Nanoscale electrochemical imaging of catalyst inks for water oxidation. This project aims to reduce the cost of current water splitting technology by making new catalysts from earth abundant materials that will ensure a sustainable technological solution for the storage of renewable energy. This technology is an excellent solution to storing energy from intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar as it generates hydrogen which is a clean fuel. Using new techniques that can image the cata ....Nanoscale electrochemical imaging of catalyst inks for water oxidation. This project aims to reduce the cost of current water splitting technology by making new catalysts from earth abundant materials that will ensure a sustainable technological solution for the storage of renewable energy. This technology is an excellent solution to storing energy from intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar as it generates hydrogen which is a clean fuel. Using new techniques that can image the catalyst at the nanoscale while it is operating is expected to provide the knowledge for developing the next generation of water splitting electrolysers that can be utilised by households and businesses for storing solar or wind energy.Read moreRead less
Functionalising sustainable natural binders for energy storage devices. This project aims to produce low-cost energy storage devices to meet the energy demands and safety requirements of electric appliances, electric vehicles and smart electricity grids. High-cost and non-regenerable resources and existing energy storage devices’ safety issues have hindered the electrification of portable electronic devices and vehicles and use of intermittent solar and wind energy. This project will use sustain ....Functionalising sustainable natural binders for energy storage devices. This project aims to produce low-cost energy storage devices to meet the energy demands and safety requirements of electric appliances, electric vehicles and smart electricity grids. High-cost and non-regenerable resources and existing energy storage devices’ safety issues have hindered the electrification of portable electronic devices and vehicles and use of intermittent solar and wind energy. This project will use sustainable natural polymers to develop green electrode technologies for manufacturing batteries with greatly reduced production and environmental cost. The in-depth understandings from the combination of experiments and computation simulations will help create strategies to realise low cost, long-life and safe batteries.Read moreRead less
Fabrication of High Performance Nanocomposite Photoanodes with Built-in Electron Transport Superhighway for Photoelectrocatalysis Applications. Worldwide, huge fresh water shortage problems force us to recycle/reuse water. For Australia, this is an urgent issue due to our limited fresh water resources. In recent years, rapidly diminishing fossil fuel supplies and dramatically accelerated global warming gives society no alternative but adopt renewable, clean energies. Globally, there is a united ....Fabrication of High Performance Nanocomposite Photoanodes with Built-in Electron Transport Superhighway for Photoelectrocatalysis Applications. Worldwide, huge fresh water shortage problems force us to recycle/reuse water. For Australia, this is an urgent issue due to our limited fresh water resources. In recent years, rapidly diminishing fossil fuel supplies and dramatically accelerated global warming gives society no alternative but adopt renewable, clean energies. Globally, there is a united front calling for action to address these problems. However, a practical solution to the issues can only be found when economically viable alternative technologies are developed. This project aims to tackle the biggest obstacle - the low sunlight conversion efficiency. The success of the project will result in economically viable water treatment and solar energy conversion technologies. Read moreRead less
Advancing green electrochemical engineering of functional 2D nanomaterials. This project aims to produce value-added functional 2D nanomaterials by advancing the green, scalable and cost-effective electrochemical production method developed by the candidate. In addition to developing transformational electrochemical engineering technology to utilise Australian raw resources, this project will generate new knowledge in the area of materials chemistry and innovative additive manufacturing technolo ....Advancing green electrochemical engineering of functional 2D nanomaterials. This project aims to produce value-added functional 2D nanomaterials by advancing the green, scalable and cost-effective electrochemical production method developed by the candidate. In addition to developing transformational electrochemical engineering technology to utilise Australian raw resources, this project will generate new knowledge in the area of materials chemistry and innovative additive manufacturing technology. Expected outcomes of this project include improved pilot-scale electrochemical reactors for producing various functional 2D nanomaterials and enabling precise control of their molecular and bulk properties. These tailored 2D nanomaterials will significantly improve the performances of flexible and energy-related devices.Read moreRead less
