Extremely lightweight and superelastic cellular materials. This project aims to synthesise a new generation of extremely lightweight, superelastic yet mechanically robust graphene-based cellular materials, develop new strategies to strengthen and functionalise them with other functional polymers or nanoparticles, and explore new techniques to characterise their unique mechanical, electrical and thermal properties for a range of potential applications. The new knowledge obtained would significant ....Extremely lightweight and superelastic cellular materials. This project aims to synthesise a new generation of extremely lightweight, superelastic yet mechanically robust graphene-based cellular materials, develop new strategies to strengthen and functionalise them with other functional polymers or nanoparticles, and explore new techniques to characterise their unique mechanical, electrical and thermal properties for a range of potential applications. The new knowledge obtained would significantly advance our understanding of extremely lightweight and multifunctional cellular materials as well as graphene-based bulk materials. Project outcomes are expected to help generate high value-added technological applications from natural graphite.Read moreRead less
Mechanical advantage: biomimetic artificial muscles for micro-machines. This project will develop better ways to operate miniature machines by copying the way that muscle operates in Nature. The outcome will be important for portable devices like digital cameras that need small, efficient motors. The artificial muscles developed in this project may also be used in medical prosthetics and more agile robots.
Hybrid cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells. This project aims to develop molten carbonate-perovskite hybrid cathode materials for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) possessing both high catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and high tolerance to carbon dioxide poisoning. Carbon dioxide in air can poison nearly all the perovskite cathode materials developed for LT-SOFCs (below 600 degrees C) so far. These materials will not be practically useful ....Hybrid cathode for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells. This project aims to develop molten carbonate-perovskite hybrid cathode materials for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells (LT-SOFCs) possessing both high catalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and high tolerance to carbon dioxide poisoning. Carbon dioxide in air can poison nearly all the perovskite cathode materials developed for LT-SOFCs (below 600 degrees C) so far. These materials will not be practically useful until carbon dioxide poisoning can be prevented. This project expects to make these LT-SOFC cathode materials commercially viable, solving a problem for the widespread use of low temperature solid oxide fuel cells.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100002
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$808,191.00
Summary
A facility for laser-based automated manufacturing of carbon composites. This project aims to create an advanced manufacturing facility for carbon-composites research by integrating laser-based processing and robotic automation. It will enable fundamental research on rapid processing of high-performance thermoplastics and metal-composite hybrids, including functionalisation of the composite through nano-material coating technology, and new instrumentation for structural health monitoring. The fa ....A facility for laser-based automated manufacturing of carbon composites. This project aims to create an advanced manufacturing facility for carbon-composites research by integrating laser-based processing and robotic automation. It will enable fundamental research on rapid processing of high-performance thermoplastics and metal-composite hybrids, including functionalisation of the composite through nano-material coating technology, and new instrumentation for structural health monitoring. The facility will significantly enhance the research capability in the newly established ARC Training Centre for Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites, which will engage with Australian industry to improve productivity and material performance for industry sectors such as aerospace, automotive, marine, and sport.Read moreRead less
Functionalising sustainable natural binders for energy storage devices. This project aims to produce low-cost energy storage devices to meet the energy demands and safety requirements of electric appliances, electric vehicles and smart electricity grids. High-cost and non-regenerable resources and existing energy storage devices’ safety issues have hindered the electrification of portable electronic devices and vehicles and use of intermittent solar and wind energy. This project will use sustain ....Functionalising sustainable natural binders for energy storage devices. This project aims to produce low-cost energy storage devices to meet the energy demands and safety requirements of electric appliances, electric vehicles and smart electricity grids. High-cost and non-regenerable resources and existing energy storage devices’ safety issues have hindered the electrification of portable electronic devices and vehicles and use of intermittent solar and wind energy. This project will use sustainable natural polymers to develop green electrode technologies for manufacturing batteries with greatly reduced production and environmental cost. The in-depth understandings from the combination of experiments and computation simulations will help create strategies to realise low cost, long-life and safe batteries.Read moreRead less
