a capacity loss on cycling under dynamic vacuum. The conductivity of the amide and imide halides was studied using A.C. impedance and found to be higher than for LiNH\(_2\) and Li\(_2\)NH, respectively. This supports kinetic analyses that indicate ion diffusion is not rate-limiting for the hydrogen cycling of these systems.

The work described in this thesis concerns the design, synthesis, DNA binding and biological activity of palladium(II) supramolecular cylinders that might be capable of recognizing a DNA four-way junction. An introduction to DNA structure will be presented, as well as the different binding modes of natural and synthetic agents that can recognise and bind to DNA. Since this work is focused on the design of large metallo-structures, the general principles of supramolecular chemistry will be summarised with particular emphasis on metallo-supramolecular structures. Palladium(II) supramolecular cylinders have already been reported and these show promising cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines. However, these complexes present poor solubility in aqueous solutions. It is therefore the aim of this thesis to improve the water solubility of palladium(II) supramolecular cylinders without significantly changing their structure or quenching their cytotoxic activity. The DNA binding properties of the newly synthesised palladium(II) complexes will be presented. Several spectroscopic techniques, such as circular and linear dichroism and ethidium bromide displacement assays, as well as electrophoresis experiments were carried out and these will be discussed. Initial DNA four-way junction experiments and cytotoxicity studies will also be discussed.

Algae are well-recognised for their fouling impact on immersed surfaces. During this thesis, the relationships between surface and bulk properties of coatings and the adhesion preferences of a new test species, Ectocarpus crouaniorum, a filamentous brown alga and a significant member of fouling communities, were explored. A novel laboratory-based adhesion bioassay for E. crouaniorum using small filamentous fragments as inocula was developed. The bioassay was used to screen sets of experimental coatings at an appropriate scale in well-replicated and controlled experiments. Sets of coatings with varying wettability, surface charge or modulus were produced, characterised and assayed. The attachment and adhesion preferences of E. crouaniorum were influenced by the surface and bulk properties. These preferences were compared with those of U. linza. No linear correlation was observed between the adhesion strength of E. crouaniorum and wettability in contrast to the linear relationship observed testing U. linza; increase of modulus decreased or increased the adhesion strength of E. crouaniorum and U. linza, respectively. However, both species had lower adhesion on uncharged xerogel coatings. The performance of test coatings was also assessed in field assays and the results showed that these data were not always similar to the laboratory assay.

Understanding the influence of the fabrics microstructure on frictional noise was investigated in terms of surface roughness for three multi-fibre apparel fabrics (denim, cotton and silk) and single-fibre polyester model fabrics. Surface roughness (R\(_a\)) correlated strongly with total noise emitted (R\(^2\) = 0.97) and was attributed to the ‘hairy’ nature of multi-fibre fabrics. In terms of specific frequencies emitted within a fabric’s sound spectrum, the microstructure of the model fabrics was strongly correlated (R\(^2\) = 1.00) with the fundamental harmonic predicted, enabling a ‘fingerprint’ theory to be proposed. Friction coefficients, measured using tribology, of apparel and model fabrics were established, and showed that the major impact on friction was R\(_a\) and fibre type. Furthermore, friction was reduced via the lubrication of hydrocolloid fluid gel particulates, by means of reducing the surface roughness by filling in asperities and reducing the hairy nature of the fibres. Consumer perceptions of fabrics and fabric sounds were established with one-to-one interviews, and the influence of sound on sensory perception and liking was established by manipulating real-time fabric sounds, showing that by altering high and low frequencies, and overall noise, a significant difference in sensory attribute 'textured' can be observed.

The aim of this project was to assess treatment processes for an effluent generated from the manufacture of a mixture of dinitroethylbenzene and trinitroethylbenzene, known as K10.