Mihkel Koel

The general goal of the project is to foster the transition to a fully carbon-neutral economy. The objective is to find new effective and low-cost amine-based protic ionic liquids (IL) for latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES). ILs can be considered potential “green” phase change materials (PCM) which have received little attention despite their excellent properties, like high enthalpy of fusion, high density, stability, and the potential for utilizing renewable feedstocks for their production. The project uses both computational and experimental methods for finding the most likely ILs for LHTES applications. Consequently, the study will provide broad fundamental knowledge on the applicability of ILs considering their physicochemical properties as well as toxicity, corrosivity, and stability along with the impact of nanoparticles on their performance.

The aim of this project is to apply an innovative approach to the study of the antioxidant / antibacterial properties of plant extracts used in folk medicine using structure-based fractionation, characterization by multi-instrumental methods and evaluation of activity against Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and B. burgdorferi).