Structurally-bridged crystalline molecular sieve-polymer membranes. This project aims to produce a membrane platform technology for efficient and cost-effective separation in natural gas processing and petrochemicals, using crystalline sieve materials. It will address the mismatch of mechanical properties between crystalline molecular sieve materials (zeolites and metal organic frameworks) and polymers, and coating flaws which limit their use as gas separation membranes. It will create nano-rein ....Structurally-bridged crystalline molecular sieve-polymer membranes. This project aims to produce a membrane platform technology for efficient and cost-effective separation in natural gas processing and petrochemicals, using crystalline sieve materials. It will address the mismatch of mechanical properties between crystalline molecular sieve materials (zeolites and metal organic frameworks) and polymers, and coating flaws which limit their use as gas separation membranes. It will create nano-reinforcement in the coating and polymer substrate, with nano-bridges between them. The resulting membranes will be mechanically tough and separate better than existing membranes. Advanced membranes are expected to benefit fuel industries by reducing separation cost and energy consumption.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101662
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is wel ....Non-Oxidative and Scalable Electrochemical Production of Functional Graphene and its Nanohybrids. The lack of cost-effective and scalable graphene production methods is the current bottleneck that impedes the commercialisation of advanced graphene-based nanomaterials. Novel electrochemical production of those functional materials directly from bulk graphite not only holds the key to the solution but also provides a non-oxidative route for the production of highly conductive graphene which is well suited for applications such as biosensing, energy storage and conversion. Besides achieving scientific breakthroughs in graphene electrochemistry, this project will directly benefit many Australian socio-economic objectives, including manufacturing of Australia's natural resources into valuable energy related products.Read moreRead less
A new design strategy for supercapacitors. This project aims to build a new equivalent electric circuit model using structurally tuneable graphene-based porous electrodes to establish a quantitative structure-property-performance relationship for super-capacitors. The new model will then be used to design novel electrode and device architectures to realise new energy storage devices with high usable storage capacity at high operation rates. This new computer-aided strategy will greatly accelerat ....A new design strategy for supercapacitors. This project aims to build a new equivalent electric circuit model using structurally tuneable graphene-based porous electrodes to establish a quantitative structure-property-performance relationship for super-capacitors. The new model will then be used to design novel electrode and device architectures to realise new energy storage devices with high usable storage capacity at high operation rates. This new computer-aided strategy will greatly accelerate the design of next-generation high-performance super-capacitors, and bring significant benefit to Australia's emerging knowledge-based manufacturing industry.Read moreRead less
The true potential and limitations of fibres. This project aims to understand the fibre spinning process of nanomaterials to identify their true potential and limitations in wearable applications. The project is expected to lead to multifunctional materials that allow design and production of smart functional fibres and textiles that store and convert energy and sense, monitor and respond to human activities and external environments. The project outcomes are expected to accelerate the transform ....The true potential and limitations of fibres. This project aims to understand the fibre spinning process of nanomaterials to identify their true potential and limitations in wearable applications. The project is expected to lead to multifunctional materials that allow design and production of smart functional fibres and textiles that store and convert energy and sense, monitor and respond to human activities and external environments. The project outcomes are expected to accelerate the transformation of the fibre industry, which will have far reaching implications across research disciplines and sectors critical to technology, health, social, and economic future.Read moreRead less
Systems engineering approach to nanostructuring porous electrodes for compact capacitive energy storage. This project will develop a new systems engineering approach to fabricating porous yet densely packed electrodes with high ion-accessible surface area and low ion transport impedance. This will lead to new-generation compact electrochemical capacitive energy storage systems that can combine high energy density, fast charging/discharging rate and long cycle life. The success of this project wi ....Systems engineering approach to nanostructuring porous electrodes for compact capacitive energy storage. This project will develop a new systems engineering approach to fabricating porous yet densely packed electrodes with high ion-accessible surface area and low ion transport impedance. This will lead to new-generation compact electrochemical capacitive energy storage systems that can combine high energy density, fast charging/discharging rate and long cycle life. The success of this project will facilitate future large-scale adoption of renewable energy and many other new emerging technologies such as portable/wearable electronics, electric vehicles, and energy regeneration systems.Read moreRead less