Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101024
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
How antimatter and matter solvates in liquids. This project aims to improve solvation in transport calculations and polar liquids. Solvation, the process of a particle becoming trapped in a liquid, is important in Positron Emission Tomography medical imaging. However, this application can only be described through particle transport simulation, which cannot address solvation. Modelling the dynamical solvation process of the electron and the positron, its antimatter counterpart, is expected to en ....How antimatter and matter solvates in liquids. This project aims to improve solvation in transport calculations and polar liquids. Solvation, the process of a particle becoming trapped in a liquid, is important in Positron Emission Tomography medical imaging. However, this application can only be described through particle transport simulation, which cannot address solvation. Modelling the dynamical solvation process of the electron and the positron, its antimatter counterpart, is expected to enable accurate simulation of medical imaging, acquiring the greatest amount of information for the smallest dosage of radiation to the patient allowing for lower patient radiation doses and more informative scans.Read moreRead less
Advanced photonics with flexible pixels in liquid crystals. Similar to conventional pixels in liquid-crystal displays, the localised micro-defects in liquid crystalline structure can be generated by laser beams and immersed particles. The project will create such reconfigurable, or flexible, pixels for efficient control of optical signals underpinning the development of advanced photonic devices.
Meta-microscopy of insect tissue: How nature grows bicontinuous nanosolids. Several butterfly species grow a complex nano-sculptured matrix whose chiral network structure confers remarkable optical properties, including jewel-like reflections. The formation process remains mysterious and a spectacular case of bottom-up self-assembly at far larger scales than accessible in the lab. The project aims to decipher this process, by (a) tomography of a species where arrested growth sites represent time ....Meta-microscopy of insect tissue: How nature grows bicontinuous nanosolids. Several butterfly species grow a complex nano-sculptured matrix whose chiral network structure confers remarkable optical properties, including jewel-like reflections. The formation process remains mysterious and a spectacular case of bottom-up self-assembly at far larger scales than accessible in the lab. The project aims to decipher this process, by (a) tomography of a species where arrested growth sites represent time-frozen snapshots of the development, and (b) by a combination of micron-resolved in-vivo microscopy of a developing butterfly wing with a growth model to infer nanometer-scale information. This insight will lead to blueprints for self-assembly strategies and shed light on function and form of inner-cellular membranes. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE140100090
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$200,000.00
Summary
Surface and Colloid Characterisation Facility. Surface and colloid characterisation facility: Surface science lies at the heart of biointerface and colloid science. This facility will enable particle size, shape, distribution, surface area and charge to be measured as well as the amount of material adsorbed to interfaces, the configuration of that material and the response of the surface to stimuli such as changing pH or salinity. All these parameters influence the properties of these important ....Surface and Colloid Characterisation Facility. Surface and colloid characterisation facility: Surface science lies at the heart of biointerface and colloid science. This facility will enable particle size, shape, distribution, surface area and charge to be measured as well as the amount of material adsorbed to interfaces, the configuration of that material and the response of the surface to stimuli such as changing pH or salinity. All these parameters influence the properties of these important systems. As such this facility will underpin the research of a number of groups across three institutions over the next decade and promote collaboration between scientists with a range of complementary expertise in fields where surface science is important from biology to ionic liquids.Read moreRead less
Theory and synthesis of self-assembled polyfunctional supramolecular fibres and associated soft materials. Liquid crystals (LCs) and molecular fibres are essential structural and functional components of living systems. A new class of hybrid materials, combining LC and fibrous aspects, will be developed, based on self-assembly of 'linactants', invented by the CI and colleagues.
Hofmeister at work. Implementation of a paradigm shift in physical chemistry. Standard tools of measurement in environmental, industrial, colloid, nano and biosciences rest on classical theories which have been shown to be badly flawed. The faults have been remedied to give a new, predictive and usable foundation that amounts to a paradigm shift of immediate importance to many applications.
Tuning adhesion through polymer chain entanglement. Adhesion in materials relies on the ability to tune molecular scale interactions. This project unlocks knowledge to transfer to industry for the intelligent use of polymer additives at a surface. Outcomes will connect fields including ceramic and minerals processing, waste water treatment and for printing and coatings.
Bulk nanobubbles: from fundamentals to biomedical applications. This project aims to extend optical and acoustic tools to detect bulk nanobubbles, control their size-distributions, and understand how they interact with biomolecules. Liquids containing nanobubbles have numerous applications particularly in biomedicine. Using interdisciplinary approaches, this project expects to gain convincing evidence of the existence of bulk nanobubbles. This is expected to advance existing fundamental knowle ....Bulk nanobubbles: from fundamentals to biomedical applications. This project aims to extend optical and acoustic tools to detect bulk nanobubbles, control their size-distributions, and understand how they interact with biomolecules. Liquids containing nanobubbles have numerous applications particularly in biomedicine. Using interdisciplinary approaches, this project expects to gain convincing evidence of the existence of bulk nanobubbles. This is expected to advance existing fundamental knowledge at the forefront of soft matter research, and give Australia a decisive technological head start in a competitive and lucrative industry through patentable technology.Read moreRead less