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
Integrated composite electrodes for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. This project aims to develop multifunctional composite electrodes for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from water, nitrogen gas and renewable energy under ambient conditions. Hydrophobic subnanometre water channels will be integrated with an electrocatalyst to control supply of water as vapour, thereby effectively minimising hydrogen evolution reaction and enabling high-efficiency ammonia synthesis. Expected outcomes i ....Integrated composite electrodes for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. This project aims to develop multifunctional composite electrodes for electrochemical synthesis of ammonia from water, nitrogen gas and renewable energy under ambient conditions. Hydrophobic subnanometre water channels will be integrated with an electrocatalyst to control supply of water as vapour, thereby effectively minimising hydrogen evolution reaction and enabling high-efficiency ammonia synthesis. Expected outcomes include enhanced capacity in developing electrochemical reaction systems, and new fundamental knowledge of electrocatalyst design and reaction engineering. This should provide significant economic and environmental benefits by developing a sustainable manufacturing technology to transform the century-old ammonia industry.Read moreRead less
Nanoscale heating towards high efficient nitrogen reduction reduction. This project aims to develop nanoscale heating technique using AC magnetic field for efficient synthesis of ammonia, widely used for fertiliser and having potential for hydrogen storage. This project is to introduce nanoscale heating concept by heating catalyst only but not solution in electrochemical catalysis to achieve high catalytic activity. Expected outcome is the creation of low cost catalysts having high selectivity a ....Nanoscale heating towards high efficient nitrogen reduction reduction. This project aims to develop nanoscale heating technique using AC magnetic field for efficient synthesis of ammonia, widely used for fertiliser and having potential for hydrogen storage. This project is to introduce nanoscale heating concept by heating catalyst only but not solution in electrochemical catalysis to achieve high catalytic activity. Expected outcome is the creation of low cost catalysts having high selectivity and formation rate for ammonia production. This unique technology has the potential to replace current ammonia production based on Haber-Bosch process, which consumes 2% of world energy and contributes 3% of overall CO2 emission. The project provides opportunities for new industries that will benefit Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL200100049
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,906,992.00
Summary
Nanofluidic Membranes for Sustainable Energy Future. This project aims to create a novel class of advanced membranes by making fundamental breakthroughs in nanofluidics, and harnessing this for developing new renewable energy and low-energy separation technologies. This project addresses the key challenges in understanding selective mass transport at the angstrom scale, thereby allowing the development of innovative materials design strategies to realise the ultrafast molecular and ionic permeat ....Nanofluidic Membranes for Sustainable Energy Future. This project aims to create a novel class of advanced membranes by making fundamental breakthroughs in nanofluidics, and harnessing this for developing new renewable energy and low-energy separation technologies. This project addresses the key challenges in understanding selective mass transport at the angstrom scale, thereby allowing the development of innovative materials design strategies to realise the ultrafast molecular and ionic permeation, and the ultrahigh selectivities observed in biological cell membranes. This new cross-disciplinary research will benefit Australia by the development of new materials for accelerating renewable hydrogen and biofuel futures, and enabling sustainable production of energy materials.Read moreRead less
Engineering the trafficking of nanoparticles within cells. This project aims to engineer responsive nanoparticles capable of trafficking efficiently within cells. The site of release of therapeutic cargo has importance for improving the efficacy of many treatments, for example vaccine delivery. Therefore fundamental understanding of how nanoparticle structure can be engineered to control cellular behaviour is necessary. The project will engineer new polymeric nanomaterials and investigate the im ....Engineering the trafficking of nanoparticles within cells. This project aims to engineer responsive nanoparticles capable of trafficking efficiently within cells. The site of release of therapeutic cargo has importance for improving the efficacy of many treatments, for example vaccine delivery. Therefore fundamental understanding of how nanoparticle structure can be engineered to control cellular behaviour is necessary. The project will engineer new polymeric nanomaterials and investigate the impact of their structure on biological properties. The benefits of this project will include new fundamental insights into improving nanoparticle design for vaccine delivery, as well as the expansion of Australia’s knowledge base in the area of biodegradable polymers.Read moreRead less
Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and technique ....Pore Engineering of Chromatography Membranes for Bioseparation. Protein separation and purification is an essential unit operation in manufacturing processes of therapeutic proteins. The project aims to advance the practical applications of chromatography membrane, an emerging technology for protein separation and purification, by tailoring membrane pore geometry and surface functionality to achieve enhanced separation performance. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge and techniques in the fields of reactive polymer synthesis, functional membrane fabrication and application in bioseparation. The innovative membranes developed in the project are able to improve the production capacity of therapeutic protein manufacturing processes, providing significant economic benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective mole ....Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective molecule transport. The membranes developed in the project have great potentials for improving the production capacity and sustainability of Australian industries, e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing, bioethanol production and petroleum refining, providing significant economic and environmental benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Surface tension-confined microfluidics: moving towards a flexible platform for diagnostics. The point-of-care industry is poised to fulfil the international need for effective and mobile diagnostics tools; however current strategies are restricting this from becoming a reality. Surface tension-confined microfluidics provide an opportunity to meet the requirements necessary for flexible platform for point-of-care devices.
Crystal engineering of membranes for chiral separation . This project addresses the urgent challenge of chiral separation in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals by creating a new class of membranes produced by engineering functionalised porous framework crystals. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how membrane chemistry and architecture can be used to achieve highly selective, fast chiral molecule transport. The expected outcomes of the project include ne ....Crystal engineering of membranes for chiral separation . This project addresses the urgent challenge of chiral separation in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals by creating a new class of membranes produced by engineering functionalised porous framework crystals. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how membrane chemistry and architecture can be used to achieve highly selective, fast chiral molecule transport. The expected outcomes of the project include new membrane compositions, design principles, fabrication techniques, and proof-of-concept production of scalable, high-performance composite membranes. This project should produce significant economic and environmental benefits in the development of advanced membranes, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals.Read moreRead less
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