Cold catalysis for water splitting. This project aims to develop photocatalysts via AC magnetic field through nanoscale heating for efficient H2 generation. This project is to introduce cold catalysis concept, which heats catalysts only but not solution, thus called cold catalysis, in the area of production of renewable energy. Expected outcome is the creation of clean and low cost catalysts to effectively harvest the chemical energy from the sun via splitting of water into H2 and O2 without cau ....Cold catalysis for water splitting. This project aims to develop photocatalysts via AC magnetic field through nanoscale heating for efficient H2 generation. This project is to introduce cold catalysis concept, which heats catalysts only but not solution, thus called cold catalysis, in the area of production of renewable energy. Expected outcome is the creation of clean and low cost catalysts to effectively harvest the chemical energy from the sun via splitting of water into H2 and O2 without causing any environmental damage. This unique technology will also help to address clean energy generation, which is in line with H2 economy plan by Australia government, and provide opportunities for new industries that will benefit Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Accelerated discovery of solar hydrogen photocatalysts. Solar photocatalysis is recognised as an environmentally sustainable process for production of Hydrogen. The adaptation of sophisticated machine learning to innovate solar photocatalysis hydrogen evolution is under question. We aim to harvest scientific principles and integrate with robust protocols to obtain a machine-augmented rational workflow guiding and accelerating discovery of optimal catalysts for solar hydrogen production – solving ....Accelerated discovery of solar hydrogen photocatalysts. Solar photocatalysis is recognised as an environmentally sustainable process for production of Hydrogen. The adaptation of sophisticated machine learning to innovate solar photocatalysis hydrogen evolution is under question. We aim to harvest scientific principles and integrate with robust protocols to obtain a machine-augmented rational workflow guiding and accelerating discovery of optimal catalysts for solar hydrogen production – solving a major bottleneck. The project will contribute largely to Australia’s renewable energy sector; fundamental knowledge-based cognitive photocatalysis platform would be conveniently scalable and transferable to mechanistically relevant processes, such as ammonia synthesis and greenhouse gas reduction.Read moreRead less
Speech recognition adaptation for low resource populations. Automatic speech recognition is an essential attribute of mobile devices and consumer electronics. Unfortunately, as these systems are trained with adult speech, they perform poorly when used by children and people with speaking difficulties. The lack of available training speech from these groups makes developing models for them difficult. We will investigate efficient model adaptation methods that use minimal training data to adapt ex ....Speech recognition adaptation for low resource populations. Automatic speech recognition is an essential attribute of mobile devices and consumer electronics. Unfortunately, as these systems are trained with adult speech, they perform poorly when used by children and people with speaking difficulties. The lack of available training speech from these groups makes developing models for them difficult. We will investigate efficient model adaptation methods that use minimal training data to adapt existing adult speech recognition models for use with children and people with speaking difficulties. The intended outcomes will improve access to automatic speech recognition systems for Australians whose communication with speech-controlled environmental and educational devices is currently restricted.Read moreRead less
Anodisation methods and materials for solar water splitting. This project aims to convert and chemically store solar energy as hydrogen. Photoactive materials could harness solar energy. With fabrication methods, these thin films often suffer from poor charge transport and stability, hindering their wider application. Fabrication by anodization could potentially overcome these problems. This project will develop thin film fabrication methods based on anodization that synthesise robust, nanostruc ....Anodisation methods and materials for solar water splitting. This project aims to convert and chemically store solar energy as hydrogen. Photoactive materials could harness solar energy. With fabrication methods, these thin films often suffer from poor charge transport and stability, hindering their wider application. Fabrication by anodization could potentially overcome these problems. This project will develop thin film fabrication methods based on anodization that synthesise robust, nanostructured films with efficient compositions and structures. This will lead to photoelectrodes for efficient solar hydrogen generation, crucial for a sustainable energy future. It will also develop general design principles for photoelectrodes for devices.Read moreRead less
Overcoming the inherent instability of photocatalyst to produce solar fuels. This project aims to develop innovative materials engineering methods to suppress the intrinsic instability of novel photoactive semiconductor materials that are promising candidates for harnessing solar energy from water or industrial waste water. A number of potentially impactful photoactive materials are currently suffering from chemical- and photo-dissolution, thus hindering their practical applications. Attaining f ....Overcoming the inherent instability of photocatalyst to produce solar fuels. This project aims to develop innovative materials engineering methods to suppress the intrinsic instability of novel photoactive semiconductor materials that are promising candidates for harnessing solar energy from water or industrial waste water. A number of potentially impactful photoactive materials are currently suffering from chemical- and photo-dissolution, thus hindering their practical applications. Attaining fundamental knowledge on charge interaction at electrolyte-semiconductor interfaces will be crucial in developing the next generation of highly efficient photochemical systems in solar fuels applications.Read moreRead less
