This work was carried out during 2016-2020, under the supervision of Professor Orlando J. Rojas. This dissertation was completed under the framework of the DWoC project funded by Business Finland, the "High-value Products from Lignin" (LIFT) project under the NordForsk program and the "BioELCell" (788489) program under the European Commission H2020-ERC-2017-Advanced Grant. Additional acknowledgement goes to the Paper Engineer's Association and Walter Ahlström foundation for their financial support for conference travels. I like to give my deepest appreciation to Professor Orlando J. Rojas for providing me the opportunity to challenge myself for the duration of my doctoral degree. I feel so lucky to become your student. The process was not that smooth, but you are always there to help me. The trust, freedom, knowledge and patience you have given, were all crucial to get me to this stage. The positive influences do not only go to my scientific research, but also to my attitude to life. I am extremely grateful for all your support and guidance. These words cannot express all my feelings, nor my thanks for all your helps. A special thank you to my thesis advisors Dr. Maryam Borghei and Professor Mariko Ago. Maryam, it was great to work alongside you and discover the topic of my doctoral thesis. As an advisor, you are always there for me. Thank you for helping me fix all the issues on both experiments and writings. Mariko, you were with me during the first two years of my doctoral studies, which was a very important time for growth. In order to find my research topic, we tried numerous experiments together; it was a great experience. I also want to thank Gisela Cunha and Julio Arboleda who were my advisors for a short term but gave me good suggestions and inspirations. My gratitude also goes to the project members in DWoC and LIFT. I am especially thankful to Hannes Orelma for managing the WP6 team with such a wonderful and creative atmosphere. A great thanks goes to Meri Lundhal, who introduced spinning to me and acted as an advisor during the whole PhD process. Thank you for all the training and advices you have given and the introduction to Teraloop. Thanks also go to