Characterisation and Stability of Thin Electrowetting Films. Electrowetting is of importance to numerous industrial, biomedical and daily life settings such as microfluidic biopharmaceutical applications, coating technology, electronic displays, optical focusing devices, miniaturised chemical analysis systems for homeland security, etc. The work, aimed at generating an understanding of the complex hydrodynamic and physicochemical processes involved, is fundamental research having generic benefit ....Characterisation and Stability of Thin Electrowetting Films. Electrowetting is of importance to numerous industrial, biomedical and daily life settings such as microfluidic biopharmaceutical applications, coating technology, electronic displays, optical focusing devices, miniaturised chemical analysis systems for homeland security, etc. The work, aimed at generating an understanding of the complex hydrodynamic and physicochemical processes involved, is fundamental research having generic benefits to researchers in interfacial science, electrokinetics and microfluidics. The results will also be beneficial to industrial workers in providing engineering protocols for the development of these devices by identifying optimal conditions for fluid manipulation without prone-to-wear mechanical components. Read moreRead less
Biodegradable immuno-therapeutic nanoparticles. The national benefit relates directly to Promoting and Maintaining Good Health through preventative healthcare as this project will develop a new vaccine delivery platform that will contribute to preventing a host of diseases such as viral infections and malaria. The health benefits of better vaccines directly enhance a Healthy Start to Life and Ageing Well. This area of nanoparticle therapies is a global 'hot spot' and this multi-disciplinary team ....Biodegradable immuno-therapeutic nanoparticles. The national benefit relates directly to Promoting and Maintaining Good Health through preventative healthcare as this project will develop a new vaccine delivery platform that will contribute to preventing a host of diseases such as viral infections and malaria. The health benefits of better vaccines directly enhance a Healthy Start to Life and Ageing Well. This area of nanoparticle therapies is a global 'hot spot' and this multi-disciplinary team could make huge and rapid progressions in this area of therapeutics. New intellectual property in the area of therapeutic particle production is the cornerstone of this project and could deliver lasting economic benefits through the creation of new health products and patents.Read moreRead less
Aerodynamic enhancement of the capture of fine particle emissions and gaseous pollutants by sorbents. Fine particulate emissions alone, and just within Australia's four largest cities, are estimated to be responsible for some 1600 deaths annually, and are a leading cause of asthma and other lung disease. Hence the economic and social benefits of greatly reducing fine particulate emissions is enormous. Similar benefits can be expected to arise from the enhanced capture of SOx, NOx and heavy metal ....Aerodynamic enhancement of the capture of fine particle emissions and gaseous pollutants by sorbents. Fine particulate emissions alone, and just within Australia's four largest cities, are estimated to be responsible for some 1600 deaths annually, and are a leading cause of asthma and other lung disease. Hence the economic and social benefits of greatly reducing fine particulate emissions is enormous. Similar benefits can be expected to arise from the enhanced capture of SOx, NOx and heavy metals. Many of these pollutants also contribute to the greenhouse effect, so the international exploitation of the technology will also help to mitigate climate change. Should suitable sorbents be developed for CO2 capture, the technology will also enhance carbon capture and storage.Read moreRead less
Feasibility Studies of Using AC Electrospraying for Biomaterials Synthesis. The proposed interdisciplinary research is anticipated to benefit workers in academia and industry as well as clinicians and patients. Given the demand for point-of-care drug delivery, micro/nano-encapsulation and biomaterials synthesis, the research will be beneficial to the pharmaceutical industry and spin-off/start-up microfluidic businesses interested in commercially developing these devices. It is intended that the ....Feasibility Studies of Using AC Electrospraying for Biomaterials Synthesis. The proposed interdisciplinary research is anticipated to benefit workers in academia and industry as well as clinicians and patients. Given the demand for point-of-care drug delivery, micro/nano-encapsulation and biomaterials synthesis, the research will be beneficial to the pharmaceutical industry and spin-off/start-up microfluidic businesses interested in commercially developing these devices. It is intended that the work will improve quality of life by advancing biomaterials technology and by making medical treatment more readily accessable, portable and more efficient. For patients, the proposed drug delivery device can help prevent sudden initial bursts of dose during administration, which could potentially have fatal consequences.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775692
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,000.00
Summary
Micro/nano optomechatronics sensing, measurement, and control research facility. This project aims to establish a facility that enhances the capabilities for sensing, positioning, and manipulating of micro/nano scale objects and environment, and as such constitutes the building block for many frontier technologies such as nanotechnology, bio/nano medicine, microsurgery and neurosurgery, biotechnology, microbiology, microfluidics, and micro/nano manufacturing, all of which are still in their infa ....Micro/nano optomechatronics sensing, measurement, and control research facility. This project aims to establish a facility that enhances the capabilities for sensing, positioning, and manipulating of micro/nano scale objects and environment, and as such constitutes the building block for many frontier technologies such as nanotechnology, bio/nano medicine, microsurgery and neurosurgery, biotechnology, microbiology, microfluidics, and micro/nano manufacturing, all of which are still in their infancy and promise to be the challenging areas of research for the next two decades. The outcomes will strengthen Australia's position in world-class innovative scientific research. It also strengthens collaboration between major engineering institutions and medical experts for innovative research and training of researchers.Read moreRead less
