Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100048
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,052,296.00
Summary
Developing a recyclable carbon fibre composite capability for Australia. This project will use innovative surface modification techniques on reclaimed and virgin carbon fibres to enhance their compatibility with thermoplastic polymers. Valorising reclaimed carbon fibres and optimising thermoplastic composite materials will overcome the global industry challenges of: Raw material shortfall and High-volume manufacture, respectively. The successful implementation of this work will enable the critic ....Developing a recyclable carbon fibre composite capability for Australia. This project will use innovative surface modification techniques on reclaimed and virgin carbon fibres to enhance their compatibility with thermoplastic polymers. Valorising reclaimed carbon fibres and optimising thermoplastic composite materials will overcome the global industry challenges of: Raw material shortfall and High-volume manufacture, respectively. The successful implementation of this work will enable the critical role that high performance carbon fibre composite materials will play in transitioning to alternative energy sectors such as wind and hydrogen. This fellowship will create a sovereign capability and source of high value materials for Australia that will benefit energy, construction, mining, and defence.Read moreRead less
Orthogonal Sensing Strategies for Soft Sensors to Discern Multiple Stimuli . The project seeks to create new orthogonal sensing technologies that enable a single soft sensor to detect multiple mechanical and thermal stimuli, overcoming the challenge of cross-talk between stimuli. The project expects to generate new knowledge of orthogonal sensing mechanisms and the effects of microstructure designs. The expected outcomes include novel soft sensors capable of accurately detecting pressure, stretc ....Orthogonal Sensing Strategies for Soft Sensors to Discern Multiple Stimuli . The project seeks to create new orthogonal sensing technologies that enable a single soft sensor to detect multiple mechanical and thermal stimuli, overcoming the challenge of cross-talk between stimuli. The project expects to generate new knowledge of orthogonal sensing mechanisms and the effects of microstructure designs. The expected outcomes include novel soft sensors capable of accurately detecting pressure, stretch, shear, and temperature simultaneously. The new technologies are expected to support Australian companies in developing, producing and exporting sensors for soft robots and wearable devices for health monitoring, an area recognized as a key priority by the Federal Government’s Industry Growth Centres.Read moreRead less
Bioinspired Ceramifiable Fire-Retardant Composite Coatings. This project aims to design bioinspired, adhesive, ceramifiable fire-retardant coatings through understanding their composition-property relationship and fire-retardant mechanism. The fire-retardant coatings are then applied to typical polymer foams to create fire-safe building thermal insulation materials. This project will generate new knowledge in materials science that helps to expedite next-generation advanced fire-retardant coatin ....Bioinspired Ceramifiable Fire-Retardant Composite Coatings. This project aims to design bioinspired, adhesive, ceramifiable fire-retardant coatings through understanding their composition-property relationship and fire-retardant mechanism. The fire-retardant coatings are then applied to typical polymer foams to create fire-safe building thermal insulation materials. This project will generate new knowledge in materials science that helps to expedite next-generation advanced fire-retardant coatings for a variety of flammable substrates. Expected outcomes of this project are cost-effective fire-retardant coatings and fire-safe, inexpensive thermal insulation materials. This project will bring significant economic benefits to Australia and help to create fire-resilient and energy-efficient buildings.Read moreRead less
Nano-toughening of Conductive Composites with High Electrical Ductility. This project aims to develop a new technology to effectively toughen conductive thin films including metals and conductive polymers with significantly improved mechanical robustness for next-generation stretchable electronics. This new technique will tackle the major limitation of stretchable electronics propensity to abrupt electrical failure caused by plastic deformation and long channel cracks in conductive thin films of ....Nano-toughening of Conductive Composites with High Electrical Ductility. This project aims to develop a new technology to effectively toughen conductive thin films including metals and conductive polymers with significantly improved mechanical robustness for next-generation stretchable electronics. This new technique will tackle the major limitation of stretchable electronics propensity to abrupt electrical failure caused by plastic deformation and long channel cracks in conductive thin films of low yield strain and ductility. By overcoming the bottleneck issue of low stretchability and ductility of existing conductive thin film materials, it will be possible to significantly expand the design space of flexible and stretchable electronic devices.Read moreRead less
Flame-Retarding and Mechanically Resilient Elastomer Composites. This project will develop a new generation of flame-retarding and mechanically resilient elastomer composites by taking advantage of nanoscale effect and synergy. The outcomes will be two types of flame-retarding additive pellets and their elastomer composites; these pellets also suit other polymers such as thermoplastics. The elastomer composites are expected to have excellent flame retardancy, mechanical properties, and fatigue p ....Flame-Retarding and Mechanically Resilient Elastomer Composites. This project will develop a new generation of flame-retarding and mechanically resilient elastomer composites by taking advantage of nanoscale effect and synergy. The outcomes will be two types of flame-retarding additive pellets and their elastomer composites; these pellets also suit other polymers such as thermoplastics. The elastomer composites are expected to have excellent flame retardancy, mechanical properties, and fatigue performance, to meet the demands from industrial partners. The project will provide a platform for elastomer manufacturing industry to develop flame-retarding, high-performance products for domestic applications and for export. Read moreRead less
