Two dimensional conjugated polymers: a new class of functional nanomaterials. New technologies depend on the design and development of novel materials. This project will synthesise a new class of materials, namely two dimensional conjugated polymers, which have enormous potential for creating new technologies, for example in electronics and sensing.
A new explanation for the hydrophobic effect. The hydrophobic effect is a fundamental natural phenomenon: why do oil and water spontaneously separate and not mix? The project team proposes a new and novel explanation for this effect, based on known properties of water. The project team's theory explains hydrophobic effects in physics, chemistry and biology.
Breaking emulsions. Droplet coalescence is the key to breaking emulsions, that is, separating oil from water. This process underpins the recovery of crude oil and the remediation of industrial and environmental waste-waters. Through a unique and novel experimental program that simultaneously tracks drop trajectories up to the millimetre scale and drop deformations in the nanometre scale, this project aims to fill a fundamental gap in our understanding of such coalescence events. A complete theor ....Breaking emulsions. Droplet coalescence is the key to breaking emulsions, that is, separating oil from water. This process underpins the recovery of crude oil and the remediation of industrial and environmental waste-waters. Through a unique and novel experimental program that simultaneously tracks drop trajectories up to the millimetre scale and drop deformations in the nanometre scale, this project aims to fill a fundamental gap in our understanding of such coalescence events. A complete theoretical model of coalescence will result, forming a predictive framework for separating emulsions to recover pure oil and water, and laying the foundation for using compound drops to tune the optical properties of surface for speciality applications.Read moreRead less
Theoretical foundations of dynamic surface forces. Australian scientists are current world leaders in developing novel materials for biomedical and industrial applications. This project will create the key theoretical framework to interpret experimental measurements and will be vital in ensuring that our scientific endeavour in novel materials maintains its current world leadership position.
Probing nanoscale disorder in 3D with x-ray free-electron lasers. This project aims to reveal the 3D nanostructure of disordered matter with x-rays for the first time. Existing x-ray scattering techniques for disordered structures currently provide limited, one-dimensional information only. The expected outcomes of the project include an enhanced new capability for the Australian Synchrotron and international x-ray laser facilities, and new insights into the microscopic origins of the properties ....Probing nanoscale disorder in 3D with x-ray free-electron lasers. This project aims to reveal the 3D nanostructure of disordered matter with x-rays for the first time. Existing x-ray scattering techniques for disordered structures currently provide limited, one-dimensional information only. The expected outcomes of the project include an enhanced new capability for the Australian Synchrotron and international x-ray laser facilities, and new insights into the microscopic origins of the properties of liquids and biological membranes. This should benefit research areas that use x-ray scattering to probe the nanostructure of materials for diverse applications such as nanotechnology, fuel cells and drug design.Read moreRead less
Rational design of new synthetic antifreeze molecules for cryopreservation. This project aims to synthesise new carbohydrate-based surfactants optimised for use as cryoprotectants, and to accurately measure, model and optimise their performance. The project will use state-of-the-art experimental methods and advanced phase-field modelling techniques to optimise the cryoprotectants so that they reduce osmotic stress in cells and inhibit ice crystal growth during freezing and thawing. The expected ....Rational design of new synthetic antifreeze molecules for cryopreservation. This project aims to synthesise new carbohydrate-based surfactants optimised for use as cryoprotectants, and to accurately measure, model and optimise their performance. The project will use state-of-the-art experimental methods and advanced phase-field modelling techniques to optimise the cryoprotectants so that they reduce osmotic stress in cells and inhibit ice crystal growth during freezing and thawing. The expected outcomes will be novel cryoprotectants that are easy to synthesise, non-toxic and effective, opening up new possibilities for the cryopreservation of cells, organs and possibly even whole organisms. This will have broad impact in critical applications such as long-term blood storage, reproductive technology and stem cell therapy, as well as preservation of endangered species.Read moreRead less
Algorithms for multi-scale problems in science and engineering. This project aims to develop theoretical formulations and algorithms for modelling fundamental problems in molecular electrostatics, dispersion force theory, acoustics and electromagnetic scattering in applications where current approaches may be useless. Many engineering applications, from microelectronics to bioengineering devices, need to operate across dimensions from a few millimetres down to a million times smaller. This large ....Algorithms for multi-scale problems in science and engineering. This project aims to develop theoretical formulations and algorithms for modelling fundamental problems in molecular electrostatics, dispersion force theory, acoustics and electromagnetic scattering in applications where current approaches may be useless. Many engineering applications, from microelectronics to bioengineering devices, need to operate across dimensions from a few millimetres down to a million times smaller. This large range of length scales means traditional modelling tools and computational techniques will rapidly become intractable. This project will meet this need to strengthen the Australian technological skill base and contribute to innovations in areas ranging from bioengineering to nanotechnology.Read moreRead less
Linking topology and rheology for designing supramolecular polymer networks. This project aims to develop a foundation for understanding how microscopic topology and intermolecular interactions control the flow behaviour of supramolecular polymer networks. Brownian dynamics algorithms will be developed to unravel the complex dynamics of the network and calibrated by comparison with carefully designed experiments. The expected outcome of the project is a quantitative framework for connecting the ....Linking topology and rheology for designing supramolecular polymer networks. This project aims to develop a foundation for understanding how microscopic topology and intermolecular interactions control the flow behaviour of supramolecular polymer networks. Brownian dynamics algorithms will be developed to unravel the complex dynamics of the network and calibrated by comparison with carefully designed experiments. The expected outcome of the project is a quantitative framework for connecting the molecular structure and energy landscape with resulting macroscopic properties. This project should yield significant benefit in the rational design of supramolecular systems in which the thermorheological properties can be tuned over a wide range of force/time scales with applications spanning from enhanced oil recovery to injectable hydrogels.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms and Platforms for Acoustomicrofluidic Intracellular Delivery . This project aims to advance a novel platform to facilitate faster and more effective molecular transport into cells as a means for enhancing cell engineering. Besides elucidating the fundamental physicochemical and biological mechanisms underpinning this new method of intracellular transport through a combination of theoretical modelling and advanced imaging and neutron diffraction, the project aims to show the scalabilit ....Mechanisms and Platforms for Acoustomicrofluidic Intracellular Delivery . This project aims to advance a novel platform to facilitate faster and more effective molecular transport into cells as a means for enhancing cell engineering. Besides elucidating the fundamental physicochemical and biological mechanisms underpinning this new method of intracellular transport through a combination of theoretical modelling and advanced imaging and neutron diffraction, the project aims to show the scalability of the technology for high throughput processing to handle the large cell numbers typically required for doses to be effective in practice. Given recent breakthroughs in cell therapies, it is expected that translation of the technology in the longer term will improve treatments for cancer and other infectious diseases.Read moreRead less
Modelling of soft multi-scale systems. This project develops realistic physical models and efficient computational methods as the platform technology for giving highly accurate predictions of the complex behaviour of soft deformable systems. The outcomes will add to our understanding of the mechano-biology of living cells and artificial soft body tissues, the cellular uptake of nutrients and drugs, the energy-efficient processing of high value pharmaceutical emulsions and the design of functiona ....Modelling of soft multi-scale systems. This project develops realistic physical models and efficient computational methods as the platform technology for giving highly accurate predictions of the complex behaviour of soft deformable systems. The outcomes will add to our understanding of the mechano-biology of living cells and artificial soft body tissues, the cellular uptake of nutrients and drugs, the energy-efficient processing of high value pharmaceutical emulsions and the design of functional polymers and proteins using molecular models. The new knowledge will advance the frontier of material design and characterisation of soft complex materials.Read moreRead less