Advanced Fibre Interfaces in Active Water Management Systems. Flooding is a critical issue in Australia, generating considerable economic losses, including by stormwater contamination. The current project will pioneer an integrated solution for stormwater retention, while removing chemical pollutants. In collaboration with the company ROCKWOOL-Lapinus - based on a stonewool fibre platform - we will (i) design fibre coatings based on a versatile and chemically simple deposition process, (ii) inco ....Advanced Fibre Interfaces in Active Water Management Systems. Flooding is a critical issue in Australia, generating considerable economic losses, including by stormwater contamination. The current project will pioneer an integrated solution for stormwater retention, while removing chemical pollutants. In collaboration with the company ROCKWOOL-Lapinus - based on a stonewool fibre platform - we will (i) design fibre coatings based on a versatile and chemically simple deposition process, (ii) incorporate functionalities onto the fibres allowing active stormwater treatment to e.g. retain pollutants or target heavy metals and (iii) investigate these interfaces in-depth by advanced surface and interface characterisation methods to understand the fibre interface properties from nano- to macroscale.Read moreRead less
Precision-built dynamic and functional polymer vesicles. The project aims to create new precision-built polymer vesicles with controlled size, stability, functionality and environmental responsiveness to mimic some of the key dynamic functions of the cell. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the dynamic interplay between the polymer and its bilayer including on-demand activated polymerisations and reactions, logic gates and in situ sensors. Expected outcomes of this project include ....Precision-built dynamic and functional polymer vesicles. The project aims to create new precision-built polymer vesicles with controlled size, stability, functionality and environmental responsiveness to mimic some of the key dynamic functions of the cell. The project expects to generate new knowledge on the dynamic interplay between the polymer and its bilayer including on-demand activated polymerisations and reactions, logic gates and in situ sensors. Expected outcomes of this project include new synthetic polymer techniques and new quantitative insights into the role of compartmentalisation on chemical reactions and polymerisations. This project will provide fundamental knowledge on bio/polymer vesicles with great potential to advance the polymer industry in Australia.Read moreRead less
Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliv ....Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliver a high performance coating for the production of drag reduction surfaces, but allow these surfaces to be tailored to specific application profiles including UV resistance and anti-fouling properties. The project will place an Australian company at the forefront of drag reduction technologyRead moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL170100014
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,275,680.00
Summary
Light-Induced chemical modularity: a new frontier in macromolecular design. This project aims to develop powerful light-driven chemistries for the modular construction of advanced macromolecular materials. The expected outcome is a versatile, light-based precision macromolecular synthetic technology platform, enabling critical advances in soft matter material design and synthesis, ranging from selectivity control of chemical reactions and information-coded and biomimetic light-responsive macromo ....Light-Induced chemical modularity: a new frontier in macromolecular design. This project aims to develop powerful light-driven chemistries for the modular construction of advanced macromolecular materials. The expected outcome is a versatile, light-based precision macromolecular synthetic technology platform, enabling critical advances in soft matter material design and synthesis, ranging from selectivity control of chemical reactions and information-coded and biomimetic light-responsive macromolecules to advanced functional photoresists for 3D laser lithography as well as materials that self-report structural transformations by light or are reprogrammable in their properties by photonic fields. Harnessing the power of light as a precision tool for the construction of advanced macromolecular materials will provide technology outcomes for Australian manufacturing industries from electronics to health. This includes laser-driven 3D printing technology at the nano-level, light-adaptive smart reprogrammable coatings and materials, synthetic proteins responsive to light as well as tailor-made single cell niches.Read moreRead less
Polymer nanofibres for advanced paint formulations. Surface coatings seal, strengthen, and decorate the majority of surfaces in the building industry—a $72 billion market. Despite their importance, advances in paint science have only been incremental and a truly robust and water resistant paint coating has yet to be developed. Dulux Group Australia and the University of Sydney will use polymer nanofibres as additives to radically redesign architectural coatings, with the goal to drastically incr ....Polymer nanofibres for advanced paint formulations. Surface coatings seal, strengthen, and decorate the majority of surfaces in the building industry—a $72 billion market. Despite their importance, advances in paint science have only been incremental and a truly robust and water resistant paint coating has yet to be developed. Dulux Group Australia and the University of Sydney will use polymer nanofibres as additives to radically redesign architectural coatings, with the goal to drastically increase their durability. The partnership will bring a technological breakthrough that will lead to less disruption for the environment, and important economic and technological benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101788
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,498.00
Summary
