Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design stand ....Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design standards for microdevice manufacture for these industries, ultimately leading to the creation of new, exciting avenues for tailoring novel biotechnology and 'point-of-care' products for Australia.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
Novel electric field induced coupling technique for liquid-phase heteroepitaxial growth of carbon thin films with diamond-like structure. The aim of the project is the growth of carbon thin films with a robust diamond-like structure for high performance electronic applications via the development of a new growth technique: Electric Field Induced Coupling (EFIC), which is based on liquid-phase layer-by-layer heteroepitaxial growth. The EFIC technique employing unique polarization-induced growth w ....Novel electric field induced coupling technique for liquid-phase heteroepitaxial growth of carbon thin films with diamond-like structure. The aim of the project is the growth of carbon thin films with a robust diamond-like structure for high performance electronic applications via the development of a new growth technique: Electric Field Induced Coupling (EFIC), which is based on liquid-phase layer-by-layer heteroepitaxial growth. The EFIC technique employing unique polarization-induced growth will significantly enhance technological output compared to existing technologies by overcoming current difficulties with expensive and complicated production methods. Ambient temperatures and pressures employed by the technique will enable us to form diamond-based semiconductors at low cost with sufficient speed and the properties required for industrial production.
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Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Vanadium Oxide Nanostructures and Their Functional Properties. This project is primarily devoted to material science and nanotechnology, one of the cutting-edge areas in Australia's National Research Priority. Successful completion of this project will result in controlled synthesis, functional assembly and fundamental understanding of vanadium oxide nanostructures. The research findings will be useful for developing new and complex nanostructures for func ....Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Vanadium Oxide Nanostructures and Their Functional Properties. This project is primarily devoted to material science and nanotechnology, one of the cutting-edge areas in Australia's National Research Priority. Successful completion of this project will result in controlled synthesis, functional assembly and fundamental understanding of vanadium oxide nanostructures. The research findings will be useful for developing new and complex nanostructures for functional applications in lithium ionic batteries, catalysts and gas sensors. The conduct of this project will significantly expand the knowledge creativity of Australia in research in advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Supramolecular Assemblies as Nanoscale Devices to Control Chemical and Physical Processes. The aims of this project are: i) to develop molecular reaction vessels to enhance the rates and control the outcomes of chemical processes; ii) to design and construct supramolecular species with a range of topologies; and iii) to explore the potential use of these supramolecular assemblies as thermal and photochemical switches and molecular tweezers, and as the basis for molecular machines and microelectr ....Supramolecular Assemblies as Nanoscale Devices to Control Chemical and Physical Processes. The aims of this project are: i) to develop molecular reaction vessels to enhance the rates and control the outcomes of chemical processes; ii) to design and construct supramolecular species with a range of topologies; and iii) to explore the potential use of these supramolecular assemblies as thermal and photochemical switches and molecular tweezers, and as the basis for molecular machines and microelectronic devices. The research is expected to provide new and efficient methods for bench-top and industrial scale synthesis of chemicals in water, as well as fundamental advances in nanotechnology to underpin new industries based on advanced materials.Read moreRead less
Organometallic Transformations of Organic Molecules. Simple hydrocarbons such as natural gas and petroleum are amongst the most abundant and readily available natural feedstocks for the organic chemical industry. However, apart from simply burning them for fuel, there are very few methods for using these materials as starting materials for industry. In chemical terms, simple hydrocarbons are very stable and this makes them difficult substances to convert cleanly to other more useful compounds. ....Organometallic Transformations of Organic Molecules. Simple hydrocarbons such as natural gas and petroleum are amongst the most abundant and readily available natural feedstocks for the organic chemical industry. However, apart from simply burning them for fuel, there are very few methods for using these materials as starting materials for industry. In chemical terms, simple hydrocarbons are very stable and this makes them difficult substances to convert cleanly to other more useful compounds. This research program investigates new approaches for converting hydrocarbons to more useful materials by using metals such as iron and ruthenium. This research program will provide a new route to ?value-added? products from hydrocarbons and develop new uses for these abundant raw materials.Read moreRead less
