Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100063
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,900,000.00
Summary
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope for Beam-Sensitive Materials. This project aims to establish a transmission electron microscopy facility for the high-throughput characterisation of delicate materials, at the atomic scale and a broad range of temperatures. Unique in Australia, this capability will enable the location and type of atoms critical to materials properties to be determined for materials as diverse as lithium-bearing minerals, next-generation solar cells and drug-delivery agen ....Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope for Beam-Sensitive Materials. This project aims to establish a transmission electron microscopy facility for the high-throughput characterisation of delicate materials, at the atomic scale and a broad range of temperatures. Unique in Australia, this capability will enable the location and type of atoms critical to materials properties to be determined for materials as diverse as lithium-bearing minerals, next-generation solar cells and drug-delivery agents. In this way it will foster the engineering of new materials for addressing current challenges in energy, environment, transport, health and manufacturing. This will be a national, open access facility for use by research institutions and industry, and for training the next generation of postgraduate students.Read moreRead less
Diamane: A New Frontier in Materials Science. Single-layer diamond (‘diamane’) is a new frontier of material research although its preparation is still in infancy with many structures predicted possible but have not been made experimentally. Built on a new chemical route for 'graphite to diamane' transformation, this project will address a research gap towards synthesising new diamane(-like) nanostructures and developing an in-depth understanding of the chemically induced phase transformation an ....Diamane: A New Frontier in Materials Science. Single-layer diamond (‘diamane’) is a new frontier of material research although its preparation is still in infancy with many structures predicted possible but have not been made experimentally. Built on a new chemical route for 'graphite to diamane' transformation, this project will address a research gap towards synthesising new diamane(-like) nanostructures and developing an in-depth understanding of the chemically induced phase transformation and structure-property correlations, which will have far-reaching impact on scientific fields beyond carbon research. Preliminary data points to both feasibility and impact for discovering new materials and technologies, which will bring foreseeable scholarly, economic, and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100985
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,116.00
Summary
Shining a Light on Brain Temperature with Near-Infrared Nanosensors. This project aims to develop a contactless thermometry approach based on near-infrared fluorescence to map brain or nerve temperature in real-time. This research expects to generate new knowledge in the field of neuroscience using tools from optics, nanotechnology and materials science. The technique generated as a result of this project is expected to enable the quantification of the transient local heating of the nervous syst ....Shining a Light on Brain Temperature with Near-Infrared Nanosensors. This project aims to develop a contactless thermometry approach based on near-infrared fluorescence to map brain or nerve temperature in real-time. This research expects to generate new knowledge in the field of neuroscience using tools from optics, nanotechnology and materials science. The technique generated as a result of this project is expected to enable the quantification of the transient local heating of the nervous system in different situations and the study of how this affects neural function. This is expected to provide significant benefits, enabling the development of regulatory frameworks that ensure the safe implementation of new therapies for neurological and neurodegenerative disorders.Read moreRead less
Molecular transistors: from strings and rings to other things. This project aims to use chemical approaches to develop molecular transistors, which are critical components for a future molecular electronics technology. The use of molecules as ultra-miniaturised electronic components is gathering attention from industry and academia, as a solution to the approaching limits of top-down scaling. However, current molecular designs based on gating through chemical reaction or redox state changes are ....Molecular transistors: from strings and rings to other things. This project aims to use chemical approaches to develop molecular transistors, which are critical components for a future molecular electronics technology. The use of molecules as ultra-miniaturised electronic components is gathering attention from industry and academia, as a solution to the approaching limits of top-down scaling. However, current molecular designs based on gating through chemical reaction or redox state changes are slow and inefficient. The project will develop molecular transistors with exceptionally high gain and fast response based on gating the energy of quantum interference features in molecules with cross-conjugated or ring-like shapes. This will provide significant benefits including new strategies for nanofabrication of molecular devices.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101021
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$435,000.00
Summary
Developing tunable nanoporous graphene membranes for resource recovery. This project aims to advance the development of atom-thick nanoporous graphene molecular filters (membranes) to tackle challenging separations in the chemical industry and open new pathways to recover valuable materials from waste streams. The extreme thinness of these membranes allows them to separate molecules with a fraction of the energy typically used by commercially available technologies. The proposed electrochemical ....Developing tunable nanoporous graphene membranes for resource recovery. This project aims to advance the development of atom-thick nanoporous graphene molecular filters (membranes) to tackle challenging separations in the chemical industry and open new pathways to recover valuable materials from waste streams. The extreme thinness of these membranes allows them to separate molecules with a fraction of the energy typically used by commercially available technologies. The proposed electrochemical platform is expected to fabricate and operate fit-for-purpose membranes with unprecedented control. Significant new knowledge in the areas of material engineering, nanofluidics, and membranes is expected from exploiting this platform to study ion transport under confinement and make membranes for resource recovery.Read moreRead less