Fire-Retardant Composite Resins for Bushfire-Safe Wind Farm Infrastructures. This project aims to develop advanced fire-retardant composite resins for manufacturing bushfire-safe wind farm infrastructures. The innovation of the project is the development of a new class of low-cost, novel, highly effective fire retardants and their value-added fire-retardant composite resins with well-preserved physical properties. This will be achieved by understanding the composition-property relationship of fi ....Fire-Retardant Composite Resins for Bushfire-Safe Wind Farm Infrastructures. This project aims to develop advanced fire-retardant composite resins for manufacturing bushfire-safe wind farm infrastructures. The innovation of the project is the development of a new class of low-cost, novel, highly effective fire retardants and their value-added fire-retardant composite resins with well-preserved physical properties. This will be achieved by understanding the composition-property relationship of fire retardants and optimising their synthetic parameters. The project will help position Australia’s advanced composite manufacturing at the forefront of technology. It will also accelerate Australia’s energy transition to renewables by enabling bushfire-safe wind farm infrastructure.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
Functional-unit-based hierarchical nanocomposites for sustainable future. This project aims to address the limitation of current water electrolysis technologies through the development of functional-unit-based hierarchical nanocomposites for renewable energy generation with high efficiency. This project expects to generate new knowledge in next-generation catalyst design based on the deconvolution of energy loss in water electrolysis. The expected outcomes include the design and fabrication of n ....Functional-unit-based hierarchical nanocomposites for sustainable future. This project aims to address the limitation of current water electrolysis technologies through the development of functional-unit-based hierarchical nanocomposites for renewable energy generation with high efficiency. This project expects to generate new knowledge in next-generation catalyst design based on the deconvolution of energy loss in water electrolysis. The expected outcomes include the design and fabrication of novel catalysts with low overpotentials for green hydrogen production. This should provide significant benefits, such as low energy consumption and low carbon dioxide emissions in hydrogen production and advanced manufacturing, to the progress of renewable energy technology and the sustainable development of modern society.Read moreRead less
Integrated solar to chemical production and membrane concentration system. The efficient conversion of low-cost raw materials to high-value chemicals using solar energy has been a long sought-after goal. This project aims to create an integrated photoreactor and membrane separation system for efficient photocatalytic water splitting. The integrated system will efficiently produce hydrogen and ultrapure hydrogen peroxide, a critical and costly reagent used in the semiconductor and solar panel man ....Integrated solar to chemical production and membrane concentration system. The efficient conversion of low-cost raw materials to high-value chemicals using solar energy has been a long sought-after goal. This project aims to create an integrated photoreactor and membrane separation system for efficient photocatalytic water splitting. The integrated system will efficiently produce hydrogen and ultrapure hydrogen peroxide, a critical and costly reagent used in the semiconductor and solar panel manufacturing industries. The integrated system addresses current challenges in the production of high-quality hydrogen peroxide and demonstrates a practical solar-to-chemical process with economic benefits. It also advances knowledge in the fields of nanomaterials engineering, photocatalytic devices, and membrane technology.Read moreRead less
High-Performance and Evaporative Triboelectric Nanogenerators. This project aims to create high performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with outstanding moisture wicking and thermal-moisture stability, while providing a comfortable platform for biomechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. The project expects to generate new knowledge on simultaneous enhancement of output power and moisture management capability of tribo-textiles using interdisciplinary approaches. This shou ....High-Performance and Evaporative Triboelectric Nanogenerators. This project aims to create high performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with outstanding moisture wicking and thermal-moisture stability, while providing a comfortable platform for biomechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. The project expects to generate new knowledge on simultaneous enhancement of output power and moisture management capability of tribo-textiles using interdisciplinary approaches. This should overcome the bottleneck of output deterioration of TENGs under humid conditions and provide significant benefits by offering an attractive renewable energy source for driving low power sensors in the era of IoT and opening new opportunities in healthcare, sports, virtual reality and smart homes.
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