Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100357
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,118.00
Summary
Catalyst design for converting carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals. This project aims to use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas that drives global climate change, into valuable chemicals via catalytic reduction. This project expects to facilitate the selective production of valuable ethylene from carbon dioxide reduction by developing novel cocatalyst materials derived from metal-oxo cluster molecules. Expected outcomes include fundamental understanding of the ....Catalyst design for converting carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals. This project aims to use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas that drives global climate change, into valuable chemicals via catalytic reduction. This project expects to facilitate the selective production of valuable ethylene from carbon dioxide reduction by developing novel cocatalyst materials derived from metal-oxo cluster molecules. Expected outcomes include fundamental understanding of the structure-property relationship in new catalytic systems, and technological breakthroughs in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The success of this project will bring significant environmental and economic benefits, and position Australia at the frontier of global transition to a low-carbon economy.Read moreRead less
Photoelectrode design for solar driven methane to methanol conversion. This project aims to achieve efficient photoelectrocatalytic partial oxidation of greenhouse gas methane for methanol production with high selectivity. The program will design new semiconductor materials through rational defect engineering and co-catalyst selection to revolutionise methane conversion. The expected outcomes include sustainable processes to convert methane into valuable liquid chemicals like methanol, and compr ....Photoelectrode design for solar driven methane to methanol conversion. This project aims to achieve efficient photoelectrocatalytic partial oxidation of greenhouse gas methane for methanol production with high selectivity. The program will design new semiconductor materials through rational defect engineering and co-catalyst selection to revolutionise methane conversion. The expected outcomes include sustainable processes to convert methane into valuable liquid chemicals like methanol, and comprehensive understanding on functional material design for solar driven catalytic reactions. The significant benefits will include revolutionary methane mitigation technologies and sustainable processes for value-added chemical production, alleviating key environmental and energy challenges facing Australia and the world.Read moreRead less
Faster, greener, stronger: a new approach to synthesis of polymer materials. The project will investigate new approaches towards polymer material synthesis in the complete absence of hazardous solvents, with the aim of creating materials that have superior physical or chemical properties compared to those prepared using existing methods. This project is significant for driving advances in material design and characterization using simple starting materials and environmentally sustainable conditi ....Faster, greener, stronger: a new approach to synthesis of polymer materials. The project will investigate new approaches towards polymer material synthesis in the complete absence of hazardous solvents, with the aim of creating materials that have superior physical or chemical properties compared to those prepared using existing methods. This project is significant for driving advances in material design and characterization using simple starting materials and environmentally sustainable conditions. Expected outcomes include the production of unique nanomaterials, hydrogels and polymer monoliths with targeted applications, in addition to advances in 3D printing. This project will significantly benefit the sustainable material manufacturing industry into the future.Read moreRead less
Integrated nonmetal-metal single-atom catalysis for selective synthesis. Single atom catalysts can achieve the maximum efficiency of active sites for a reaction. This project will develop integrated nonmetal and metal single atom-based catalysts for selective oxidation towards clean production and organic waste conversion to value-added polymers for carbon recycle. The project will result in new functional materials and green catalytic processes for chemical synthesis and waste reduction, and ad ....Integrated nonmetal-metal single-atom catalysis for selective synthesis. Single atom catalysts can achieve the maximum efficiency of active sites for a reaction. This project will develop integrated nonmetal and metal single atom-based catalysts for selective oxidation towards clean production and organic waste conversion to value-added polymers for carbon recycle. The project will result in new functional materials and green catalytic processes for chemical synthesis and waste reduction, and advance fundamental understanding of molecular structure of materials for catalyst design and process engineering for industrial applications. The outcomes will promote the development of chemical industry, waste recycle and green environment in Australia, making significant benefits to economics and society.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100048
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$466,097.00
Summary
