INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ALLOYING ELEMENTS ON SHEAR BAND FORMATION DURING THE WARM ROLLING OF LOW CARBON AND INTERSTITIAL FREE STEELS. This proposal involves the application of three dimensional atom probe field ion microscopy and advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques to study the phenomena of precipitation and solute atoms' interactions with dislocations in warm rolled low carbon steels and interstitial free steels. It is intended to examine the effect of alloying addition ....INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ALLOYING ELEMENTS ON SHEAR BAND FORMATION DURING THE WARM ROLLING OF LOW CARBON AND INTERSTITIAL FREE STEELS. This proposal involves the application of three dimensional atom probe field ion microscopy and advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques to study the phenomena of precipitation and solute atoms' interactions with dislocations in warm rolled low carbon steels and interstitial free steels. It is intended to examine the effect of alloying additions on in-grain shear bands formation, texture formation and formability of warm rolled and annealed low carbon steels. Ultimately, the project is concerned with developing of fundamental understanging of solute interactions which provide an improved basis for design of these economically significant steels.Read moreRead less
High purity formaldehyde production from carbon oxides. This project aims to investigate the detailed reaction mechanism of a green chemistry route of producing formaldehyde by reducing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in liquid phase. Formaldehyde is a widely used feedstock for chemical industries, but is not considered a green chemical because it is produced using natural gas as the feed, which loses over 61 per cent of energy. This project will maximise the yield and purity of the product, ....High purity formaldehyde production from carbon oxides. This project aims to investigate the detailed reaction mechanism of a green chemistry route of producing formaldehyde by reducing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in liquid phase. Formaldehyde is a widely used feedstock for chemical industries, but is not considered a green chemical because it is produced using natural gas as the feed, which loses over 61 per cent of energy. This project will maximise the yield and purity of the product, making it commercially viable. This project’s method for producing formaldehyde is expected to reduce the capital cost and energy losses.Read moreRead less
All-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalysts for water treatment. The project aims to develop high-performance Z-scheme photocatalysts by using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors as building blocks for low-cost, highly-efficient pathogen inactivation and emerging pollutant degradation in stormwater treatment. The project expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in the area of photocatalyst design and Z-scheme photocatalytic system, and advance the application of photocatalytic oxidation in wate ....All-solid-state Z-scheme photocatalysts for water treatment. The project aims to develop high-performance Z-scheme photocatalysts by using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors as building blocks for low-cost, highly-efficient pathogen inactivation and emerging pollutant degradation in stormwater treatment. The project expects to generate new fundamental knowledge in the area of photocatalyst design and Z-scheme photocatalytic system, and advance the application of photocatalytic oxidation in water treatment. The expected outcomes of the project include novel 2D Z-scheme photocatalysts and enhanced capacity in stormwater management.Read moreRead less
Novel conversion process for carbon dioxide to chemicals. This project aims to develop a novel sorption enhanced material and system to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol. Climate change is one of the primary long-term problems confronting humankind today. Since the production of CO2 through burning fossil fuel is far greater than the current usage of CO2, there is currently little alternative to storage. As a result, there is concerted effort globally to develop alternate use ....Novel conversion process for carbon dioxide to chemicals. This project aims to develop a novel sorption enhanced material and system to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol. Climate change is one of the primary long-term problems confronting humankind today. Since the production of CO2 through burning fossil fuel is far greater than the current usage of CO2, there is currently little alternative to storage. As a result, there is concerted effort globally to develop alternate uses and conversion technologies for CO2. This project will help further this goal.Read moreRead less
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
Development of an efficient oxygen-thiosulfate process for the recovery of gold from ores. Gold is currently recovered from the ore by a cyanide leaching process. This high risk procedure is used because there is currently no safe alternative. The research we propose to undertake will investigate a novel thiosulfate-oxygen process to dissolve gold. Successful completion of the project will identify the mechanism of the process and could lead to the replacement of the highly toxic cyanide with th ....Development of an efficient oxygen-thiosulfate process for the recovery of gold from ores. Gold is currently recovered from the ore by a cyanide leaching process. This high risk procedure is used because there is currently no safe alternative. The research we propose to undertake will investigate a novel thiosulfate-oxygen process to dissolve gold. Successful completion of the project will identify the mechanism of the process and could lead to the replacement of the highly toxic cyanide with the non toxic thiosulfate. Thus the proposed project has the potential to substantially alter the gold recovery process, particularly in an era where environmental and public concerns exist over the use of cyanide.Read moreRead less
Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics ....Wavelet approaches for solving nonlinear dynamic systems in process engineering. The success of the proposed project will enable us to obtain more accurate numerical solutions for the nonlinear dynamical systems arising from process engineering. This ensures the potential for understanding and optimising industrial and engineering processes. Hence, a wide range of processing industries in Australia, such as agricultural chemicals, mineral processing, food, detergents, pharmaceuticals, ceramics and specialty chemicals will benefit from the results of this project. This will ensure globally competitive production and, therefore, greater contributions to the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Separating gold from silica by tailored hydrometallurgical processes. Australia is one of the world's largest producers of gold, and the ability to more efficiently separate gold from its ores will benefit the Australian economy by maximising the value of every tonne of ore which is removed from the ground. Inefficiencies in processing technology can lead to the loss of gold from extraction processes, and the reasons for some of these losses are poorly understood but are believed to be related t ....Separating gold from silica by tailored hydrometallurgical processes. Australia is one of the world's largest producers of gold, and the ability to more efficiently separate gold from its ores will benefit the Australian economy by maximising the value of every tonne of ore which is removed from the ground. Inefficiencies in processing technology can lead to the loss of gold from extraction processes, and the reasons for some of these losses are poorly understood but are believed to be related to interactions between gold and silicate minerals. We will study these interactions with a view towards improving the percentage of gold present in the ores which is able to be extracted and used.Read moreRead less
Capturing full-spectrum of solar energy using TiO2 ordered suprastructures. The project aims to develop a titanium dioxide (TiO2) semiconductor that can use full-spectrum solar energy. Solar-driven photocatalytic processes have important applications in water decontamination and energy production. Their effectiveness is dictated by the semiconductor’s absorbance and conversion of photoenergy to chemical energy. Being inexpensive, chemically and mechanically robust, TiO2 is the most promising mat ....Capturing full-spectrum of solar energy using TiO2 ordered suprastructures. The project aims to develop a titanium dioxide (TiO2) semiconductor that can use full-spectrum solar energy. Solar-driven photocatalytic processes have important applications in water decontamination and energy production. Their effectiveness is dictated by the semiconductor’s absorbance and conversion of photoenergy to chemical energy. Being inexpensive, chemically and mechanically robust, TiO2 is the most promising material for the semiconductor. However, unmodified TiO2 only absorbs ultraviolet light (5 per cent of solar energy). With current progress made in visible absorbance, this project aims to significantly improve TiO2’s absorbance in near infrared by doping with upconversion lanthanides and rendering colloidal crystal suprastructures that can trap light.Read moreRead less