Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560672
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$202,705.00
Summary
Ultrafast laser facility for chemical, biological and physical investigations of advanced materials. Ultrafast laser techniques are becoming indispensable in many diverse scientific disciplines. Within the Australian scientific community, there is a great need for enhanced access to sophisticated ultrafast laser instrumentation. The expansion to the femtosecond laser facility through the addition of state-of-the-art laser devices, will enable novel laser spectroscopy measurements and advanced op ....Ultrafast laser facility for chemical, biological and physical investigations of advanced materials. Ultrafast laser techniques are becoming indispensable in many diverse scientific disciplines. Within the Australian scientific community, there is a great need for enhanced access to sophisticated ultrafast laser instrumentation. The expansion to the femtosecond laser facility through the addition of state-of-the-art laser devices, will enable novel laser spectroscopy measurements and advanced optical microscopy techniques to be applied to investigations of advanced materials and biological systems. Access to such instrumentation is crucial to fields including photoluminescent conductive polymers, nanoparticles, engineered supramolecules for artificial photosynthetic systems, and photoactivated therapy and drug delivery/release technology.Read moreRead less
Polymer Globules: Beyond the Homopolymer Model. Polymers are long chainlike molecules which play a crucial role in many aspects of our lives. As plastics they represent the most versatile and ubiquitous of man-made materials. Moreover, all living things depend on polymers for the structure of their cells and for the inheritance and function through DNA and proteins. Despite their importance our understanding of polymers is rather limited. The research funded by this proposal will enable us to ....Polymer Globules: Beyond the Homopolymer Model. Polymers are long chainlike molecules which play a crucial role in many aspects of our lives. As plastics they represent the most versatile and ubiquitous of man-made materials. Moreover, all living things depend on polymers for the structure of their cells and for the inheritance and function through DNA and proteins. Despite their importance our understanding of polymers is rather limited. The research funded by this proposal will enable us to understand more complicated kinds of polymers. This will help uncover some fascinating physics and in the long term develop new materials and promote new advances in biology. Read moreRead less
Towards Nano-Assembled Light Emitting Polymer Films. Advanced materials constructed with molecular level architecture through controlled nano-assembly will benefit medical science, biotechnology and nanotechnology, communications and the electronics fields. The national research priorities of nanotechnology and advanced materials through nano-assembly will be promoted by this work. This research will assist Australian industries to further advance these processes and devices leading to better qu ....Towards Nano-Assembled Light Emitting Polymer Films. Advanced materials constructed with molecular level architecture through controlled nano-assembly will benefit medical science, biotechnology and nanotechnology, communications and the electronics fields. The national research priorities of nanotechnology and advanced materials through nano-assembly will be promoted by this work. This research will assist Australian industries to further advance these processes and devices leading to better quality, cheaper, more efficient products. The Australian community will benefit through economic and technological advances. These advanced materials will promote health and environmental wellbeing.Read moreRead less
Biodegradable polymeric microparticles for targeted delivery. The use of microparticles with tuneable physicochemical properties and loading characteristics is of interest in the fields of biomaterials, drug delivery and imaging. Such engineered particles are likely to address problems associated with conventional drugs and drug carriers, including poor disease site selectivity, polymer toxicity, non-biodegradability and free diffusion of drugs throughout the body. These microparticles may provi ....Biodegradable polymeric microparticles for targeted delivery. The use of microparticles with tuneable physicochemical properties and loading characteristics is of interest in the fields of biomaterials, drug delivery and imaging. Such engineered particles are likely to address problems associated with conventional drugs and drug carriers, including poor disease site selectivity, polymer toxicity, non-biodegradability and free diffusion of drugs throughout the body. These microparticles may provide direct advantages to society, including minimally invasive and fast in-vivo diagnostics, localised delivery of drugs and therapeutic agents with increased bioavailability, patient acceptability and reduced healthcare costs.Read moreRead less
Salt, Sugar and Sequence: The Effect of Molecular Forces on Polymer Conformation. We propose a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of single polymer chains, exploring how their shape or conformation, and stretching characteristics are affected by specific molecular interactions. Our tools in this study are both experimental and theoretical: optical tweezers, atomic force microscopy, as well as new theories in colloid science, and computer simulation. In particular, we will exa ....Salt, Sugar and Sequence: The Effect of Molecular Forces on Polymer Conformation. We propose a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of single polymer chains, exploring how their shape or conformation, and stretching characteristics are affected by specific molecular interactions. Our tools in this study are both experimental and theoretical: optical tweezers, atomic force microscopy, as well as new theories in colloid science, and computer simulation. In particular, we will examine the effect of different salts and sugars upon the properties of polymers such as DNA, and how monomer sequence can lead to dramatically different structures in solution which in turn will lead to novel materials.Read moreRead less
Spectroscopy of Complex Fluids in Flow. Complex fluids are composed of polymers and nano-particles in solution. Under flow these fluids may undergo dramatic molecular and nano-particle orientational and spatial ordering that give rise to a fascinating range of rheological behaviour. This project will use state of the art fluorescence spectroscopy which is able to resolve the orientation of single molecules combined with novel rheo-optic methods to characterise flow induced ordering in these flui ....Spectroscopy of Complex Fluids in Flow. Complex fluids are composed of polymers and nano-particles in solution. Under flow these fluids may undergo dramatic molecular and nano-particle orientational and spatial ordering that give rise to a fascinating range of rheological behaviour. This project will use state of the art fluorescence spectroscopy which is able to resolve the orientation of single molecules combined with novel rheo-optic methods to characterise flow induced ordering in these fluids. The flow induced orientation, spatial distribution and nano-particle/macromolecule interactions will be quantified. Theoretical deficiencies in describing complex fluid flow will be reconciled. The experimental insight gained will be exploited to produce novel molecularly ordered materials.
Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560758
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$187,000.00
Summary
Dynamics at Interfaces: a facility for the characterisation of the dynamics of structural reorganisation and adsorption at interfaces. Controlling the flow, stability, and general performance of finely dispersed materials is important in a great number of industries from cosmetics to minerals purification. These properties are often controlled by the addition of material that forms a film at the interface between the dispersed material and the solvent. We seek to develop a facility that will ena ....Dynamics at Interfaces: a facility for the characterisation of the dynamics of structural reorganisation and adsorption at interfaces. Controlling the flow, stability, and general performance of finely dispersed materials is important in a great number of industries from cosmetics to minerals purification. These properties are often controlled by the addition of material that forms a film at the interface between the dispersed material and the solvent. We seek to develop a facility that will enable the properties of this film to be characterized, in particular the rate at which the film responds to mechanical and chemical changes. With this knowledge we hope to relate the nanoscopic properties of the adsorbed film to macroscopic properties of the dispersion and be able to tune the structure of the surface film, in order to control the bulk properties of complex fluids.Read moreRead less
Membrane-associated structure and the effect of metals on Abeta peptide from Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5% of Australians over 65, and will triple by year 2050 without an effective therapy. Much research to understand the causes of the disease has focused on the distinctive amyloid deposits found in patients' cerebral tissue. Recent evidence suggests that nerve cell death is actually directly caused by soluble forms of the protein fragments and metals that form th ....Membrane-associated structure and the effect of metals on Abeta peptide from Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5% of Australians over 65, and will triple by year 2050 without an effective therapy. Much research to understand the causes of the disease has focused on the distinctive amyloid deposits found in patients' cerebral tissue. Recent evidence suggests that nerve cell death is actually directly caused by soluble forms of the protein fragments and metals that form these deposits. We will investigate the specific molecular structure of these fragments with metals in relation to vesicles which mimic the nerve cell surface. This information may facilitate future biomedical efforts work to develop therapies, as well as develop general techniques to study similar structural problems.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0221983
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$900,000.00
Summary
Interface, Particle and Complex Fluid Characterisation Laboratory. This laboratory will provide a state-of-the-art characterisation facility for complex fluids. This will service the needs of 27 research staff and 38 postgraduate students and involve collaboration between twelve major research groups based at the Universities of Melbourne, Newcastle, Monash, La Trobe and RMIT. The facility will enhance the research activities of the collaborating institutions in key strategic areas. The laborat ....Interface, Particle and Complex Fluid Characterisation Laboratory. This laboratory will provide a state-of-the-art characterisation facility for complex fluids. This will service the needs of 27 research staff and 38 postgraduate students and involve collaboration between twelve major research groups based at the Universities of Melbourne, Newcastle, Monash, La Trobe and RMIT. The facility will enhance the research activities of the collaborating institutions in key strategic areas. The laboratory will also act as a facility for undertaking consulting projects with industry groups by the applicants.Read moreRead less
Maximizing solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) with maximum entropy. Nuclear magnetic resonance is an essential technology for the characterisation of important industrial and biomedical molecules, molecular chains and complexes. This project aims to considerably expand the fundamental capability of experimental techniques for the study of materials in the solid state, in particular for a new class of biological nanoparticle. These advances will have important global implications for re ....Maximizing solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) with maximum entropy. Nuclear magnetic resonance is an essential technology for the characterisation of important industrial and biomedical molecules, molecular chains and complexes. This project aims to considerably expand the fundamental capability of experimental techniques for the study of materials in the solid state, in particular for a new class of biological nanoparticle. These advances will have important global implications for research into life-saving therapeutic strategies aimed at many pharmaceutical targets embedded in cell membranes, protein misfolding disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease, as well as development of the next generation of "green" plastics and other advanced polymers.Read moreRead less