Advanced Macromolecular Architecture via Selenium. The overarching aim of this project is to drastically expand the scale and scope of selenium-based macromolecular chemistry via safe, odor-free multicomponent reactions utilising elemental selenium. This project will develop new methods and techniques in drastically reducing the cost while increasing worker and environmental safety of industrial elastomers such as Spandex. Next the project will exploit selenium's sensitivity to ozonolysis to des ....Advanced Macromolecular Architecture via Selenium. The overarching aim of this project is to drastically expand the scale and scope of selenium-based macromolecular chemistry via safe, odor-free multicomponent reactions utilising elemental selenium. This project will develop new methods and techniques in drastically reducing the cost while increasing worker and environmental safety of industrial elastomers such as Spandex. Next the project will exploit selenium's sensitivity to ozonolysis to design a new instrument capable of extreme precision in monitoring oxidative damage in polymeric materials. Finally, selenium's unique reactivity will lend itself towards the next generation of smart materials which will be capable of completely reorganizing their structure down to the molecular level.Read moreRead less
Hierarchically porous polymer monoliths for separation science. Understanding the molecular composition of biomarkers involved in cell-cell communication and the fate of nanoparticles in the environment is critical to improve our understanding of diseases and environmental processes. This project will develop a new approach for the design of separation media that will greatly improve the efficiency of techniques used to analyse these complex samples. The separation media will consist of a polyme ....Hierarchically porous polymer monoliths for separation science. Understanding the molecular composition of biomarkers involved in cell-cell communication and the fate of nanoparticles in the environment is critical to improve our understanding of diseases and environmental processes. This project will develop a new approach for the design of separation media that will greatly improve the efficiency of techniques used to analyse these complex samples. The separation media will consist of a polymer containing large flow-through pores as well as well-defined mesopores. This dual porous skeleton will allow for the size-based separation of biomarkers and nanoparticles. The new separation media will enable the development of new technologies with applications in areas such medicine and environmental science.Read moreRead less
Advanced framework materials for hydrogen storage applications. This project aims to develop new molecular materials capable of the highly efficient storage of hydrogen gas. Through an innovative interdisciplinary approach that targets the synthesis and detailed characterisation of two classes of molecular material this project expects to generate step-change advances in the understanding of how hydrogen gas uptake relates to the chemical and physical attributes of porous molecular systems. Sign ....Advanced framework materials for hydrogen storage applications. This project aims to develop new molecular materials capable of the highly efficient storage of hydrogen gas. Through an innovative interdisciplinary approach that targets the synthesis and detailed characterisation of two classes of molecular material this project expects to generate step-change advances in the understanding of how hydrogen gas uptake relates to the chemical and physical attributes of porous molecular systems. Significant anticipated outcomes and benefits include the development of new material design approaches that optimise performance across a diverse parameter space, and the generation of advanced new materials worthy of commercial development, spanning small scale mobile to large scale stationary storage applications.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100327
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$405,000.00
Summary
Linking supramolecular nanocages into multi-functional materials. This project aims to advance the complexity of metal-organic materials by ordering discrete nano-cage structures called "metal-organic polyhedra" in a multi-functional porous solid. The project expects to generate critical knowledge in the synthesis of high-performance materials by combining the advantages of metal-organic and dynamic covalent chemistry. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of materials tha ....Linking supramolecular nanocages into multi-functional materials. This project aims to advance the complexity of metal-organic materials by ordering discrete nano-cage structures called "metal-organic polyhedra" in a multi-functional porous solid. The project expects to generate critical knowledge in the synthesis of high-performance materials by combining the advantages of metal-organic and dynamic covalent chemistry. The expected outcomes of the project include the development of materials that are able to sequentially catalyse chemical reactions in a single-batch process. This project should deliver benefits for Australia’s emerging chemical manufacturing industry, such as a reduction in the cost, wastage and environmental impact of the chemical manufacturing industry.Read moreRead less
Expanding the toolbox of synthetic stealth polymers. This project aims to develop a new generation of synthetic and biomimetic pseudo peptide polymers with advanced biomedical properties. The polymers will be used for the fabrication of a range of nanoparticles, which will allow to study the effect of architecture, composition and surface functionalisation on their behaviour in a biological environment. Carefully conducted structure-physicochemical property relationship and bio-nano interaction ....Expanding the toolbox of synthetic stealth polymers. This project aims to develop a new generation of synthetic and biomimetic pseudo peptide polymers with advanced biomedical properties. The polymers will be used for the fabrication of a range of nanoparticles, which will allow to study the effect of architecture, composition and surface functionalisation on their behaviour in a biological environment. Carefully conducted structure-physicochemical property relationship and bio-nano interaction studies will generate new knowledge in the area of stealth and protein repellent nanomaterials. The intended outcome of the project is the generation of a platform of bioinert materials that could potentially find applications as building blocks in next generation nanomedicines and medical devices.Read moreRead less