Advanced Nanostructured Ceramic Composites for Ultracapacitors. The global climate changes and the related disastrous events such as heat flows, bushfires, and flooding will endanger the Australian population and our natural environment. The implementation of effective devices and technologies to reduce our carbon footprint is a priority task. The project addresses the issue by development of new ultracapacitor materials for next generation green energy storage devices through engineering and im ....Advanced Nanostructured Ceramic Composites for Ultracapacitors. The global climate changes and the related disastrous events such as heat flows, bushfires, and flooding will endanger the Australian population and our natural environment. The implementation of effective devices and technologies to reduce our carbon footprint is a priority task. The project addresses the issue by development of new ultracapacitor materials for next generation green energy storage devices through engineering and implementation of advanced nanoceramics and nanocomposites created by innovative nanotechnologies. The project will also contribute to other national research priorities such as materials and frontier technologies, reduction of atmospheric pollution, and decrease in the energy dependence of our country on oil.Read moreRead less
Multivariate approaches to matching spectra for environmental and forensic purposes. Apart from an increased understanding of these commonly-used analytical methods, and their extension to current problems, the outcome of the project will be programs that can be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to give the probability that an oil spill comes from an alleged source. This evidence may be laid before a court, and is more objective than present methods. The identification of illegal drugs ....Multivariate approaches to matching spectra for environmental and forensic purposes. Apart from an increased understanding of these commonly-used analytical methods, and their extension to current problems, the outcome of the project will be programs that can be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to give the probability that an oil spill comes from an alleged source. This evidence may be laid before a court, and is more objective than present methods. The identification of illegal drugs will also be made possible, including information about the country or region of origin, and the place and processes used to refine the drug.Read moreRead less
First principles for development of novel hybrid electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems. Electrochemical energy is regarded as an alternative green energy/power source. The breakthrough technologies to be developed will allow us to realise the great goal of widespread usage of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, inducing dramatic improvements to our environment. It will also help us to reduce our dependence on the current oil-driven economy, and increase national energ ....First principles for development of novel hybrid electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems. Electrochemical energy is regarded as an alternative green energy/power source. The breakthrough technologies to be developed will allow us to realise the great goal of widespread usage of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, inducing dramatic improvements to our environment. It will also help us to reduce our dependence on the current oil-driven economy, and increase national energy security and energy independence. The project will establish indigenous expertise and scientific know-how on electrochemical energy storage and conversion technology. The competitive results from this research will provide an incentive to the Australian automobile and energy industries. Read moreRead less
Control of Nano-Structure for Enhancing the Performance of Magnesium Diboride Superconductor by Chemical Doping. Superconductor technology will play a significant role in a wide range of industry sectors and environments in the twenty first century. Widespread applications now depend significantly on cost-effective resolution of fundamental materials and fabrication issues. The aim of the proposed program is to bring together international experts from four leading groups to tailor the microstru ....Control of Nano-Structure for Enhancing the Performance of Magnesium Diboride Superconductor by Chemical Doping. Superconductor technology will play a significant role in a wide range of industry sectors and environments in the twenty first century. Widespread applications now depend significantly on cost-effective resolution of fundamental materials and fabrication issues. The aim of the proposed program is to bring together international experts from four leading groups to tailor the microstructure at nanoscale to improve flux pinning and the critical current density of the newly discovered magnesium diboride superconductors through readily available chemical doping. The expected outcome is the capability to produce a new generation of superconductors having high performance at low costRead moreRead less
Novel nanostructured high energy cathode material. Recently, the demand for rechargeable batteries has exploded due to the enormous increase in the variety and number of miniaturized devices. It is expected that this demand for high capacity rechargeable batteries as energy sources will become even greater in the future. This program is focused to develop novel high performance cathode materials for lithium rechargeable batteries. The outcomes of the project will be of great benefit to develop ....Novel nanostructured high energy cathode material. Recently, the demand for rechargeable batteries has exploded due to the enormous increase in the variety and number of miniaturized devices. It is expected that this demand for high capacity rechargeable batteries as energy sources will become even greater in the future. This program is focused to develop novel high performance cathode materials for lithium rechargeable batteries. The outcomes of the project will be of great benefit to develop new class rechargeable batteries that are economical, lightweight, environmentlly benign and high energy.Read moreRead less
Development of Nanocrystalline Transition Metal Oxide and Polymer-Transition Metal Oxide Composite Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Battery Applications. Recent work by the applicants has shown that nanocrystalline titanates and aluminates hold considerable promise as lithium battery electrodes. Nanocrystalline anatase materials showed considerably greater lithium intercalation ratios compared with their microcrystalline counterparts, and doping with vanadium showed further improvements in ....Development of Nanocrystalline Transition Metal Oxide and Polymer-Transition Metal Oxide Composite Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Battery Applications. Recent work by the applicants has shown that nanocrystalline titanates and aluminates hold considerable promise as lithium battery electrodes. Nanocrystalline anatase materials showed considerably greater lithium intercalation ratios compared with their microcrystalline counterparts, and doping with vanadium showed further improvements in capacity. Sol-gel synthesised V-doped anatase materials produced an initial discharge capacity of 428 Ah/kg compared with only 280 mAh/kg for the undoped anatase electrode in the same Li test cell.In this project different dopants and preparation conditions will be investigated to produce nanocrystalline rutile and aluminate materials as potential candidates for high capacity lithium battery applications.Read moreRead less
Improvement and synthesis of advanced hydrogen storage materials for fuel cell applications. Energy systems of the future must be cleaner and much more efficient, flexible, and reliable to meet the growing global demand for energy. A hydrogen economy offers a potential solution to satisfying the global energy requirements while reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy security. The enhanced hydrogen storage materials to be investigated will have higher hydr ....Improvement and synthesis of advanced hydrogen storage materials for fuel cell applications. Energy systems of the future must be cleaner and much more efficient, flexible, and reliable to meet the growing global demand for energy. A hydrogen economy offers a potential solution to satisfying the global energy requirements while reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy security. The enhanced hydrogen storage materials to be investigated will have higher hydrogen storage capacity, which can have applications in a variety of areas, including the storage and transport of hydrogen, fuel cells and electric automobiles.Read moreRead less
Disorder and Dynamics in Superionic Conductors. This project will pursue a powerful new approach to superionic conductors, an important class of advanced materials that are critical to the development of clean-energy technologies, such as solid-oxide fuel cells. This will be a new direction for Australian science in the theoretical treatment of material properties. The project will also make significant progress in the computer-aided design of advanced materials, and in the simulation methods th ....Disorder and Dynamics in Superionic Conductors. This project will pursue a powerful new approach to superionic conductors, an important class of advanced materials that are critical to the development of clean-energy technologies, such as solid-oxide fuel cells. This will be a new direction for Australian science in the theoretical treatment of material properties. The project will also make significant progress in the computer-aided design of advanced materials, and in the simulation methods themselves, contributing to pure science in the form of our understanding of the physics and chemistry of materials at the most fundamental level. Read moreRead less