From Nanostructured Catalysts to Process Innovation. The results of this research will help to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of industrially important chemical reactions and give clear leads as to how to improve them. In particular, new catalysts (i.e. agents that increase the speed and selectivity of chemical reactions) will be generated and the first steps towards process innovation will be taken, using high-throughput equipment unique in the Southern Hemisphere. These new c ....From Nanostructured Catalysts to Process Innovation. The results of this research will help to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of industrially important chemical reactions and give clear leads as to how to improve them. In particular, new catalysts (i.e. agents that increase the speed and selectivity of chemical reactions) will be generated and the first steps towards process innovation will be taken, using high-throughput equipment unique in the Southern Hemisphere. These new catalysts will be the basis for the design of new and/or improved industrial processes that will be ?greener?, safer, use fewer resources, produce less waste and are generally more efficient and effective. As a result the Australian chemicals industry will be more competitive.Read moreRead less
Molecular Recognition in Chiral Ionic Liquids as Basis for the Design and Synthesis of New Enantioselective Heterogeneous Catalysts and Membranes. Molecules that can exist as mirror images, each with different, e.g., beneficial vs. toxic properties, underpin the pharmaceutical industry and increasingly new highly selective pesticides, and flavours/fragrances.
Current commercial pathways often make mixtures of the mirror images that then need to be separated laboriously. These routes are ineffic ....Molecular Recognition in Chiral Ionic Liquids as Basis for the Design and Synthesis of New Enantioselective Heterogeneous Catalysts and Membranes. Molecules that can exist as mirror images, each with different, e.g., beneficial vs. toxic properties, underpin the pharmaceutical industry and increasingly new highly selective pesticides, and flavours/fragrances.
Current commercial pathways often make mixtures of the mirror images that then need to be separated laboriously. These routes are inefficient, creating waste and use resources poorly.
We aim to create solutions for these problems, using supported thin films of special, new types of salts that are liquid at room temperature, and which have other unusual chemical properties that make them ideally suited to enable efficient conversions.Read moreRead less
From Nanostructured Functional Materials to Sustainable Processes. Nano-structured functional materials in the areas of catalysis and reversible hydrogen storage will be developed with the view to arrive at (a) sustainable processes and (b) the adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier. These aims are driven by a global need to change the industrial paradigm due to environmental pressures and limited resources, particularly in terms of energy. Expected outcomes are new avenues to process intens ....From Nanostructured Functional Materials to Sustainable Processes. Nano-structured functional materials in the areas of catalysis and reversible hydrogen storage will be developed with the view to arrive at (a) sustainable processes and (b) the adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier. These aims are driven by a global need to change the industrial paradigm due to environmental pressures and limited resources, particularly in terms of energy. Expected outcomes are new avenues to process intensification, leading to novel commercial routes, and a hydrogen storage technology which has the potential to play a strong part in the global economy.Read moreRead less
Polyanionic carbon ligands in metal complexes as new reagents in organometallic and inorganic chemistry. The proposed research will benefit Australia by creating a knowledge base in an internationally important area of chemistry. It addresses fundamental questions in organometallic chemistry that will be of great significance for chemical synthesis as well as for a greater understanding of structure and bonding. Through an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, the exploitation of technologi ....Polyanionic carbon ligands in metal complexes as new reagents in organometallic and inorganic chemistry. The proposed research will benefit Australia by creating a knowledge base in an internationally important area of chemistry. It addresses fundamental questions in organometallic chemistry that will be of great significance for chemical synthesis as well as for a greater understanding of structure and bonding. Through an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, the exploitation of technologies arising from this research programme will be explored. In addition to the academic community, these technologies will benefit hi-tech industries including pharmaceutical and fine chemical concerns which will gain from the use of polymetalated carbon species in organic and inorganic synthesis, catalysis and the development of new materials.Read moreRead less