Reinforcement of rubber products using nanostructured carbon materials. Reinforcement of rubber products using nanostructured carbon materials. This project aims to use the surface-functionalized nanostructured carbons as fillers to reinforce natural rubber. These fillers should significantly enhance the cross-linking between carbon and rubber matrix, leading to high-performance composite products with long lifetime, high thermal conductivity, high oil resistance and outstanding dynamic behaviou ....Reinforcement of rubber products using nanostructured carbon materials. Reinforcement of rubber products using nanostructured carbon materials. This project aims to use the surface-functionalized nanostructured carbons as fillers to reinforce natural rubber. These fillers should significantly enhance the cross-linking between carbon and rubber matrix, leading to high-performance composite products with long lifetime, high thermal conductivity, high oil resistance and outstanding dynamic behaviours. This project is expected to make Australia capable of fabricating superior rubber-based materials and devices that are comfortable, quiet and energy efficient, for use in aircrafts, automobiles and vessels. It should also reduce the use of non-degradable rubber materials, promoting Australia’s economic development and environment protection.Read moreRead less
Electrically conductive elastomeric composites by nanomaterials. Electrically conductive elastomeric composites by nanomaterials. This project aims to develop electrically conductive, mechanically robust, cost-effective elastomeric composites, by exploring new processing methods and studying the synergy between graphene sheets and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Composites will be design, research and manufactured to suit the fabrication of rolling-resistance sensors that detect early-stage malfu ....Electrically conductive elastomeric composites by nanomaterials. Electrically conductive elastomeric composites by nanomaterials. This project aims to develop electrically conductive, mechanically robust, cost-effective elastomeric composites, by exploring new processing methods and studying the synergy between graphene sheets and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Composites will be design, research and manufactured to suit the fabrication of rolling-resistance sensors that detect early-stage malfunctioning idler rolls. This technology could prevent the breakage of conveyor belts which are essential to the mining, processing and transportation of loose bulk materials; and improve the design and manufacturing of flexible sensors.Read moreRead less
Elastomer/Graphene Composites for Reinforcement at Low Strain. This project aims to develop new elastomer/graphene composites by designing and fabricating graphene precursors which can transform into graphene sheets during melt compounding with elastomers. These sheets have tunable surface affinity with elastomers, to attain expected dispersion in elastomers for effective reinforcement at low strain. The dominant filler in industry – carbon black – is ineffective at low strain. The outcomes are ....Elastomer/Graphene Composites for Reinforcement at Low Strain. This project aims to develop new elastomer/graphene composites by designing and fabricating graphene precursors which can transform into graphene sheets during melt compounding with elastomers. These sheets have tunable surface affinity with elastomers, to attain expected dispersion in elastomers for effective reinforcement at low strain. The dominant filler in industry – carbon black – is ineffective at low strain. The outcomes are anticipated to transform the current manufacturing practice of rubber products for applications in agricultural, automobile, construction, medical and mining industries.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0211003
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$125,000.00
Summary
A Facility for Probing Nanostructure in Polymers. The properties of a polymer are only partly determined by its molecular structure. It is now clear that the organization of molecular structure and phase morphology on a nano-scale has an equally important role in determining material behaviour. Increasingly this can be manipulated by judicious choice of formulation and processing variables. The polymer Nano-Structure Facility will bring together Australia's principal polymer experts in this a ....A Facility for Probing Nanostructure in Polymers. The properties of a polymer are only partly determined by its molecular structure. It is now clear that the organization of molecular structure and phase morphology on a nano-scale has an equally important role in determining material behaviour. Increasingly this can be manipulated by judicious choice of formulation and processing variables. The polymer Nano-Structure Facility will bring together Australia's principal polymer experts in this area of structure-property relations and provide them with shared access to the appropriate, modern analytical tools required to probe the nano-structure of such new materials with enhanced properties.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668517
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$220,000.00
Summary
Hyphenated techniques in polymer science and engineering. The collaborator's research capabilities will be greatly enhanced because the equipment will allow simultaneous measurements of various properties which can provide much more information than sequential experiments. Students will be able to undertake research with state-of-the-art equipment which will enhance their research careers and employment prospects. The resulting information will be invaluable to the development of polymer blends ....Hyphenated techniques in polymer science and engineering. The collaborator's research capabilities will be greatly enhanced because the equipment will allow simultaneous measurements of various properties which can provide much more information than sequential experiments. Students will be able to undertake research with state-of-the-art equipment which will enhance their research careers and employment prospects. The resulting information will be invaluable to the development of polymer blends with optimized morphology and mechanical properties; improved polymer processing techniques linked to how the structure and orientation develops; the development of new materials, including novel human tissue implants, from studies of the rheology and phase structure of a polymer during photopolymerization.Read moreRead less
Blends of reactive plasticizers with thermoplastic composites for improved processing and properties. This proposal is directed at novel methods of enhancing the processibility, properties and applications of polymers and should have a significant economic impact on the $7 billion commodity polymer market for Australian polymer producers and polymer converters.
