Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a ....Novel Photo-Catalysts for Water Oxidation: Linking Nature to New Technologies. Photosynthesis is the catalytic process used by biology to convert the sun's light into energy. This project aims to mimic photosynthesis with cheap and robust molecules. The approach has great potential for development of renewable energy production and benign industrial chemical processes. The project will bring Australia to the international forefront of this field. It will provide excellent research training in a range of scientific skills for Australian research students. Read moreRead less
Bio-inspired Catalysts for Water Oxidation. Successful completion of the project will result in the development of devices that utilise redox active manganese clusters to catalyse the oxidation of water. This achievement would place us at the forefront of international efforts to develop devices that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, an endeavour which has the potential to solve pressing energy demands. As an added benefit, these devices can be adapted for the purposes of carrying out th ....Bio-inspired Catalysts for Water Oxidation. Successful completion of the project will result in the development of devices that utilise redox active manganese clusters to catalyse the oxidation of water. This achievement would place us at the forefront of international efforts to develop devices that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, an endeavour which has the potential to solve pressing energy demands. As an added benefit, these devices can be adapted for the purposes of carrying out the catalytic oxidation of organic substrates, for which a variety of industrial and environmental applications can be envisaged.
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Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent wor ....Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent work, this project will design, prepare and characterize novel materials of this type for a number of target applications. Collaborators in Europe and USA will be involved in the analysis and testing of the materials.Read moreRead less
Chemical and morphological engineering of semiconductor electrodes for high efficiency solar cells. The expected outcomes of the project are the preparation and development of sophisticated electrodes for solar cells, the main advantage of which resides in their designed chemical and morphological properties. The resulting electrodes have the potential to improve the efficiency of the solar cells over current industrially used materials. The products and mechanisms developed are envisaged to be ....Chemical and morphological engineering of semiconductor electrodes for high efficiency solar cells. The expected outcomes of the project are the preparation and development of sophisticated electrodes for solar cells, the main advantage of which resides in their designed chemical and morphological properties. The resulting electrodes have the potential to improve the efficiency of the solar cells over current industrially used materials. The products and mechanisms developed are envisaged to be amenable to large scale-up in industry. Hence, at a future date, there is the potential to fabricate the electrodes in Australia and then export the materials or technology internationally. This will benefit the Australian economy through employment of Australians and income generated through exports.Read moreRead less
Electrochemical Applications of Plastic Crystalline Electrolytes. A number of new and emerging electrochemical device applications such as lithium batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, electrochemical capacitors, actuators and bio-sensors are limited by their need for a liquid electrolyte. Many of these devices are considered vital to energy efficiency and the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. The recent discovery of ambient temperature plastic crystalline electrolyte materials by the Monas ....Electrochemical Applications of Plastic Crystalline Electrolytes. A number of new and emerging electrochemical device applications such as lithium batteries, dye-sensitized solar cells, electrochemical capacitors, actuators and bio-sensors are limited by their need for a liquid electrolyte. Many of these devices are considered vital to energy efficiency and the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions. The recent discovery of ambient temperature plastic crystalline electrolyte materials by the Monash Electrolytes group has raised the possibility of solving this problem. In this project new plastic crystalline electrolyte materials will be developed to suit these applications and their electrochemical properties investigated. Laboratory prototype devices will be prepared and tested and via collaborations with appropriate device developers, their performance evaluted.Read moreRead less
Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique ....Polyoxometalate Clusters: Catalytic Chemistry in Solution and Condensed States. Polyoxometalate cluster anions are soluble metal-oxygen clusters that are cheap, robust and non-toxic.
Conditions for systematic tuning of redox potentials over the range +2 to -3 V have become accessible via certain photo-active polyoxometalates. The same system can provide powerful oxidants (that rival chlorine) and powerful reductants (that rival potassium).
