Functional nano-porous metal membranes for sustainable separation in industrial processes. There are many waste streams that need to be purified which degrade conventional membranes. This project with local company AMS aims to develop nano-porous metal membranes as a sustainable alternative to conventional membrane materials. Highly porous and ultra-thin metal membrane sheets with narrowly distributed nano-scale pores will be fabricated and functionalised to purify both model and industrial wast ....Functional nano-porous metal membranes for sustainable separation in industrial processes. There are many waste streams that need to be purified which degrade conventional membranes. This project with local company AMS aims to develop nano-porous metal membranes as a sustainable alternative to conventional membrane materials. Highly porous and ultra-thin metal membrane sheets with narrowly distributed nano-scale pores will be fabricated and functionalised to purify both model and industrial wastewaters. This intends to lead to the production of stronger, more versatile and chemically stable membrane materials that will exhibit longer lifespan and performance. The most significant outcome is expected to be low cost metal alloys with pores below the current 100 nm benchmark and assess their thermo-chemical stability.Read moreRead less
Controlling precipitation processes in the production of value-added zirconia. Doral Specialty Chemicals produces specialised zirconia products from zircon sands mined in WA. Doping the zirconia with metals such as yttrium and aluminium can produce advanced ceramics, with applications in areas such as solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen sensors. The aim of this project is to improve the fundamental understanding of the chemistry in the initial processing steps, so that the process can be readily m ....Controlling precipitation processes in the production of value-added zirconia. Doral Specialty Chemicals produces specialised zirconia products from zircon sands mined in WA. Doping the zirconia with metals such as yttrium and aluminium can produce advanced ceramics, with applications in areas such as solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen sensors. The aim of this project is to improve the fundamental understanding of the chemistry in the initial processing steps, so that the process can be readily modified to produce new doped zirconia ceramics, without the extensive empirical process development currently required. The resulting ability to quickly produce new compositions on a commercial scale will put this industry in a world-leading position, dramatically increasing the added value of the zirconia products.Read moreRead less
Structural studies of titanyl and zirconyl sulfate hydrates. This project aims to provide knowledge that will inform the development of new methods of extraction and refining of titanium from ilmenite ores. In addition the knowledge gained in this research will aid the design and synthesis advanced ceramics and nanocomposites, and will provide the fundamental understanding of material structures that are required to adequately control the formation of such materials.
New Chiral Metal Catalysts; Going Beyond the State of the Art. The synthesis of both natural and unnatural organic compounds in optically active form is a central challenge in chemistry. Because the most important molecules in nature are chiral and of specific handedness, there exists a growing need to access any given organic compound in its optically pure form. Asymmetric catalysis offers the most elegant way to solving this problem and this project will target some of the difficult challenges ....New Chiral Metal Catalysts; Going Beyond the State of the Art. The synthesis of both natural and unnatural organic compounds in optically active form is a central challenge in chemistry. Because the most important molecules in nature are chiral and of specific handedness, there exists a growing need to access any given organic compound in its optically pure form. Asymmetric catalysis offers the most elegant way to solving this problem and this project will target some of the difficult challenges in realising asymmetric synthesis, building new, privileged chiral ligands, opening new catalytic pathways for constructing chiral compounds and understanding the intimate catalytic pathway that enables reactivity and selectivity. This will generate applications across the chemical industries.Read moreRead less
Molecular Switching and Moore. Electronics technology is coming up against significant fabrication challenges. The international semiconductor community has identified molecular electronics and molecular switches as potential future technologies that can help to alleviate these growing integration challenges. This project will explore and develop a number of novel molecular switches to meet this coming need. The switches will be assessed and screened through spectroelectrochemical and computati ....Molecular Switching and Moore. Electronics technology is coming up against significant fabrication challenges. The international semiconductor community has identified molecular electronics and molecular switches as potential future technologies that can help to alleviate these growing integration challenges. This project will explore and develop a number of novel molecular switches to meet this coming need. The switches will be assessed and screened through spectroelectrochemical and computational studies of intramolecular electron transfer in mixed-valence model complexes, before migrating the most promising designs into metal-molecule-metal junctions for further assessment.Read moreRead less