Biopolymer nanocomposites: lessons from structure-property relationships

The urgent need to address sustainability within material science, driven by global environmental concerns over pollution, climate change, and resource scarcity, has led to a growing interest in bio-based materials. This thesis explores the potential of biopolymers as alternatives to non-renewable resources, specifically the ones derived from...

Exploring the Limits of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Production by Municipal Activated Sludge

Municipal activated sludge can be used for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production, when supplied with volatile fatty acids. In this work, standardized PHA accumulation assays were performed with different activated sludge to determine (1) the maximum biomass PHA content, (2) the degree of enrichment (or volume-to-volume ratio of PHA...

Translocation of DNA through Ultrathin Nanoslits

2D nanoslit devices, where two crystals with atomically flat surfaces are separated by only a few nanometers, have attracted considerable attention because their tunable control over the confinement allows for the discovery of unusual transport behavior of gas, water, and ions. Here, the passage of double-stranded DNA molecules is studied...

The Real-time City: life in a fully adaptable environment

The Real-time City is a city on demand, shaped by customization over time. Inhabitants can shape the content of the city and their personal spaces according to their desires. As situations are continuously changing, the city has to update itself in real-time; analysing the given input, applying parameters and act upon these changing situations....

Analysis of Alginate-like Exopolysaccharides for the Application in Enhanced Oil Recovery

Alginate-like exopolysaccharides (ALE) can be extracted from granular sludge, which is produced during aerobic granular sludge waste water treatment as a waste product. Processing the waste is a costly operation. It is believed that ALE consist mostly of alginates. The chemical and mechanical properties of alginates are potential for the...