The era of extensive digitalization marked by the fourth industrial revolution has ushered in significant advancements in technologies like automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). These innovations are revolutionizing smart industries like manufacturing, smart energy systems (SESs), and the automotive industry. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the subsequent Industry 5.0 (I5.0) emerged as comprehensive representations of the physical world in the information world, with goals to establish smart factories and promote human-machine coexistence. However, the implementation of I4.0 and I5.0 applications faces challenges related to engineering efficiency, interoperability, and efficient service discovery and binding.

This thesis seeks to address these challenges by exploring potential strategies to develop an efficient System of Systems (SoS) that comprises individual, autonomous systems collaborating to achieve a shared goal. This research examines methods to enhance the efficacy of SoS by refining its engineering procedures, promoting interoperability between standardized protocols and heterogeneous systems, and employing dynamic adaptation mechanisms. It aims to achieve automatic service discovery and interoperability between diverse industrial standards and systems across the different domains within the smart industry by integrating the Eclipse Arrowhead Framework. This IoT framework facilitates secure and seamless communication and collaboration among devices, machines, and systems.

Moreover, this work delves into saving energy consumption in distributed SoS environments. This is achieved through the Demand Response (DR) mechanism in SESs combined with the Eclipse Arrowhead framework. In addition, the thesis examines challenges in automotive testing, specifically in Vehicle-in-the-Loop (VIL) testing environments, which are distributed SoS systems requiring efficient communication, diverse hardware and system interoperability, realistic simulation, and scalable system integration with minimal cost and resource demand. The research also explores flexible methods for integrating heterogeneous environment models into VIL frameworks and proposes a standardized service-oriented vehicle data communication framework to improve interoperability, operational efficiency, and scalability.

The overarching objective is to pave the way for flexible production processes characterized by minimal resource waste, optimized energy consumption, and sustainable solutions. Through this endeavor, the thesis contributes to shaping a more efficient, interoperable, and sustainable smart industrial landscape in the context of Industry 4.0 and beyond.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants whose transport, retention, and removal are governed by complex interactions with natural and engineered surfaces. Despite extensive research, key uncertainties remain regarding how PFAS molecular structure, sorbent chemistry, and environmental conditions jointly control adsorption behavior. This thesis addresses these challenges by systematically investigating PFAS interactions across a range of systems, from soil components to engineered sorbents and dynamic treatment processes. A stepwise experimental approach was applied, beginning with fundamental interactions with soil organic matter and iron (hydr)oxide, followed by competitive adsorption on granular activated carbon and ion exchange resin, and culminating in evaluation of PFAS removal under flow conditions.

The results demonstrate that PFAS sorption in soils is governed primarily by the chemical composition of soil organic matter rather than its total content. In addition, PFAS were shown to influence soil processes by mobilizing dissolved organic matter (DOM), particularly under conditions of weaker sorption. Adsorption onto ferrihydrite was strongly pH-dependent and exhibited non-linear behavior, indicating the formation of multilayer structures at higher concentrations. In engineered systems, adsorption behavior was controlled by both PFAS molecular structure and solution chemistry. Ion exchange resins showed high removal efficiency, particularly for short-chain PFAS, but were sensitive to competition from co-existing ions like phosphate, while granular activated carbon exhibited more variable performance depending on PFAS structure and DOM composition. Dynamic PFAS removal experiments further revealed that system design plays a critical role, with differences in kinetics and breakthrough behavior observed between rotating bed reactors and column systems.

Together, these findings provide a coherent framework linking molecular-scale interactions to system-scale performance. The work highlights that PFAS behavior cannot be understood or predicted based on single factors alone, but rather emerges from the interplay between sorbent properties, PFAS chemistry, and environmental conditions. This has important implications for both environmental risk assessment and the design of remediation strategies, emphasizing the need for mechanistic understanding and matrix-specific evaluation when addressing PFAS contamination.

Biochar demonstrates strong decarbonization potential in concrete but significantly affects workability. To address this and to better understand the effects of biochar on concrete, as well as its role in decarbonizing it, this study applied a volumetric water-to-binder ratio (w/b), replacing cement with biochar powder at 5%, 10%, and 20% by volume, and compared the results with a 5% weight-based replacement. Additionally, prewetted biochar aggregate was used to replace sand at 30%, 60%, and 100% by volume. Various properties were assessed, including rheology, mechanical strength, hydration products, fire resistance, and carbon emissions of the concrete.

For biochar powder used as a cement replacement, the results indicate that the volumetric w/b ratio effectively improved workability and enhanced internal curing, leading to increased hydration products and improved mechanical performance compared to weight-based replacement. Despite a lower cement content, the 10% volumetric biochar sample achieved higher strength than the 5% weight-based sample. Biochar used as a sand replacement in concrete can better enhance internal curing and increase the degree of hydration due to improved moisture retention from the larger replacement volumes compared with its use as a cement replacement. Furthermore, replacing sand with biochar aggregate effectively reduces total shrinkage due to improved internal curing. Total shrinkage at 28 days was reduced by 41%, 55%, and 65% for 30%, 60%, and 100% biochar aggregate replacement levels, respectively.

Regarding fire resistance, both types of biochar increased the temperature gradients in concrete during heating. However, biochar aggregate contributed to a greater increase due to its higher volume and sand replacement ratio than biochar powder, which intensified thermal damage and, at 400 °C, even offset the benefits of accelerated cement hydration.

Due to energy recovery and carbon sequestration, wood biochar replacing 20% of cement reduced concrete carbon emissions by 42%, while fruit biochar replacing 100% of crushed sand reduced emissions by 167%, indicating that the concrete can become an effective carbon sink. However, carbon emissions should not be the sole consideration. Wood biochar used as a cement replacement reduced 56-day compressive strength by 3%, 6%, and 13% at 5 vol%, 10 vol%, and 20 vol%, respectively. Similarly, when fruit biochar replaced sand, the 56-day compressive strength decreased by 7%, 21%, and 47.4% at 30 vol%, 60 vol%, and 100 vol%, respectively.