Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101504
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$438,026.00
Summary
Crossing restrictive biobarriers with self-assembled lipid nanocarriers. This project aims to determine how nanoscale objects which mimic the surface of cells behave in biologically relevant environments. This project expects to generate new knowledge in physical chemistry by complementing innovative surface chemistry design and characterisation with data science approaches. The expected outcome of this project is identification of the mode of interaction of these biomimetic objects with cells, ....Crossing restrictive biobarriers with self-assembled lipid nanocarriers. This project aims to determine how nanoscale objects which mimic the surface of cells behave in biologically relevant environments. This project expects to generate new knowledge in physical chemistry by complementing innovative surface chemistry design and characterisation with data science approaches. The expected outcome of this project is identification of the mode of interaction of these biomimetic objects with cells, which may then reveal a new pathway for the delivery of pharmaceuticals. This could provide significant future benefits in the treatment of neurological diseases and bacterial infections, by overcoming the barrier that the cell surface presents to the uptake of many medicinal drugs.Read moreRead less
Deciphering ion specificity in complex electrolytes . This project aims to understand how ions influence the behaviour and properties of complex electrolytes (solutions containing either multiple ions, solvent mixtures, high electrolyte concentrations or a variety of interfaces, solutes or polymers). Complex electrolytes are ubiquitous in colloidal and particle technologies and underpin industrial and natural processes. Our team will combine experiment, simulation and theory to deliver a univers ....Deciphering ion specificity in complex electrolytes . This project aims to understand how ions influence the behaviour and properties of complex electrolytes (solutions containing either multiple ions, solvent mixtures, high electrolyte concentrations or a variety of interfaces, solutes or polymers). Complex electrolytes are ubiquitous in colloidal and particle technologies and underpin industrial and natural processes. Our team will combine experiment, simulation and theory to deliver a universal framework for understanding and predicting specific ion effects in complex electrolytes. The project outcomes are expected to deliver new understanding for researchers, robust rules of thumb for technologists and a public resource for data-driven solutions in applications utilising salt solutions. Read moreRead less
Improving the stability of biomolecules using ionic liquids. This project aims to address critical issues in studying proteins outside their native environments by developing new solvents that will increase their stability and solubility. The project expects to create new knowledge in our understanding of solvent chemical properties through a novel approach using high throughput robotics, synchrotron analysis of protein structures and Molecular Dynamics simulations. The expected outcome is a set ....Improving the stability of biomolecules using ionic liquids. This project aims to address critical issues in studying proteins outside their native environments by developing new solvents that will increase their stability and solubility. The project expects to create new knowledge in our understanding of solvent chemical properties through a novel approach using high throughput robotics, synchrotron analysis of protein structures and Molecular Dynamics simulations. The expected outcome is a set of design rules for creating new solvents. This should benefit many research and industrial applications, including determining protein structure for the development of new drugs and biocatalysts, and cryopreservation of protein-based pharmaceuticals.Read moreRead less
Gas-enriched slippery surfaces. This project will exploit novel experimental and simulations approaches to investigate gas enrichment at liquid-liquid interfaces, and its effect on interfacial slip. The outcomes of the project will be a deeper understanding of oil-water interfaces capturing the presence of interfacial gas layers, slippery surfaces with superior drag reducing and fouling reducing properties, and control over nanobubble formation under flow. The new surfaces will have potential ap ....Gas-enriched slippery surfaces. This project will exploit novel experimental and simulations approaches to investigate gas enrichment at liquid-liquid interfaces, and its effect on interfacial slip. The outcomes of the project will be a deeper understanding of oil-water interfaces capturing the presence of interfacial gas layers, slippery surfaces with superior drag reducing and fouling reducing properties, and control over nanobubble formation under flow. The new surfaces will have potential application in improving the energy efficiency of microfluidic and multiphase flow. Benefits are expected in terms of reduced emissions, fuel cost and pollution related to transport of goods by sea, and extraction of oil from rocks.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100008
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$889,419.00
Summary
Reinventing compostable packaging. This project aims to develop a new generation of authentically home-compostable packaging materials, focused around meeting immediate and future needs for food packaging. The materials used will be of sustainable origin, helping to decarbonise our packaging industry, and presenting a new paradigm in protecting consumer goods in a more responsible way. In doing so, it is anticipated that Australia will be able to reduce and eventually avoid reliance on single-us ....Reinventing compostable packaging. This project aims to develop a new generation of authentically home-compostable packaging materials, focused around meeting immediate and future needs for food packaging. The materials used will be of sustainable origin, helping to decarbonise our packaging industry, and presenting a new paradigm in protecting consumer goods in a more responsible way. In doing so, it is anticipated that Australia will be able to reduce and eventually avoid reliance on single-use plastic packaging in foods and the environmental problems it causes, without compromising on food safety or freshness.Read moreRead less
