Understanding nanostructure in lead-containing piezoceramics - the key to improved and environmentally-friendly materials. Lead-containing piezoelectric ceramics form the basis of multi-billion dollar industries, posing an increasingly serious environmental threat due to the toxicity of lead. By obtaining a detailed understanding of how their properties arise from their nanoscale structure and chemistry, our research will lead to improvements in existing materials and aid the quest for environme ....Understanding nanostructure in lead-containing piezoceramics - the key to improved and environmentally-friendly materials. Lead-containing piezoelectric ceramics form the basis of multi-billion dollar industries, posing an increasingly serious environmental threat due to the toxicity of lead. By obtaining a detailed understanding of how their properties arise from their nanoscale structure and chemistry, our research will lead to improvements in existing materials and aid the quest for environmentally-friendly alternatives. We will use a methodology for the elucidation of local structure and dynamics in which we are world leaders. The project will further enhance our standing in the field, provide excellent research training for students and early-career researchers and highlight the power and potential of Australia's new Synchrotron and OPAL research reactor.Read moreRead less
Development of Deformation-Mechanism Based Parameters for Improved Design of Hard Coatings. The use of thin hard abrasion-resistant coatings is an important method for significantly improving the operational lifetime of components in a wide range of mechanical, biomedical and sensory applications. The optimal design of these coatings is however severely restricted by a lack of detailed knowledge of their material deformation mechanisms. The proposed project will use novel nano-indentation and el ....Development of Deformation-Mechanism Based Parameters for Improved Design of Hard Coatings. The use of thin hard abrasion-resistant coatings is an important method for significantly improving the operational lifetime of components in a wide range of mechanical, biomedical and sensory applications. The optimal design of these coatings is however severely restricted by a lack of detailed knowledge of their material deformation mechanisms. The proposed project will use novel nano-indentation and electron microscope techniques to create a basis for mechanism-based deformation models. These models will then be used to develop new coating architectures with improved operational lifetimes as well as predicting coating lifetimes and developing simple tools for coating assessment.Read moreRead less
A Novel Light-Weight Membrane Reactor for Converting Natural Gas to Syngas. Most of Australia’s natural gas reserves are located in the remote north-west shelf, many of which are small-scale and thus cannot be economically harnessed using conventional methods such as the pipeline transportation or gas liquefaction. In this project, novel light-weight membrane reactors will be designed for converting natural gas to syngas. By integrating advanced membrane and catalysis technologies, this projects ....A Novel Light-Weight Membrane Reactor for Converting Natural Gas to Syngas. Most of Australia’s natural gas reserves are located in the remote north-west shelf, many of which are small-scale and thus cannot be economically harnessed using conventional methods such as the pipeline transportation or gas liquefaction. In this project, novel light-weight membrane reactors will be designed for converting natural gas to syngas. By integrating advanced membrane and catalysis technologies, this projects aim to minimise reactor weight and operational costs, thus potentially making it possible to harness Australia’s remote and stranded gas reserves.Read moreRead less
Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical d ....Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical development of new concepts to engineer the interfaces with various atomic stacking sequence of two complex oxides and also the three-dimensional binary nanocube superlattices to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of oxide based thermoelectric materials by several times over today's state-of-the-art.Read moreRead less
A New Paradigm for the Solid State Synthesis of Layered Materials. Advanced ceramic materials with outstanding properties or combinations of properties are usually made from three (ternary) or more components. Their solid-state synthesis is hampered by the formation and retention of intermediate phases which degrade their performance. We have devised a method for circumventing intermediate phase formation in advanced materials and reducing synthesis temperatures by up to 600 degrees. This projec ....A New Paradigm for the Solid State Synthesis of Layered Materials. Advanced ceramic materials with outstanding properties or combinations of properties are usually made from three (ternary) or more components. Their solid-state synthesis is hampered by the formation and retention of intermediate phases which degrade their performance. We have devised a method for circumventing intermediate phase formation in advanced materials and reducing synthesis temperatures by up to 600 degrees. This project will explore the underlying atomic scale mechanism of the method. This knowledge will allow the low cost, low greenhouse gas emission synthesis of advanced ceramics for use in renewable, conventional and nuclear power generation.Read moreRead less
