Meso- and Macro-porous Bioactive Glasses for Bone-repairing. This project aims to use self-assembly and pore engineering at different length scales to fabricate novel bioactive glasses of highly ordered mesoporous structure. By precisely controlling the composition, size and volume of both mesopores and macropores, bioactive glasses with improved bone forming activities will be obtained. The successful synthesis of such bioactive glasses is expected to lead to the fundamental understanding of st ....Meso- and Macro-porous Bioactive Glasses for Bone-repairing. This project aims to use self-assembly and pore engineering at different length scales to fabricate novel bioactive glasses of highly ordered mesoporous structure. By precisely controlling the composition, size and volume of both mesopores and macropores, bioactive glasses with improved bone forming activities will be obtained. The successful synthesis of such bioactive glasses is expected to lead to the fundamental understanding of structure-bioactivity relationship, and new materials effective for tissue engineering. This will also open up new opportunities for other applications such as drug delivery, implanting.Read moreRead less
Novel Synthesis and Bio-applications of Functional Macroporous Ordered Siliceous Foams. This project will lead to advances in materials science and nanotechnology, providing high efficiency separation and purification for viruses or plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which are important in modern gene engineering for the treatment of genetic and acquired diseases. Application benefits also include developing a new protocol in the detection of trace amount proteins, which will afford a signific ....Novel Synthesis and Bio-applications of Functional Macroporous Ordered Siliceous Foams. This project will lead to advances in materials science and nanotechnology, providing high efficiency separation and purification for viruses or plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which are important in modern gene engineering for the treatment of genetic and acquired diseases. Application benefits also include developing a new protocol in the detection of trace amount proteins, which will afford a significant improvement in diverse fields such as health care. Through this project, novel macroporous materials will be fabricated using an economically and environmentally sustainable approach. These new materials will have unique structures and properties compared to conventional macroporous materials, advancing Australia's intellectual position in this discipline.Read moreRead less
Low cost solution-processable 2D nanomaterials for smart windows. This project aims to develop low cost and scalable synthesis of the active functional nanomaterials in smart windows, their facile application techniques, and their integration into the glass manufacturing process. Smart windows, with thermochromic and electrochromic functionalities, will play important roles towards efficient energy usage and conservation (in terms of air-conditioning and lighting) in most buildings including off ....Low cost solution-processable 2D nanomaterials for smart windows. This project aims to develop low cost and scalable synthesis of the active functional nanomaterials in smart windows, their facile application techniques, and their integration into the glass manufacturing process. Smart windows, with thermochromic and electrochromic functionalities, will play important roles towards efficient energy usage and conservation (in terms of air-conditioning and lighting) in most buildings including offices, schools, and residential homes. . The intended outcome of this project is to facilitate the commercialisation of low-cost, energy-saving smart windows for efficient energy usage and conservation, which is an integral part of a sustainable environment.Read moreRead less
Early animal evolution: reconstructing the last common metazoan ancestor through the analysis of developmental and structural genes in sponges. All animals, from the simplest invertebrates to humans, arose from a common ancestor. Reconstruction of this ancestor requires the comparison of metazoan developmental genetic architectures. Here we contribute to this pursuit by studying a phylogenetically and biological appropriate metazoan system - marine sponge embryos and larvae. Using high-throughp ....Early animal evolution: reconstructing the last common metazoan ancestor through the analysis of developmental and structural genes in sponges. All animals, from the simplest invertebrates to humans, arose from a common ancestor. Reconstruction of this ancestor requires the comparison of metazoan developmental genetic architectures. Here we contribute to this pursuit by studying a phylogenetically and biological appropriate metazoan system - marine sponge embryos and larvae. Using high-throughput gene profiling techniques, we will analyse the developmental genetics underlying the sponge body plan. Commonalities shared between sponges and more sophisticated animals are likely to have been present in the "genetic toolkit" of the most ancient metazoan ancestor and, as such, is the genetic foundation from which all animal biodiversity arose.Read moreRead less
Bulk Metallic Glasses and Their Applications. Bulk Metallic Glasses (BMG) represent a significant breakthrough in amorphous metallic materials research and opens up an enormous potential for BMG as engineering materials. However, currently there is no effective way to select optimum composition. The project will bring Australia together with two leading international research groups to develop a computer model for BMG alloy design and to further optimise BMG production processes. BMG engineering ....Bulk Metallic Glasses and Their Applications. Bulk Metallic Glasses (BMG) represent a significant breakthrough in amorphous metallic materials research and opens up an enormous potential for BMG as engineering materials. However, currently there is no effective way to select optimum composition. The project will bring Australia together with two leading international research groups to develop a computer model for BMG alloy design and to further optimise BMG production processes. BMG engineering components will be produced. The project provides Australian researchers access to leading expertise and specialized facilities which will rapidly bring us to the highest level. It represents Australia's first involvement in this significant material innovation. Read moreRead less