Ammonium-selective membranes to shift water industry into circular economy. The project aims to develop ammonium-selective membranes which are urgently needed in Australian key industries for sustainable ammonia recovery. The project expects to construct the membranes to achieve desirable pore size and surface functionality for fast and selective ammonia transport. The developed membranes should make ammonia recovery from wastewater more effective and sustainable, leading to the healthy waterway ....Ammonium-selective membranes to shift water industry into circular economy. The project aims to develop ammonium-selective membranes which are urgently needed in Australian key industries for sustainable ammonia recovery. The project expects to construct the membranes to achieve desirable pore size and surface functionality for fast and selective ammonia transport. The developed membranes should make ammonia recovery from wastewater more effective and sustainable, leading to the healthy waterway and reduced energy for both ammonia production and removal. Recovered ammonia expects to produce valuable products, supporting agriculture industry and hydrogen economy. The developed membranes should enable water industry's shift into circular economy, providing significant economic and environmental benefits to Australia.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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Corrosion triggered self-passivation of magnesium alloys . This project aims to sustainably protect magnesium alloys from aqueous corrosion in engineering services through an unprecedented self-passivation mechanism (analogues to stainless steel). This project is expected to generate new knowledge in the area of passivation mechanisms for magnesium alloys in corrosive environments through high-throughput screening and in-situ corrosion characterisation at atomic scale. This should provide signif ....Corrosion triggered self-passivation of magnesium alloys . This project aims to sustainably protect magnesium alloys from aqueous corrosion in engineering services through an unprecedented self-passivation mechanism (analogues to stainless steel). This project is expected to generate new knowledge in the area of passivation mechanisms for magnesium alloys in corrosive environments through high-throughput screening and in-situ corrosion characterisation at atomic scale. This should provide significant benefits, such as enabling the debut of a scientific strategy to transform the magnesium alloy market with respect to end use (such as electric car industry), energy composition and emissions, which has significant industrial interest as it will provide new opportunities to minimise carbon footprint.Read moreRead less
Smart foliage: imparting intelligence to synthetic leaves. This project aims to develop an innovative “lab-on-a-leaf” platform technology based on smart membranes with switchable pores to enable hitherto unachievable control of gas and vapour transfer. The innovated membrane based technology can be used as a versatile platform for many important applications, such as desalination and carbon capture. This project expects to advance the knowledge in biomimetic design of synthetic leaves, and bring ....Smart foliage: imparting intelligence to synthetic leaves. This project aims to develop an innovative “lab-on-a-leaf” platform technology based on smart membranes with switchable pores to enable hitherto unachievable control of gas and vapour transfer. The innovated membrane based technology can be used as a versatile platform for many important applications, such as desalination and carbon capture. This project expects to advance the knowledge in biomimetic design of synthetic leaves, and bring new membrane technologies to applications, such as desalination, solar energy harvesting, and evaporative cooling. This project should provide significant benefits for Australian manufacturing industry by addressing energy and environmental concerns and boosting national economic growth.Read moreRead less
Advanced shield materials for compact fusion energy. We aim to predict how materials used for shielding sensitive components in nuclear fusion reactors will degrade over time. We will use this knowledge to design advanced alloys for radiation shield, which are critical for the development of more compact fusion reactors design, with lower construction cost, and shorter assembly time. These advanced shield materials may also be used in other applications in radiation fields (e.g. space, nuclear m ....Advanced shield materials for compact fusion energy. We aim to predict how materials used for shielding sensitive components in nuclear fusion reactors will degrade over time. We will use this knowledge to design advanced alloys for radiation shield, which are critical for the development of more compact fusion reactors design, with lower construction cost, and shorter assembly time. These advanced shield materials may also be used in other applications in radiation fields (e.g. space, nuclear medicine). The project also seeks to extend the Australian nuclear research capability by developing an innovative technique to study radiation damage using the OPAL reactor at ANSTO.Read moreRead less
Lightweight Photovoltaic Modules for Low-Load Capacity Building Roofs. This project aims to develop lightweight and reliable high efficiency photovoltaic modules that expand solar energy installations onto low-load capacity building roofs. New lightweight materials will be developed for packaging with multi-functionalities such as fast heat dissipation. This project will produce economical prototypes and enable and
facilitate cost reduction of crystalline silicon photovoltaic module installation ....Lightweight Photovoltaic Modules for Low-Load Capacity Building Roofs. This project aims to develop lightweight and reliable high efficiency photovoltaic modules that expand solar energy installations onto low-load capacity building roofs. New lightweight materials will be developed for packaging with multi-functionalities such as fast heat dissipation. This project will produce economical prototypes and enable and
facilitate cost reduction of crystalline silicon photovoltaic module installations on lightweight buildings, overcoming current constraints of heavy glass modules and making more solar energy exploited in both Australia’s urban and rural areas. This will get steps closer to zero emission buildings, by providing renewable energy alternative to conventional fossil fuel-based power generation.Read moreRead less