Understanding and controlling the construction of molecular electronic and photovoltaic devices using nucleic acids. The efficient generation and use of energy is arguably the most pressing problem the world faces today. This project will enable the construction of molecular electronic and energy generation devices with increased efficiency, and will impact the fields of bio-organic chemistry and material science. Australia will benefit from the cheap and efficient energy produced by these new e ....Understanding and controlling the construction of molecular electronic and photovoltaic devices using nucleic acids. The efficient generation and use of energy is arguably the most pressing problem the world faces today. This project will enable the construction of molecular electronic and energy generation devices with increased efficiency, and will impact the fields of bio-organic chemistry and material science. Australia will benefit from the cheap and efficient energy produced by these new environmentally benign energy generation and transducing devices. A secondary benefit will arise when these devices are applied to medical diagnostics for early detection of diseases. Economic and environmental benefits for the Australian community and Australia's development as a knowledge-based economy will be the result.Read moreRead less
Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a ....Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a range of scientific skills for Australian research students. Read moreRead less
Bio-inspired Catalysts for Water Oxidation. Successful completion of the project will result in the development of devices that utilise redox active manganese clusters to catalyse the oxidation of water. This achievement would place us at the forefront of international efforts to develop devices that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, an endeavour which has the potential to solve pressing energy demands. As an added benefit, these devices can be adapted for the purposes of carrying out th ....Bio-inspired Catalysts for Water Oxidation. Successful completion of the project will result in the development of devices that utilise redox active manganese clusters to catalyse the oxidation of water. This achievement would place us at the forefront of international efforts to develop devices that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, an endeavour which has the potential to solve pressing energy demands. As an added benefit, these devices can be adapted for the purposes of carrying out the catalytic oxidation of organic substrates, for which a variety of industrial and environmental applications can be envisaged.
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Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent wor ....Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent work, this project will design, prepare and characterize novel materials of this type for a number of target applications. Collaborators in Europe and USA will be involved in the analysis and testing of the materials.Read moreRead less
Efficient One-Dimensional Photocatalysts from Titanate Nanofibres and Nanotubes. This project will deliver important fundamental knowledge for the development of high-value products of titania, and thus will contribute directly to the priority goal of transforming the existing titania industry through value adding and export on the international market. This research will lead to new industries and will create employment opportunities for Australians. It will also serve to train young scientists ....Efficient One-Dimensional Photocatalysts from Titanate Nanofibres and Nanotubes. This project will deliver important fundamental knowledge for the development of high-value products of titania, and thus will contribute directly to the priority goal of transforming the existing titania industry through value adding and export on the international market. This research will lead to new industries and will create employment opportunities for Australians. It will also serve to train young scientists with a real appreciation of materials research and engineering, contributing to the overall competitiveness and productivity of Australian R&D. This project would lead to advances in important fields of clean energy, environment remediation and advanced materials processing in Australia.Read moreRead less
Reactions of Nanoparticles of Metal Oxides and Hydrous Oxides and their Applications in Photocatalysts and Electrode Materials. Australia is a world-leading producer of raw materials of many metallic elements, most of which are exported at low-values. This project will yield important knowledge in new synthetic techniques for making nanostructures of metal oxides. These tiny particles already have a large worldwide market, but the discovery of particles with superior properties or new applicatio ....Reactions of Nanoparticles of Metal Oxides and Hydrous Oxides and their Applications in Photocatalysts and Electrode Materials. Australia is a world-leading producer of raw materials of many metallic elements, most of which are exported at low-values. This project will yield important knowledge in new synthetic techniques for making nanostructures of metal oxides. These tiny particles already have a large worldwide market, but the discovery of particles with superior properties or new applications could lead to new industries and high-value exports. This project aims to devise novel photocatalysts for solar energy conversion and environmental protection, and electrode materials for lithium batteries. It will contribute to the overall competitiveness and productivity of Australian R&D by advancing scientific knowledge and training young researchers.Read moreRead less
Chemical and morphological engineering of semiconductor electrodes for high efficiency solar cells. The expected outcomes of the project are the preparation and development of sophisticated electrodes for solar cells, the main advantage of which resides in their designed chemical and morphological properties. The resulting electrodes have the potential to improve the efficiency of the solar cells over current industrially used materials. The products and mechanisms developed are envisaged to be ....Chemical and morphological engineering of semiconductor electrodes for high efficiency solar cells. The expected outcomes of the project are the preparation and development of sophisticated electrodes for solar cells, the main advantage of which resides in their designed chemical and morphological properties. The resulting electrodes have the potential to improve the efficiency of the solar cells over current industrially used materials. The products and mechanisms developed are envisaged to be amenable to large scale-up in industry. Hence, at a future date, there is the potential to fabricate the electrodes in Australia and then export the materials or technology internationally. This will benefit the Australian economy through employment of Australians and income generated through exports.Read moreRead less
Electrochemical Applications of Plastic Crystalline Electrolytes. A number of new and emerging electrochemical device applications such as lithium batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, electrochemical capacitors, actuators and bio-sensors are limited by their need for a liquid electrolyte. Many of these devices are considered vital to energy efficiency and the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. The recent discovery of ambient temperature plastic crystalline electrolyte materials by the Monas ....Electrochemical Applications of Plastic Crystalline Electrolytes. A number of new and emerging electrochemical device applications such as lithium batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, electrochemical capacitors, actuators and bio-sensors are limited by their need for a liquid electrolyte. Many of these devices are considered vital to energy efficiency and the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. The recent discovery of ambient temperature plastic crystalline electrolyte materials by the Monash Electrolytes group has raised the possibility of solving this problem. In this project new plastic crystalline electrolyte materials will be developed to suit these applications and their electrochemical properties investigated. Laboratory prototype devices will be prepared and tested and via collaborations with appropriate device developers, their performance evaluted.Read moreRead less
Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique ....Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique range of properties to explore:-
(i) coupling of photo- and electro-chemical processes into effective catalytic cycles;
(ii) photo- and electro-chemical processes in ionic liquid solvents;
(iii) synthesis and redox reactivity of nanoparticles stabilised by polyoxometalates.
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New Methods to Harvest Light: Towards Better Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) technology has emerged as a complementary energy source to silicon photovoltaic technology. The efficiency of the DSC relies heavily on sensitizing molecules to absorb solar photons and then transfer electrons to a semi-conducting particle. This project will investigate new sensitizing methods using a combination of different dyes which work cooperatively to absorb a large part of the solar ....New Methods to Harvest Light: Towards Better Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) technology has emerged as a complementary energy source to silicon photovoltaic technology. The efficiency of the DSC relies heavily on sensitizing molecules to absorb solar photons and then transfer electrons to a semi-conducting particle. This project will investigate new sensitizing methods using a combination of different dyes which work cooperatively to absorb a large part of the solar spectrum and efficiently inject electrons into a semi-conducting particles. The development and understanding of these new methods to sensitize the dye-sensitized solar cell should lead to new and better solar cells.Read moreRead less