New Pillared Nanoporous Materials for Hydrogen Production by Photoinduced Water Splitting. The increasing concern over the limited supply of conventional energy sources has triggered world-wide efforts in developing alternative energy generation systems. Hydrogen produced from sunlight and water is considered as an ultimate solution for the hydrogen economy. This project addresses the material needs for more efficient and cleaner means of generating/utilising energy. The novel nanoporous materia ....New Pillared Nanoporous Materials for Hydrogen Production by Photoinduced Water Splitting. The increasing concern over the limited supply of conventional energy sources has triggered world-wide efforts in developing alternative energy generation systems. Hydrogen produced from sunlight and water is considered as an ultimate solution for the hydrogen economy. This project addresses the material needs for more efficient and cleaner means of generating/utilising energy. The novel nanoporous materials with increased photocatalytic water splitting efficiency will lead to new breakthrough in technologies for energy conversion materials. The preparation approach is also applicable to other functional layered materials, providing new opportunities for innovative nanotechnology to more efficient and greener energy industries.Read moreRead less
Nano/micro grinding mechanisms and technologies for brittle materials. The successful completion of the project will solve a long standing problem, that is, the ductile removal mechanism in the machining of brittle materials and create a strong knowledge base for the development of technology and characterization techniques for nano/micro mechanical machining of such materials. This will strengthen UWA's research capability and international competitiveness in the field of nano/micro manufacturi ....Nano/micro grinding mechanisms and technologies for brittle materials. The successful completion of the project will solve a long standing problem, that is, the ductile removal mechanism in the machining of brittle materials and create a strong knowledge base for the development of technology and characterization techniques for nano/micro mechanical machining of such materials. This will strengthen UWA's research capability and international competitiveness in the field of nano/micro manufacturing. The pragmatic grinding technology developed for fabricating micro aspherical mould inserts and lenses will directly benefit the optics/photonics, microelectronics and biomedical industries in Australia. This will help to position Australia in the forefront of emerging industries in the new millenniumRead moreRead less
Modelling the cutting process and cutting performance in contour and multipass abrasive waterjet machining. This project will develop important new cutting techniques to increase the cutting capability and application domain of the abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting technology. It will gain a fundamental understanding of the cutting phenomenon and develop new mathematical models for predicting the cutting performance in AWJ contouring and multipass cutting. This project will further develop into a ....Modelling the cutting process and cutting performance in contour and multipass abrasive waterjet machining. This project will develop important new cutting techniques to increase the cutting capability and application domain of the abrasive waterjet (AWJ) cutting technology. It will gain a fundamental understanding of the cutting phenomenon and develop new mathematical models for predicting the cutting performance in AWJ contouring and multipass cutting. This project will further develop into a new branch of manufacturing science by uncovering the cutting mechanisms in AWJ machining with and without nozzle oscillation, and have significant impact to the manufacturing industry by providing machining information and cutting performance models to increase the technological and economic performance of AWJ machining.Read moreRead less
Development of micro abrasive water jetting technology for micro machining and polishing on small complex curved surfaces. The fabrication of micro-parts such as those used in integrated sensors and micro-actuators is a new challenge for the rapid development of this industry. Many existing technologies either find limitations or result in defects on the machined surfaces. This project will develop an innovative abrasive water-jetting technology for micro machining and polishing. It will deve ....Development of micro abrasive water jetting technology for micro machining and polishing on small complex curved surfaces. The fabrication of micro-parts such as those used in integrated sensors and micro-actuators is a new challenge for the rapid development of this industry. Many existing technologies either find limitations or result in defects on the machined surfaces. This project will develop an innovative abrasive water-jetting technology for micro machining and polishing. It will develop the fundamentals and prototype for further development by industry. New nozzle designs will be analyzed and optimized by computational fluid dynamics studies and experimental investigations using a Particle Image Velocimeter. Mathematical models for the processing performance will also be developed for use in process control.Read moreRead less