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Establishing the relations between starch nano- and mesostructure and macroscopic physical properties. Starch is the major energy component within human diets, and the most abundant polymer that can be readily extracted from annual crop plants, leading to many actual and potential industrial applications. There are major opportunities to optimise the nutritional value of starches in the human diet, and to enhance the properties of extracted starches as renewable alternatives to petrochemical pol ....Establishing the relations between starch nano- and mesostructure and macroscopic physical properties. Starch is the major energy component within human diets, and the most abundant polymer that can be readily extracted from annual crop plants, leading to many actual and potential industrial applications. There are major opportunities to optimise the nutritional value of starches in the human diet, and to enhance the properties of extracted starches as renewable alternatives to petrochemical polymers. This project will open up our understanding of the structure of starch polymers and show how this relates to important properties such as enzyme digestibility rates, leading to new opportunities for public health and commercial benefits.Read moreRead less
Improved catalysts for liquid phase hydrocarbon oxidation. Hydrocarbon oxidation is the largest industrial catalytic application of molecular transition metal catalysts. Despite its widespread application, the cyclohexane oxidation process is inefficient as it operates at low conversions, with a requirement to continuously recycle large quantities of hydrocarbon feedstock. Because of the scale of the process, increasing the yield from 4.5% to even 6% (33% increase) would represent a drastic im ....Improved catalysts for liquid phase hydrocarbon oxidation. Hydrocarbon oxidation is the largest industrial catalytic application of molecular transition metal catalysts. Despite its widespread application, the cyclohexane oxidation process is inefficient as it operates at low conversions, with a requirement to continuously recycle large quantities of hydrocarbon feedstock. Because of the scale of the process, increasing the yield from 4.5% to even 6% (33% increase) would represent a drastic improvement, with flow-on economic and environmental effects. The proposal aims to combine novel modifiers into the structure of the catalysts, to effect this increase and develop cleaner, more efficient, catalysts.Read moreRead less
Metal-Based Anti-inflammatory Drugs with High Efficacy and Low Side-Effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have widespread human and veterinary applications for the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, but their utility is limited by often severe gastrointestinal, renal and cardiac side-effects. The recently heralded COX-2 inhibitors have not lived up to their expectations in terms of efficacy and side-effects, therefore, there is a need to develop new potent ....Metal-Based Anti-inflammatory Drugs with High Efficacy and Low Side-Effects. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have widespread human and veterinary applications for the treatment of arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, but their utility is limited by often severe gastrointestinal, renal and cardiac side-effects. The recently heralded COX-2 inhibitors have not lived up to their expectations in terms of efficacy and side-effects, therefore, there is a need to develop new potent, but safer, NSAIDs. This project is aimed at using the results from new lead compounds to design NSAIDs with much greater efficacy and much less side effects than those currently available.Read moreRead less
From Nanostructured Catalysts to Process Innovation. The results of this research will help to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of industrially important chemical reactions and give clear leads as to how to improve them. In particular, new catalysts (i.e. agents that increase the speed and selectivity of chemical reactions) will be generated and the first steps towards process innovation will be taken, using high-throughput equipment unique in the Southern Hemisphere. These new c ....From Nanostructured Catalysts to Process Innovation. The results of this research will help to advance the fundamental scientific understanding of industrially important chemical reactions and give clear leads as to how to improve them. In particular, new catalysts (i.e. agents that increase the speed and selectivity of chemical reactions) will be generated and the first steps towards process innovation will be taken, using high-throughput equipment unique in the Southern Hemisphere. These new catalysts will be the basis for the design of new and/or improved industrial processes that will be ?greener?, safer, use fewer resources, produce less waste and are generally more efficient and effective. As a result the Australian chemicals industry will be more competitive.Read moreRead less
Molecular Recognition in Chiral Ionic Liquids as Basis for the Design and Synthesis of New Enantioselective Heterogeneous Catalysts and Membranes. Molecules that can exist as mirror images, each with different, e.g., beneficial vs. toxic properties, underpin the pharmaceutical industry and increasingly new highly selective pesticides, and flavours/fragrances.
Current commercial pathways often make mixtures of the mirror images that then need to be separated laboriously. These routes are ineffic ....Molecular Recognition in Chiral Ionic Liquids as Basis for the Design and Synthesis of New Enantioselective Heterogeneous Catalysts and Membranes. Molecules that can exist as mirror images, each with different, e.g., beneficial vs. toxic properties, underpin the pharmaceutical industry and increasingly new highly selective pesticides, and flavours/fragrances.
Current commercial pathways often make mixtures of the mirror images that then need to be separated laboriously. These routes are inefficient, creating waste and use resources poorly.
