Unusual trisulfide chemistry. This project aims to investigate the mechanism of an unexpected reaction of trisulfides with common amide-containing solvents. Specifically, these solvents (such as dimethylformamide) were discovered to cleave S-S bonds in trisulfides and related polysulfides. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the understanding of the reaction mechanism and then use that understanding for useful chemistry. Expected outcomes of this project include a mechanistic under ....Unusual trisulfide chemistry. This project aims to investigate the mechanism of an unexpected reaction of trisulfides with common amide-containing solvents. Specifically, these solvents (such as dimethylformamide) were discovered to cleave S-S bonds in trisulfides and related polysulfides. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the understanding of the reaction mechanism and then use that understanding for useful chemistry. Expected outcomes of this project include a mechanistic understanding of a new reaction, and the use of this chemistry in polymer synthesis and polymer recycling. This project should provide significant benefits in new knowledge, as well as support new strategies in polymer synthesis and recycling to benefit the environment.Read moreRead less
Carbon fibre thermoplastics as next-generation carbon fibre composites. By combining sizing, chemical grafting, and nano-reinforcement strategies, this project develops chemically and thermally robust thermoplastic interfacial sizing for carbon fiber/thermoplastic composites for rapid manufacturing. Thermostamped carbon fiber/thermoplastic composite prototypes will be used to verify the sizing. In order to demonstrate industrial viability, recyclability and reprocessability analyses will be cond ....Carbon fibre thermoplastics as next-generation carbon fibre composites. By combining sizing, chemical grafting, and nano-reinforcement strategies, this project develops chemically and thermally robust thermoplastic interfacial sizing for carbon fiber/thermoplastic composites for rapid manufacturing. Thermostamped carbon fiber/thermoplastic composite prototypes will be used to verify the sizing. In order to demonstrate industrial viability, recyclability and reprocessability analyses will be conducted. This sizing method can enable high-performance thermoplastic composites in nonaerospace applications with its atomistic level modelling and comprehensive characterisation routine. A key objective of this study is to produce sustainably manufactured composite materials that are also commercially relevant.Read moreRead less
Biomass-derived Carbon Dots Enable Flexible, On-Demand Hydrogen Delivery . Methanol is a promising liquid hydrogen carrier for long distance H2 transportation and exportation, because it is rich in hydrogen content, cheap, recyclable between methanol-formaldehyde and easier to manufacture from renewable resources including biomass waste. The critical bottleneck in adopting methanol as the carrier is the demanding dehydrogenation process. The project aims to create a new class of photocatalyst ba ....Biomass-derived Carbon Dots Enable Flexible, On-Demand Hydrogen Delivery . Methanol is a promising liquid hydrogen carrier for long distance H2 transportation and exportation, because it is rich in hydrogen content, cheap, recyclable between methanol-formaldehyde and easier to manufacture from renewable resources including biomass waste. The critical bottleneck in adopting methanol as the carrier is the demanding dehydrogenation process. The project aims to create a new class of photocatalyst based on biomass-derived carbon nanodots grown on transition metal (di)chalcogenide nanosheets that can effectively enable a light-controlled methanol H2 release of desired quantity. The key outcomes will be a new class of photocatalysts and flexible, on-demand hydrogen delivery technology for liquid hydrogen carriers.Read moreRead less
Sustainable Reversible Polymerisation. This project aims to address the problem of the current lack of efficient chemical recyclability of polymers. For the majority of polymers, no methods exist so far that are scalable and economic at the same time. To reach this aim, we will utilise a mixture of clever chemical concepts with continuous flow engineering. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of depolymerisation and chemical recycling methods. The expected outcome of this p ....Sustainable Reversible Polymerisation. This project aims to address the problem of the current lack of efficient chemical recyclability of polymers. For the majority of polymers, no methods exist so far that are scalable and economic at the same time. To reach this aim, we will utilise a mixture of clever chemical concepts with continuous flow engineering. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of depolymerisation and chemical recycling methods. The expected outcome of this project is a scalable process and its practical demonstration for full chemical recycling of various polymers used in everyday applications. This will provide a benefit to society as it allows to tackle plastic pollution problems, and creates avenues to green methods in plastic recycling.
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