Development of a photoelectrochemical system based on Titanium dioxide nanotubes/boron doped diamond heterojunction for online water quality monitoring. The reuse of purified recycled wastewater (PRW) creates an additional water supply source and improves the sustainability of the overall water resources. This calls for online water quality monitoring systems to prevent potential water quality risk from organic contaminants in PRW and enable industries and government bodies to monitor and manage ....Development of a photoelectrochemical system based on Titanium dioxide nanotubes/boron doped diamond heterojunction for online water quality monitoring. The reuse of purified recycled wastewater (PRW) creates an additional water supply source and improves the sustainability of the overall water resources. This calls for online water quality monitoring systems to prevent potential water quality risk from organic contaminants in PRW and enable industries and government bodies to monitor and manage our water resources effectively. The success of the project would lead to a robust and reliable environmental monitoring system capable of online, real-time monitoring of organic pollutants and toxins, which will transform the existing water quality monitoring technology and directly benefit water resource management practice in Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101354
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$448,169.00
Summary
Novel Ion Exchange Membrane for High Performance Vanadium Flow battery. This project aims to design and synthesis novel ion exchange membrane with tailored ion selectivity and high proton conductivity for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). VRFB is a promising energy storage technology for large scale storing renewable energy due to its advantage of decoupled capacity and power, long lifetime. Currently, VRFB suffers from fast capacity decay and cyclic instability because of severe vanadium ion ....Novel Ion Exchange Membrane for High Performance Vanadium Flow battery. This project aims to design and synthesis novel ion exchange membrane with tailored ion selectivity and high proton conductivity for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). VRFB is a promising energy storage technology for large scale storing renewable energy due to its advantage of decoupled capacity and power, long lifetime. Currently, VRFB suffers from fast capacity decay and cyclic instability because of severe vanadium ion permeability of commercial membrane. The expected research outcomes in this project include stable, high ion selectivity membranes made of cost-effective aromatic polymer and robust nanofillers, enabling high performance VRFB. This will place Australia in the forefront of clean energy storage technologies.Read moreRead less
Recyclable and Rechargeable All-Solid-State Sodium Ion Batteries. This project aims to design a new generation recyclable and rechargeable all-solid-state sodium ion battery. We will use low cost and abundant sodium as a substitute for expensive and limited lithium to reduce material and environmental costs, and will develop ceramic/polymer composites as safe and environmentally friendly solid-state electrolytes to replace flammable and toxic organic liquid electrolytes. Furthermore, we design a ....Recyclable and Rechargeable All-Solid-State Sodium Ion Batteries. This project aims to design a new generation recyclable and rechargeable all-solid-state sodium ion battery. We will use low cost and abundant sodium as a substitute for expensive and limited lithium to reduce material and environmental costs, and will develop ceramic/polymer composites as safe and environmentally friendly solid-state electrolytes to replace flammable and toxic organic liquid electrolytes. Furthermore, we design a recyclable battery configuration to allow rapid, low cost and green recycling of end-of-life batteries. The new battery will be a safe, low cost and sustainable energy storage technology for the multi-billion dollar electric vehicle and smart grid markets while simultaneously addressing battery recycling issues.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101662
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is wel ....Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is well suited for applications such as biosensing, energy storage and conversion. Besides achieving scientific breakthroughs in graphene electrochemistry, this project will directly benefit many Australian socio-economic objectives, including manufacturing of Australia's natural resources into valuable energy related products.Read moreRead less
Oxide-based high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are one of the most efficient energy conversion technologies for producing electricity from fuels such as hydrogen and methanol. Current PEMFCs use precious metal catalysts, and the performance of liquid methanol fuel is disappointingly low due to the inability of polymer or hybrid membranes to operate at temperatures above 160-180 degrees centigrade. This work aims to develop an all ox ....Oxide-based high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are one of the most efficient energy conversion technologies for producing electricity from fuels such as hydrogen and methanol. Current PEMFCs use precious metal catalysts, and the performance of liquid methanol fuel is disappointingly low due to the inability of polymer or hybrid membranes to operate at temperatures above 160-180 degrees centigrade. This work aims to develop an all oxide-based PEMFC technology using a recently developed sintered and heteropolyacid functionalised mesoporous silica membrane. The utilisation of all-oxide-PEMFCs using non-precious metal catalysts is expected to significantly enhance the power density, reduce costs, and enhance the commercial viability of PEMFC technologies.Read moreRead less
Development of high performance cathode materials for Lithium-ion batteries. This project will lead to a new family of cathode materials for Lithium-ion batteries with both high energy and power densities. The newly-developed energy storage system will be critically important for the efficient use of renewables in Australia's electricity grid and hybrid transportation industry.