The program will take advantage of this unique range of properties to explore:-
(i) coupling of photo- and electro-chemical processes into effective catalytic cycles;
(ii) photo- and electro-chemical processes in ionic liquid solvents;
(iii) synthesis and redox reactivity of nanoparticles stabilised by polyoxometalates.
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Porphyrin Based Supramolecular Assemblies and Arrays III - Model Systems for the Construction of Photosynthetic Mimics and Devices. Solar cells that convert light to electricity are an excellent solution to bringing energy to remote locations with abundant sunlight. This research proposal aims to provide an intellectual grounding in the development of molecular systems and supramolecular arrays that are capable of such solar energy conversion (photovoltaics & artificial photosynthesis) or that ....Porphyrin Based Supramolecular Assemblies and Arrays III - Model Systems for the Construction of Photosynthetic Mimics and Devices. Solar cells that convert light to electricity are an excellent solution to bringing energy to remote locations with abundant sunlight. This research proposal aims to provide an intellectual grounding in the development of molecular systems and supramolecular arrays that are capable of such solar energy conversion (photovoltaics & artificial photosynthesis) or that have potential applications in photonics. Developments in this project may also lead to breakthroughs in areas such as nano-scale computing and cleaner and more sustainable energy productionRead moreRead less
Porphyrin-Based Supramolecular Assemblies and Arrays II: Model Systems for the Construction of Photosynthetic Mimics and Devices. Solar cells that convert light to electricity are an excellent solution to bringing energy to remote locations with abundant sunlight. This research proposal aims to provide an intellectual grounding in the development of molecular systems and supramolecular arrays that are capable of such solar energy conversion (photovoltaics & artificial photosynthesis) or that ha ....Porphyrin-Based Supramolecular Assemblies and Arrays II: Model Systems for the Construction of Photosynthetic Mimics and Devices. Solar cells that convert light to electricity are an excellent solution to bringing energy to remote locations with abundant sunlight. This research proposal aims to provide an intellectual grounding in the development of molecular systems and supramolecular arrays that are capable of such solar energy conversion (photovoltaics & artificial photosynthesis) or that have potential applications in photonics. Developments in this project may also lead to breakthroughs in areas such as nano-scale computing and cleaner and more sustainable energy production.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989567
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
State of the Art Surface Characterisation Facility for the Sydney Basin. Many of the grand challenges of our time, including finding alternative sources of energy, maximizing our current supply of natural resources, identifying and treating pollution in general, and in water in particular, and developing therapies and biomaterials that enable the personalisation of therapies to each individual are being solved using developments in the molecular sciences. Pivotal to the success of such research ....State of the Art Surface Characterisation Facility for the Sydney Basin. Many of the grand challenges of our time, including finding alternative sources of energy, maximizing our current supply of natural resources, identifying and treating pollution in general, and in water in particular, and developing therapies and biomaterials that enable the personalisation of therapies to each individual are being solved using developments in the molecular sciences. Pivotal to the success of such research is to understand materials and surfaces at the molecular level. The request is to purchase surface analysis instrumentation which will dramatically enhance the ability of scientists around Australia understand how to develop solutions to these grand challenges.Read moreRead less
Construction and Use of Yoctowells as Vessels for Catalysis, Sensing and Artificial Photosynthesis. Yoctowell recognition systems are likely to form the basis of a new generation of biosensors, high throughput screening systems for identification of nucleotides and as energy transduction systems. As a result, this research will be relevant to technological advances in the areas of biotechnology and nanotechnology. Researching functional yoctowells containing photoactive and redox-active componen ....Construction and Use of Yoctowells as Vessels for Catalysis, Sensing and Artificial Photosynthesis. Yoctowell recognition systems are likely to form the basis of a new generation of biosensors, high throughput screening systems for identification of nucleotides and as energy transduction systems. As a result, this research will be relevant to technological advances in the areas of biotechnology and nanotechnology. Researching functional yoctowells containing photoactive and redox-active components will contribute to the major effort in basic research on smart optoelectric that are needed today to meet tomorrow's energy demands in a sustainable way. Read moreRead less