Establishing Design Principles Of Polymers For Intracellular Delivery . Engineered polymers have played a central role in the field of bionanotechnology by enabling targeted nanoscale cell interactions. Progress in the field of intracellular delivery is currently affected by a major bottleneck due to the absence of effective polymers that is applicable across the range of bimolecular cargoes. In essence depending on the type of cargo: DNA, RNA or protien, the polymer needs programmability. The l ....Establishing Design Principles Of Polymers For Intracellular Delivery . Engineered polymers have played a central role in the field of bionanotechnology by enabling targeted nanoscale cell interactions. Progress in the field of intracellular delivery is currently affected by a major bottleneck due to the absence of effective polymers that is applicable across the range of bimolecular cargoes. In essence depending on the type of cargo: DNA, RNA or protien, the polymer needs programmability. The limited tunability of traditional polymers agents makes them unsuitable for this particular application. The multidisciplinary project addresses this significant problem by engineering novel sequences of defined polymer based nanoscale agents to achieve efficient delivery in cells.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101542
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,154.00
Summary
Impact of humoral immunity on nanoparticle–biological interactions. This project aims to improve the biological applications of nanomaterials by understanding their fundamental interactions with proteins and cells in relevant biological environments. This will create new knowledge on how humoral (antibody-mediated) immunity affects nanomaterials using cutting-edge immunoassays, bio–nano characterisation techniques, and bioinformatics. Expected outcomes of the project include an understanding of ....Impact of humoral immunity on nanoparticle–biological interactions. This project aims to improve the biological applications of nanomaterials by understanding their fundamental interactions with proteins and cells in relevant biological environments. This will create new knowledge on how humoral (antibody-mediated) immunity affects nanomaterials using cutting-edge immunoassays, bio–nano characterisation techniques, and bioinformatics. Expected outcomes of the project include an understanding of how specific antibodies modulate the protein coatings on nanomaterials, which will shed light on how immune cells interact with nanomaterials. This will lead to design principles for nanomaterial properties to improve their effectiveness in delivering drugs and gene therapies.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL210100180
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,781,000.00
Summary
Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for fun ....Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for functional imaging of subcellular organelles. This research offers exciting opportunities for single-molecule tracking, quantitative diagnostics, non-invasive imaging, bio-mechanical force measurement and thermometry; tools to observe the nanoscale world inside live cells.Read moreRead less
Caveospheres: A versatile peptide delivery system. Nanotechnology has the potential to transform the way we treat many diseases. This project will investigate a new type of nanoparticle, the caveosphere, and tests its effectiveness as a peptide delivery system. Caveospheres can protect delicate cargo from degradation, target cargo to specific cells that induce the maximum therapeutic response, and can be synthesised in large-scale, cost-effective batch fermentation. This study will:
1: Engineer ....Caveospheres: A versatile peptide delivery system. Nanotechnology has the potential to transform the way we treat many diseases. This project will investigate a new type of nanoparticle, the caveosphere, and tests its effectiveness as a peptide delivery system. Caveospheres can protect delicate cargo from degradation, target cargo to specific cells that induce the maximum therapeutic response, and can be synthesised in large-scale, cost-effective batch fermentation. This study will:
1: Engineer biological function into caveospheres
2: Investigate the cellular behavior of the engineered caveospheres
3: Determine the therapeutic activity of caveospheres in vitro
It will develop a fundamental understanding of nanoparticles trafficking in cells, to make improved nanoparticle delivery systems.Read moreRead less
Next generation enzymes using stimuli responsive protein/polymer hybrids. Improved stability and control over activity are key to unlocking the full potential of enzymes. Advanced polymer synthesis and synthetic biology will be combined to engineer stable, bioresponsive enzyme/polymer hybrids. This study will:
1: Develop a rapid screening method to identify the optimal sites for polymer-to-enzyme attachment
2: Evaluate the stability and bioresponsive activity of enzyme/polymer hybrids
3: Formula ....Next generation enzymes using stimuli responsive protein/polymer hybrids. Improved stability and control over activity are key to unlocking the full potential of enzymes. Advanced polymer synthesis and synthetic biology will be combined to engineer stable, bioresponsive enzyme/polymer hybrids. This study will:
1: Develop a rapid screening method to identify the optimal sites for polymer-to-enzyme attachment
2: Evaluate the stability and bioresponsive activity of enzyme/polymer hybrids
3: Formulate enzyme/polymer hybrids into a targeted nanoparticle delivery system
This project will examine the performance of polymer-enzyme hybrids with cells, however these innovations will also have significant applications in other fields using enzymatic processes, such as food processing, biofuel production, and agriculture.Read moreRead less