Supersonic flow past micro-scale particles: Industrial applications. Droplet based materials processing has developed significantly over the last decade, with applications in a wide range of industries where high-strength, light-weight materials are critical. Our research will allow for continued progress of this method, by developing accurate models to predict the cooling rate throughout the process and hence the physical properties of the finished product. Development of this knowledge will al ....Supersonic flow past micro-scale particles: Industrial applications. Droplet based materials processing has developed significantly over the last decade, with applications in a wide range of industries where high-strength, light-weight materials are critical. Our research will allow for continued progress of this method, by developing accurate models to predict the cooling rate throughout the process and hence the physical properties of the finished product. Development of this knowledge will allow for higher precision products to be produced and allow for new techniques to be developed. This information will allow for material processing in Australia to be maintained at world class levels, and for Australian industry to continue to lead the way in the production of technologically advanced materials.Read moreRead less
The Enhancement of heat transfer in microchannels by microelectomechanical devices. A perennial and extremely important problem in computer chip technology is the provision of adequate cooling. This project is a rare combination of multi-disciplinary activities which will lead to new knowledge in a number of poorly explored areas in heat transfer, whilst at the same time permitting the development of the necessary theoretical and practical fabrication skills for the manufacture of a realistic c ....The Enhancement of heat transfer in microchannels by microelectomechanical devices. A perennial and extremely important problem in computer chip technology is the provision of adequate cooling. This project is a rare combination of multi-disciplinary activities which will lead to new knowledge in a number of poorly explored areas in heat transfer, whilst at the same time permitting the development of the necessary theoretical and practical fabrication skills for the manufacture of a realistic cooling micro devices. The main goal of this project is therefore to design, manufacture and test a very efficient micro-channel cooling device equipped with a micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) synthetic jet generator.Read moreRead less
Radiative Cooling Tuned to the Spectral and Directional Infra-red Properties of the Atmosphere. Growth in the demand for cooling in Australia is a main driver for new power stations while global warming adds to cooling and refrigeration needs. This project extends Australia's leading expertise in solar control using nanoparticles into the area of active and passive cooling, enabling cooling at night to temperatures well below ambient, with little or no power and low cost. 'Cool' will be stored ....Radiative Cooling Tuned to the Spectral and Directional Infra-red Properties of the Atmosphere. Growth in the demand for cooling in Australia is a main driver for new power stations while global warming adds to cooling and refrigeration needs. This project extends Australia's leading expertise in solar control using nanoparticles into the area of active and passive cooling, enabling cooling at night to temperatures well below ambient, with little or no power and low cost. 'Cool' will be stored simply for use the next day. Our systems also allow efficient and low cost water condensation from the atmosphere. They will be of major benefit to developing countries in warm climate zones. High value products will follow, from paints to low cost cooling technology with energy savings around 50% or more.Read moreRead less
DROP DEFORMATION IN CONFINED MICROFLUIDIC GEOMETRIES. Increasingly, high technology applications in biotechnology and microtechnology industries need to process complex (non-Newtonian) fluids with dispersed particles/droplets in channels as small as several microns (microfluidics). A computational fluid dynamic model of non-Newtonian droplet deformation in microfluidic geometries will be developed, and validated using experimental measurements of the flow field in this project. The aim is to und ....DROP DEFORMATION IN CONFINED MICROFLUIDIC GEOMETRIES. Increasingly, high technology applications in biotechnology and microtechnology industries need to process complex (non-Newtonian) fluids with dispersed particles/droplets in channels as small as several microns (microfluidics). A computational fluid dynamic model of non-Newtonian droplet deformation in microfluidic geometries will be developed, and validated using experimental measurements of the flow field in this project. The aim is to understand and quantify factors influencing droplet deformation. Coupling non-Newtonian characteristics with microfluidic geometries will allow the continuous manufacture of micro-particles of specified size and shape for existing and new applications, and will provide guidance for further extending the process to nano-particle manufacture.Read moreRead less
Electro-viscous effects on pressure-driven liquid flow in microchannels. Australian biotechnology, information technology and food technology industries will benefit from the development of new tailored micro- and nano-fluidic devices for processing of non-Newtonian fluids. The efficiency of functional elements such as valves, pumps, mixers, reactors, heat exchangers can be optimised for specific fluids by understanding the coupling between the fluid properties, the device geometry, surface cha ....Electro-viscous effects on pressure-driven liquid flow in microchannels. Australian biotechnology, information technology and food technology industries will benefit from the development of new tailored micro- and nano-fluidic devices for processing of non-Newtonian fluids. The efficiency of functional elements such as valves, pumps, mixers, reactors, heat exchangers can be optimised for specific fluids by understanding the coupling between the fluid properties, the device geometry, surface charge, and the numerical predictions. This understanding will complement development in related projects on non-Newtonian drop and particle formation in microfluidic flows which envisage continuous particle manufacture for novel materials possessing programmable, enhanced functional properties.Read moreRead less