New Nanoscale Up-converting Photoluminescent Materials for Passive Safety Visual Systems. The demand for safety and security products is growing as the importance of providing an environment safer from natural, accidental or man-made threats increases in the community. Life safety applications in buildings and work environments as well as trains and planes for example are dependent upon the ability for non-powered passive systems to give efficient visual guidance in dangerous dark and smoke fill ....New Nanoscale Up-converting Photoluminescent Materials for Passive Safety Visual Systems. The demand for safety and security products is growing as the importance of providing an environment safer from natural, accidental or man-made threats increases in the community. Life safety applications in buildings and work environments as well as trains and planes for example are dependent upon the ability for non-powered passive systems to give efficient visual guidance in dangerous dark and smoke filled environments. This project will provide a practical demonstration of the successful implementation of nanotechnology to smaller Australian companies where it will overcome significant drawbacks in current manufacturing and yield new products which are activated in darkness by infrared radiation.Read moreRead less
Synthesis and processing of fine powders and nano-materials by electric discharge assisted milling under hot and cold plasmas. The discovery of a new materials synthesis and processing technique, called Electric Discharge Assisted Ball Milling, has generated great interest within the materials science community. Preliminary results, recently published in Nature, have demonstrated that mechanical milling using both hot and cold plasmas can result in extremely rapid synthesis of a wide range of ma ....Synthesis and processing of fine powders and nano-materials by electric discharge assisted milling under hot and cold plasmas. The discovery of a new materials synthesis and processing technique, called Electric Discharge Assisted Ball Milling, has generated great interest within the materials science community. Preliminary results, recently published in Nature, have demonstrated that mechanical milling using both hot and cold plasmas can result in extremely rapid synthesis of a wide range of materials. The fundamental mechanisms for this rapid mechano-synthesis method will be elucidated by detailed studies of a range of technologically important materials including, ultrafine, nanostructural and nanosized powders, carbides, nitrides and borides, and energy efficient high surface area products for hydrogen storage and electrode applications.Read moreRead less
Geopolymers for nuclear applications. With the pressing need for the reduction of Greenhouse emissions from electricity generation in Australia, one option that must be seriously considered is nuclear energy. However, the issue of waste storage is a highly significant one that must be addressed. Geopolymeric cements are expected to perform much better than traditional Portland cements in nuclear applications, both for solidification of radioactive wastes and also for the construction of undergro ....Geopolymers for nuclear applications. With the pressing need for the reduction of Greenhouse emissions from electricity generation in Australia, one option that must be seriously considered is nuclear energy. However, the issue of waste storage is a highly significant one that must be addressed. Geopolymeric cements are expected to perform much better than traditional Portland cements in nuclear applications, both for solidification of radioactive wastes and also for the construction of underground waste storage bunkers. This project will use Australia's strong existing knowledge in geopolymers research, and apply it to the development of materials to fill the need for environmentally secure waste storage solutions.Read moreRead less
A high performance and environment-friendly piezoelectric detector platform for biosensor applications. The development of high performance, lead-free, piezoelectric films and their incorporation into devices is rapidly becoming an urgent task as a result of recent legislation banning the use of lead in electronic components. The successful development of piezoelectric biosensors, as proposed in this project, has numerous potential benefits including the prospect of rapid and cheap biosensor dev ....A high performance and environment-friendly piezoelectric detector platform for biosensor applications. The development of high performance, lead-free, piezoelectric films and their incorporation into devices is rapidly becoming an urgent task as a result of recent legislation banning the use of lead in electronic components. The successful development of piezoelectric biosensors, as proposed in this project, has numerous potential benefits including the prospect of rapid and cheap biosensor devices as well as an environment-friendly, sensitive and real time solution for on-site drug, chemical and biological sensing. Successful development of the latter would provide immediate benefit in the areas of national security, food safety as well as in environmental and health monitoring. Read moreRead less
Failure of Complex Biomechanical Structures. Layer structures are replete in biological systems, both natural and artificial. Issues concerning the lifetime of such systems are paramount to the quality of life and economic well being of our aging society. Our project will analyse damage in brittle layer systems that simulate dental crown structures. We are now at a critical point in the understanding of how these structures fail, and are beginning to make substantive predictions to improve des ....Failure of Complex Biomechanical Structures. Layer structures are replete in biological systems, both natural and artificial. Issues concerning the lifetime of such systems are paramount to the quality of life and economic well being of our aging society. Our project will analyse damage in brittle layer systems that simulate dental crown structures. We are now at a critical point in the understanding of how these structures fail, and are beginning to make substantive predictions to improve designs for prolonged life. The project is connected to the dental community and international crown material manufacturers through a broader NIH project in the USA. The improved materials and crown designs resulting from this project will have impact worldwide, including Australia.Read moreRead less