We aim to create solutions for these problems, using supported thin films of special, new types of salts that are liquid at room temperature, and which have other unusual chemical properties that make them ideally suited to enable efficient conversions.Read moreRead less
From Nanostructured Functional Materials to Sustainable Processes. Nano-structured functional materials in the areas of catalysis and reversible hydrogen storage will be developed with the view to arrive at (a) sustainable processes and (b) the adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier. These aims are driven by a global need to change the industrial paradigm due to environmental pressures and limited resources, particularly in terms of energy. Expected outcomes are new avenues to process intens ....From Nanostructured Functional Materials to Sustainable Processes. Nano-structured functional materials in the areas of catalysis and reversible hydrogen storage will be developed with the view to arrive at (a) sustainable processes and (b) the adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier. These aims are driven by a global need to change the industrial paradigm due to environmental pressures and limited resources, particularly in terms of energy. Expected outcomes are new avenues to process intensification, leading to novel commercial routes, and a hydrogen storage technology which has the potential to play a strong part in the global economy.Read moreRead less
Function-driven Synthesis and Assembly of Two-dimensional Metal Nanostructures. The project is fundamentally concerned with material science and nanotechnology, one of the cutting-edge areas in Australia's National Research Priority. Successful completion of the project will result in controlled synthesis, functional assembly and their fundamental understanding of metal nanostructures. The research findings will be useful for developments of new nanomaterials and applications to optoelectronics, ....Function-driven Synthesis and Assembly of Two-dimensional Metal Nanostructures. The project is fundamentally concerned with material science and nanotechnology, one of the cutting-edge areas in Australia's National Research Priority. Successful completion of the project will result in controlled synthesis, functional assembly and their fundamental understanding of metal nanostructures. The research findings will be useful for developments of new nanomaterials and applications to optoelectronics, molecular electronics and biochemical sensor systems. They can also greatly increase the scientific understanding of particle behaviour in relation to process control, and expand the knowledge creativity of Australia in research in these materials.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453637
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$256,804.00
Summary
Multi-dimensional polymer characterization facility. The microstructure of polymers dominates their physical properties. This integrated facility will create a world-leading means of characterizing in multiple dimensions the microstructure of complex polymers, eg copolymers and branched polymers. The facility will yield information on the distributions of chain end-groups, monomer microstructure, and branches, as functions of molecular weight. The facility will provide otherwise unobtainable dat ....Multi-dimensional polymer characterization facility. The microstructure of polymers dominates their physical properties. This integrated facility will create a world-leading means of characterizing in multiple dimensions the microstructure of complex polymers, eg copolymers and branched polymers. The facility will yield information on the distributions of chain end-groups, monomer microstructure, and branches, as functions of molecular weight. The facility will provide otherwise unobtainable data for a set of projects exploring questions ranging from how new synthetic materials with tailor-made properties can be created, through to how our understanding of natural polymers can be advanced to improve crop utilization.Read moreRead less
Why is ColorbondR steel greener on the other side of the fence? Designing additives to retard weathering of surface coatings. COLORBONDR steel, the flagship pre-painted steel product of BlueScope Steel Limited, has become an iconic part of both suburban and outback landscapes whether installed as roofing, walling or water conservation accessories (tanks, down-pipes etc). This proposal aims to provide a detailed understanding of molecular level changes in COLORBONDR steel surface coatings brought ....Why is ColorbondR steel greener on the other side of the fence? Designing additives to retard weathering of surface coatings. COLORBONDR steel, the flagship pre-painted steel product of BlueScope Steel Limited, has become an iconic part of both suburban and outback landscapes whether installed as roofing, walling or water conservation accessories (tanks, down-pipes etc). This proposal aims to provide a detailed understanding of molecular level changes in COLORBONDR steel surface coatings brought about by levels of heat and radiation encountered in-service. These insights will lead to further improvements in both lifetime and aesthetic durability of COLORBONDR steel, ensuring continuing economic success of BlueScope in the domestic building market with consequent benefits to manufacturing communities throughout the supply-chain nationwide.Read moreRead less
Selective Adsorption throught Molecular Imprinting in Nanoporous Silica. A novel synthesis method, molecular imprinting (MI) combined with a templating technique, will be used to prepare mesoporous silica materials with specific molecular recognition sites. The surface morphology of the materials can be duplicated at a molecular level known as molecular imprinting. The imprinting of metal ions, organic and enantiomeric molecules and the subsequent interactions with the template will be studied ....Selective Adsorption throught Molecular Imprinting in Nanoporous Silica. A novel synthesis method, molecular imprinting (MI) combined with a templating technique, will be used to prepare mesoporous silica materials with specific molecular recognition sites. The surface morphology of the materials can be duplicated at a molecular level known as molecular imprinting. The imprinting of metal ions, organic and enantiomeric molecules and the subsequent interactions with the template will be studied. The molecular recognition properties of imprinted materials will be evaluated by selective adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of Hg2+/Pd2+, D-glucose and (-)-borneol/(+)-fenchol respectively. The novelty of the research is in combining the template synthesis of nanoporous silicates with the technique of MI.Read moreRead less