The LASE process - a new approach to cost effective thin solar cells. This project aims to develop a process to produce a new type of single
crystalline silicon solar cell. The cell is made on very thin slices of silicon that are detached from a conventional high quality silicon wafer. The wafer is gradually consumed as successive slices are harvested from it. Substantially less silicon is used in each solar cell, which allows significant cost reductions.
Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could ....Reactive flow through porous media by micro-imaging. Australia is embarking on the development of major gas fields offshore Western Australia. These developments are very costly and techniques to manage the risk in development are well sought after. This project assists in risk management of tertiary recovery methods and CO2 storage. Further, it can contribute significantly to the accurate forward modelling of storage of hazardous materials and pollution remediation strategies. The project could shape important decisions in the future and impact on environmental risk assessment.Read moreRead less
Mitigating the Severity of Level Crossing Accidents and Derailments. Ongoing increases in the number of level crossings and heavy road vehicles cause more frequent and severe level crossing accidents and derailments. Despite the use of active warning systems, each year, on average, 100 level crossing accidents occur in Australia. With a view to mitigating these crashes, this research aims to formulate theories for reduction in crash energy and effective wheel constraints to prevent derailment by ....Mitigating the Severity of Level Crossing Accidents and Derailments. Ongoing increases in the number of level crossings and heavy road vehicles cause more frequent and severe level crossing accidents and derailments. Despite the use of active warning systems, each year, on average, 100 level crossing accidents occur in Australia. With a view to mitigating these crashes, this research aims to formulate theories for reduction in crash energy and effective wheel constraints to prevent derailment by modifying the levels of road and rail crossings and providing guard rails in the recesses of these modified level crossings. The theories are intended be developed using nonlinear dynamic computational methods and laboratory experiments. The outcomes are expected to enable reduction in the severity of level crossing accidents and hence save lives and costs of derailment.Read moreRead less
Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polym ....Flow process and visible-light driven reactions for polymer manufacturing. This project aims to develop rapid, scalable light-driven continuous flow processing techniques that allow the production of value-added synthetic polymers that cannot be achieved by existing technologies. The project will take advantage of the spatio-temporal control of the light mediated polymerisation with flow process to achieve control over the primary structure, the sequential arrangement of monomer units in a polymer chain and the molecular weight distribution. The project will result in the preparation of functional polymers containing a specific arrangement of monomers in the polymer chain and a precise distribution of polymer chains. The development of such process will result in the development of advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Engineering a nanovaccine for cost-effective influenza poultry vaccination. The project aims to develop a new single-dose, room temperature-stable nanovaccine for cost-effective influenza poultry vaccination. The nanovaccine is based on viral protein assembly modularised to present multiple copies of influenza antigen. Particularly, this project focuses on the engineering of this vaccine manufacturing and formulation for a room temperature-stable vaccine. The resulting engineered vaccine would p ....Engineering a nanovaccine for cost-effective influenza poultry vaccination. The project aims to develop a new single-dose, room temperature-stable nanovaccine for cost-effective influenza poultry vaccination. The nanovaccine is based on viral protein assembly modularised to present multiple copies of influenza antigen. Particularly, this project focuses on the engineering of this vaccine manufacturing and formulation for a room temperature-stable vaccine. The resulting engineered vaccine would play an important role in preventing avian influenza outbreaks, which are currently affecting both developed and developing countries, costing millions of dollars due to the death and culling of infected poultry.Read moreRead less
Global trends in oceanic wind speed and wave height. This project will determine whether winds and waves over the world's oceans have changed over the past 30 years. Such information is critically important in understanding global climate change, evaporation, air-sea interaction and to safely design and operate coastal and offshore facilities.
Physics of Base Flows of Planetary Entry Configurations. Continued investment by Australia in the AHI will help to maintain Australia's leading role in the exciting fields of space research and hypersonics and to encourage future international collaboration. The research will use the unique existing experimental infrastructure (largely ARC funded) for space related research, which will enable Australia to make a valuable contribution to the design of future planetary missions. The project will p ....Physics of Base Flows of Planetary Entry Configurations. Continued investment by Australia in the AHI will help to maintain Australia's leading role in the exciting fields of space research and hypersonics and to encourage future international collaboration. The research will use the unique existing experimental infrastructure (largely ARC funded) for space related research, which will enable Australia to make a valuable contribution to the design of future planetary missions. The project will provide a stimulating, exciting and supportive environment for the training of postgraduate and postdoctoral personnel as well as students at the undergraduate level. It will help to motivate young Australians to pursue their interest in science and engineering.Read moreRead less
Manufacturing Nanostructured Polymer Thin Films using Visible Light. This research aims the development of selective photochemical tools driven by different colours of light for the fabrication of nanostructured polymer brush thin films. By using different wavelengths to selectively activate specific chemical reactions, this will enable multiple reactions to be performed simultaneously, significantly streamlining fabrication. Additionally, the increased selectivity offers pathways to more sophis ....Manufacturing Nanostructured Polymer Thin Films using Visible Light. This research aims the development of selective photochemical tools driven by different colours of light for the fabrication of nanostructured polymer brush thin films. By using different wavelengths to selectively activate specific chemical reactions, this will enable multiple reactions to be performed simultaneously, significantly streamlining fabrication. Additionally, the increased selectivity offers pathways to more sophisticated nanoarchitectures in comparison to existing methods. This research will lead to the fabrication of 3D polymer brush architectures with unparalleled precision, which will be of high scientific and industrial value for a diverse range of applications, such as optoelectronics, nanoactuation, and sensing.Read moreRead less
Photonic Crystal Enhanced Wavelength Selective, Multi-Colour Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetectors. Photonic crystal enhanced quantum dot infrared photodetectors are a new generation of detectors developed from integrating nanotechnology with material science and optics. This would not only enhance the detector performance but the structure will now detect a narrow band around the desired wavelength with multi-colour detectivity. The technology developed in this project is anticipated to attract i ....Photonic Crystal Enhanced Wavelength Selective, Multi-Colour Quantum Dot Infrared Photodetectors. Photonic crystal enhanced quantum dot infrared photodetectors are a new generation of detectors developed from integrating nanotechnology with material science and optics. This would not only enhance the detector performance but the structure will now detect a narrow band around the desired wavelength with multi-colour detectivity. The technology developed in this project is anticipated to attract interest from the industries and government agencies. It will be pervasive for use at home, in the manufacturing and mining industry, environmental and pollution monitoring, defence and national security. Applications include spectral imaging, remote sensing, environmental/pollution monitoring, toxic gas and bio-hazardous material detection.Read moreRead less
Functionalisation of boron nitride nanotubes: preparation, underlying mechanism and potential sensor applications. Building on Australian expertise in synthesis and characterisations of nanomaterials, this project will carry out comprehensive and systematic research in functionalisation of boron nitride nanotubes and explore their potential applications. The success of this project will enhance Australian international reputation in nanotechnology development and ensure our leading position in t ....Functionalisation of boron nitride nanotubes: preparation, underlying mechanism and potential sensor applications. Building on Australian expertise in synthesis and characterisations of nanomaterials, this project will carry out comprehensive and systematic research in functionalisation of boron nitride nanotubes and explore their potential applications. The success of this project will enhance Australian international reputation in nanotechnology development and ensure our leading position in this highly competitive area. The outcome of this project will promote the potentially functional applications of boron nitride nanotubes in various nanodevices and nanosensors. It will also offer trainings for Australia's future scientists and will further strengthen international scientific collaboration in these fields.Read moreRead less