New carbon nanotube electrocatalysts for water splitting and fuel cells. The demand for clean, secure and sustainable energy sources has stimulated great interest in electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies such as water splitting and fuel cells. The efficiency of water splitting and fuel cells is however strongly dependent on the activity of the electrocatalysts. The objective of the project is to develop new electrocatalysts based on the recently discovered phenomena that car ....New carbon nanotube electrocatalysts for water splitting and fuel cells. The demand for clean, secure and sustainable energy sources has stimulated great interest in electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies such as water splitting and fuel cells. The efficiency of water splitting and fuel cells is however strongly dependent on the activity of the electrocatalysts. The objective of the project is to develop new electrocatalysts based on the recently discovered phenomena that carbon nanotubes with specific size and number of walls are very active and significantly promote the reaction of water splitting and fuel cells. The proposed project is expected to open a new research field in the development of new electrocatalysts and photoelectrocatalysts for advanced energy conversion and storage technologies.Read moreRead less
Two-dimensional nanoporous structured high performance gas evolution electrocatalysts. This project aims to develop nano-catalysts with high catalytic activity and rapid gas detachment properties for efficient fuel gas production. Heterogeneous electrocatalytic gas evolution reactions are important for clean energy generation and storage technologies, but high overpotentials caused by slow gaseous products’ detachment from catalyst surface severely hinder their efficiencies. Expected outcomes in ....Two-dimensional nanoporous structured high performance gas evolution electrocatalysts. This project aims to develop nano-catalysts with high catalytic activity and rapid gas detachment properties for efficient fuel gas production. Heterogeneous electrocatalytic gas evolution reactions are important for clean energy generation and storage technologies, but high overpotentials caused by slow gaseous products’ detachment from catalyst surface severely hinder their efficiencies. Expected outcomes include insights into gas bubble formation and evolution during electrocatalysis, effective catalyst structures to mitigate negative effects of gas bubble formation, and improved catalytic efficiency of gas evolution reactions and develop high performance electrocatalysts for fuel gas production.Read moreRead less
Solar powered water splitting/flow cell system for hydrogen and electricity. This project aims to develop an advanced solar energy conversion system for converting solar energy to hydrogen fuel and electric power. It aims to achieve unprecedented conversion efficiency by Integrating solar water splitting with the rechargeable battery. The solar-powered system without external bias assisted can split water and charge the battery. The significance of this project is to propose an innovative concep ....Solar powered water splitting/flow cell system for hydrogen and electricity. This project aims to develop an advanced solar energy conversion system for converting solar energy to hydrogen fuel and electric power. It aims to achieve unprecedented conversion efficiency by Integrating solar water splitting with the rechargeable battery. The solar-powered system without external bias assisted can split water and charge the battery. The significance of this project is to propose an innovative concept of efficient energy conversion and establish a promising research area of solar energy utilization. The project's success will bring game-changing breakthroughs, push the frontier of solar energy and accelerate its practical application in the hydrogen industry, which is crucial to Australia National Hydrogen Strategy.Read moreRead less
Efficient photovoltaic-electrochemical water splitting for clean hydrogen. This project aims to develop a novel, low cost and high performance monolithic photovoltaic-electrochemical (PV-EC) device for clean hydrogen production. This device tailors and integrates low cost and high performance thin film and tandem photovoltaics for water splitting with the aim of achieving high solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency towards 20%. Earth abundant and stable catalysts will be developed in this proje ....Efficient photovoltaic-electrochemical water splitting for clean hydrogen. This project aims to develop a novel, low cost and high performance monolithic photovoltaic-electrochemical (PV-EC) device for clean hydrogen production. This device tailors and integrates low cost and high performance thin film and tandem photovoltaics for water splitting with the aim of achieving high solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency towards 20%. Earth abundant and stable catalysts will be developed in this project to replace noble based catalysts, as well as novel architectures for electrical contacting, feed-through and catalyst integration in PV-EC devices. These innovations offer high performance and the potential for device costs 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than recent world record photoelectrochemical devices. Read moreRead less
Defect control for high-performance green kesterites energy materials. This project will tackle the fundamental challenge of defect control of the quaternary compound kesterite, revolutionizing the way we can understand the hidden defect-evolution process and design accordingly effective defect-control approaches. This will be realized by a systematic approach integrating multiscale materials characterization, process and materials modeling, and linking microscopic local chemical potential and m ....Defect control for high-performance green kesterites energy materials. This project will tackle the fundamental challenge of defect control of the quaternary compound kesterite, revolutionizing the way we can understand the hidden defect-evolution process and design accordingly effective defect-control approaches. This will be realized by a systematic approach integrating multiscale materials characterization, process and materials modeling, and linking microscopic local chemical potential and macroscopic processing conditions, and associated compound properties and device performance to control defects evolution. Successfully achieved, this project will realize full potential of kesterite in photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications, and leading to new discoveries in other compound energy materials.Read moreRead less