Unravelling how liquids wet surfaces with new dynamic measurements. This project aims to transform our understanding of how liquids wet surfaces in order to provide a step-change in advanced material design. This will be achieved by developing a unifying theory of surface wetting by integrating new microscale models of dynamic wetting with new macroscale automated measurement techniques capable of rapidly generating large datasets, to determine precisely how surface chemistry and surface roughne ....Unravelling how liquids wet surfaces with new dynamic measurements. This project aims to transform our understanding of how liquids wet surfaces in order to provide a step-change in advanced material design. This will be achieved by developing a unifying theory of surface wetting by integrating new microscale models of dynamic wetting with new macroscale automated measurement techniques capable of rapidly generating large datasets, to determine precisely how surface chemistry and surface roughness influence wetting. Expected outcomes include predictive models of surface wetting across multiple scales, and robust high-throughput measurement methods informing optimal design of next-generation materials for all applications where liquids and surfaces interact.Read moreRead less
Deciphering lipid-RNA nanocarrier structure upon RNA complexation. This project aims to decipher the nanostructure evolution, at a millisecond timescale, of lipid self-assembly upon coupling with RNAs and track the nanocarrier structural changes induced by biologically relevant acidic environments. This project will generate new knowledge of the interplay between the self-assembled lipid-RNA nanostructures and cellular objects for successful payload release. The expected outcome of this project ....Deciphering lipid-RNA nanocarrier structure upon RNA complexation. This project aims to decipher the nanostructure evolution, at a millisecond timescale, of lipid self-assembly upon coupling with RNAs and track the nanocarrier structural changes induced by biologically relevant acidic environments. This project will generate new knowledge of the interplay between the self-assembled lipid-RNA nanostructures and cellular objects for successful payload release. The expected outcome of this project is identification of the fundamental mechanisms of lipid-RNA molecular self-assembly and intracellular nucleic acid delivery. This should provide significant advances in the field of lipid nanoparticle engineering for the delivery of RNA therapeutics. Read moreRead less
Liquid Metal Interfaces – A Novel Platform for Catalysis. This project aims to develop the basic design principles that govern the performance of liquid metal alloy catalysts for the methane pyrolysis reaction and manufacturing of ammonia. The project expects to generate new knowledge in understanding the reaction dynamics occurring at the gas-liquid metal interface under true working conditions and the composition-catalytic activity relationships of multi-component liquid alloy catalysts throug ....Liquid Metal Interfaces – A Novel Platform for Catalysis. This project aims to develop the basic design principles that govern the performance of liquid metal alloy catalysts for the methane pyrolysis reaction and manufacturing of ammonia. The project expects to generate new knowledge in understanding the reaction dynamics occurring at the gas-liquid metal interface under true working conditions and the composition-catalytic activity relationships of multi-component liquid alloy catalysts through a combined experimental and computational/theoretical approach. The expected outcomes are new liquid metal alloys that open the gateway to a new dimension of catalytic applications. The project should benefit Australia’s key societal challenges of emissions reduction, hydrogen storage and food security.Read moreRead less
Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and p ....Reactivity and photochemistry of halide anions: atmospheric implications. Bromine and iodine are suspected to be responsible for most of the halogen-induced ozone loss in the stratosphere but are not currently included in atmospheric models due to a paucity of knowledge of the gas-phase chemistry and photochemistry of their anions and radicals. This project will develop and deploy advanced mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy techniques to enable precision measurements of the reactions and photo-reactions of gas-phase iodide and bromide anions and their oxides. These state-of-the-art measurements of reaction kinetics and products will enable accurate chemical models that predict the impact of bromine and iodine chemistry on ozone levels and will inform future models for global climate.Read moreRead less
High performance electrolyte for the vanadium redox flow battery. Vanadium batteries present a highly-scalable, sustainable solution for storage of renewable electricity, but the technology needs to be improved for robust and efficient operation in the warm Australian climate. This project aims to design and extensively test new high-performance electrolyte compositions with advanced thermal stabilising additives for safe long-term battery operation at 60 °C. New knowledge in materials science a ....High performance electrolyte for the vanadium redox flow battery. Vanadium batteries present a highly-scalable, sustainable solution for storage of renewable electricity, but the technology needs to be improved for robust and efficient operation in the warm Australian climate. This project aims to design and extensively test new high-performance electrolyte compositions with advanced thermal stabilising additives for safe long-term battery operation at 60 °C. New knowledge in materials science and electrochemistry will be generated. The core outcome of the project is a sustainable large-scale energy storage technology ready for immediate application in Australia. This will support the transition of the Australian energy sector to renewables and provide businesses with distributed energy storage solutions.Read moreRead less