The thesis consists of an introduction and three appended papers. Trondheim, 25.01.2017 Alessia Colombo III I would like to acknowledge my Supervisors, Klaartje De Weerdt, Mette Geiker and Harald Justnes, and the Project Manager from Borregaard, Rolf Andreas Lauten, for giving me the opportunity of taking this PhD. Thank you for guiding me through my PhD project and helping me with your expertise, for always aiming to keep the level of our research high, and for supporting me with your enthusiasm and passion for the work. You have taught me a lot under both professional and human level. I would like to acknowledge Gwenn Le Saoût and Nathalie Azema (Ecole des Mines d'Alès, France) for giving me the opportunity of visiting their laboratories and working with them for one week, for the interesting discussions and for their availability in performing, amongst other analyses, the characterization of the materials used in my PhD.