The project would also extend the research opportunities of students and researchers in the rapidly growing fields of nano-composites a ....Blends of reactive plasticizers with thermoplastic composites for improved processing and properties. This proposal is directed at novel methods of enhancing the processibility, properties and applications of polymers and should have a significant economic impact on the $7 billion commodity polymer market for Australian polymer producers and polymer converters.
The project would also extend the research opportunities of students and researchers in the rapidly growing fields of nano-composites and reactive polymer processing.Read moreRead less
Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve bett ....Fatigue Life Prediction of Nano-filler Modified Composites. The proposed project aims to study the behaviour and the failure mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites under cyclic loading. The outcomes of the project will make original contributions to our knowledge base on such materials. The mechanics modelling and statistical analysis of the prediction of fatigue life will provide a sound physical basis and a useful tool for any future improvement and optimisation of the composites to achieve better reliability and integrity in their intended applications. This study will bring economic benefits to the end-users of advanced material technology including the Australian materials industries. Read moreRead less
Structure-Property Relationships of Polymers with Controlled Architecture. Mechanical properties of a polymer (e.g., how elastic it is and how it dissipates energy when compressed) govern how well it performs as an adhesive, or its behaviour when melted and shaped into a consumer item. This project aims to relate molecular architecture to mechanical properties, using new techniques which permit the creation of polymers wherein each architectural characteristic is separately controlled. This has ....Structure-Property Relationships of Polymers with Controlled Architecture. Mechanical properties of a polymer (e.g., how elastic it is and how it dissipates energy when compressed) govern how well it performs as an adhesive, or its behaviour when melted and shaped into a consumer item. This project aims to relate molecular architecture to mechanical properties, using new techniques which permit the creation of polymers wherein each architectural characteristic is separately controlled. This has the potential to develop fundamental understanding for structure-property relations for the type of branched polymers that are in common use in industry and for which adequate models do not currently exist.Read moreRead less
High-Performance Polymer Composites for Electrical Discharging. This project aims to address the problem of electrostatic discharge by developing new industry-compatible processing techniques and taking advantage of the synergy between graphene and carbon nanotubes and fibres. Electrostatic discharge due to accumulation of static electricity is a significant problem for lightweight polymer composites used in hazard environments, such as pumps for underground mining, oil and gas storage and satel ....High-Performance Polymer Composites for Electrical Discharging. This project aims to address the problem of electrostatic discharge by developing new industry-compatible processing techniques and taking advantage of the synergy between graphene and carbon nanotubes and fibres. Electrostatic discharge due to accumulation of static electricity is a significant problem for lightweight polymer composites used in hazard environments, such as pumps for underground mining, oil and gas storage and satellites. The outcomes will potentially transform the current manufacturing practice of anti-static composites for industry applications including mining, energy, space and agriculture. Read moreRead less
Nanostructured materials by controlled photopolymerization. Photo-polymerization is an important and flexible means of converting a crosslinkable monomer into a solid and has application ranging from lens production to photo-lithography. This project aims at developing the technology of producing multi-phase structures of controllable morphology by selective and independent dual photo-polymerization of blends of crosslinkable monomers at controlled rates. These morphologies may have applicatio ....Nanostructured materials by controlled photopolymerization. Photo-polymerization is an important and flexible means of converting a crosslinkable monomer into a solid and has application ranging from lens production to photo-lithography. This project aims at developing the technology of producing multi-phase structures of controllable morphology by selective and independent dual photo-polymerization of blends of crosslinkable monomers at controlled rates. These morphologies may have applications in toughening polymers with minimum loss in strength and optical transparency, abrasion resistant coatings, tissue engineering (where the phases have differing biodegradability), in microfluidics, and microelectro-mechanical systems (where sub-micron channels/domains are required) or in membrane separation.Read moreRead less