Organically-Capped Copper Nanowires for Soft Electronic Skin Sensors. Soft skin-like electronics can enable applications that are impossible to achieve with today's rigid circuit board technologies. However, it is difficult to realise such future soft electronics with traditional materials and conventional manufacturing methodologies. This project aims to synthesise novel organically-capped copper nanowires as electronic inks (e-inks) for developing cost-effective, soft, stretchable conductor (e ....Organically-Capped Copper Nanowires for Soft Electronic Skin Sensors. Soft skin-like electronics can enable applications that are impossible to achieve with today's rigid circuit board technologies. However, it is difficult to realise such future soft electronics with traditional materials and conventional manufacturing methodologies. This project aims to synthesise novel organically-capped copper nanowires as electronic inks (e-inks) for developing cost-effective, soft, stretchable conductor (e-skin) sensors, which are wearable for monitoring blood pulses, body motions and hand gestures in real-time and in situ. This is expected to advance our knowledge in nanotechnology and generate patentable technologies in soft e-skin sensors, and to bring significant scientific and economic gains to Australia.Read moreRead less
Metabolite glucosylation during grape berry development. The research proposed contributes to building and transforming the Australian wine industry, and other horticultural industries, by developing expertise and knowledge in the area of grape berry metabolism. The synthesis and validation of a library of grape berry metabolites, annotation of part of the grapevine genome sequence dataset and development of the micro vine transformation system are innovative products of significant national and ....Metabolite glucosylation during grape berry development. The research proposed contributes to building and transforming the Australian wine industry, and other horticultural industries, by developing expertise and knowledge in the area of grape berry metabolism. The synthesis and validation of a library of grape berry metabolites, annotation of part of the grapevine genome sequence dataset and development of the micro vine transformation system are innovative products of significant national and international benefit. Two high-quality PhD students will be trained in a collaborative and high-quality research environment during the course of the proposed research.Read moreRead less
Development of functional dendrimer-like inorganic nanomaterials with hierarchical pores for biological applications. This project aims to engineer a series of brand new dendrimer-like mesoporous silica nanoparticles with hierarchical pore structure and favourable surface functionality as nanocarriers to construct a smart delivery system. Unique materials structure and surface functionalisation design can endow the system with advanced characteristics of the co-loading of different therapeutic a ....Development of functional dendrimer-like inorganic nanomaterials with hierarchical pores for biological applications. This project aims to engineer a series of brand new dendrimer-like mesoporous silica nanoparticles with hierarchical pore structure and favourable surface functionality as nanocarriers to construct a smart delivery system. Unique materials structure and surface functionalisation design can endow the system with advanced characteristics of the co-loading of different therapeutic agents and the highly efficient target delivery that are not readily obtainable using other organic or inorganic materials. The proposed delivery systems are of great importance for improving the therapeutic efficiency of complex diseases, and in general, for expanding human’s life span.Read moreRead less
Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some new ....Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some newly industrializing countries that indicator has been rising. Improving our understanding as to why that is the case will ensure Australia gets a better return from its investment in that area of commercial diplomacy.Read moreRead less
Self-assembling nanoporous graphene with dialable pore sizes for green energy production. The biggest barrier to the Sun being our main energy source is it is not always available. This can be overcome by having an economical means of storing solar energy as it is produced. This project will demonstrate such a technology by using nanoporous graphene to support artificial photosynthesis to produce fuel from water and carbon dioxide using sunlight.
Patchy colloidosomes at interfaces: correlation of particle surface heterogeneity, wettability, and chemical activity at the nanoscale. The surfaces of natural mineral particles are made up of spots with such different chemical and physical properties. The complexity makes it hard to predict their behaviour. This project will provide insights into how the 'patchy' nature of particle surfaces affects their behaviour in processes such as flotation separation and bio-fuel production.
Closing the data gap: High throughput screening of nanoparticle toxicity. The nanotechnology sector is experiencing an exponential growth period with over 100 products containing manufactured nanoparticles entering the market every year. Ensuring growth of the sector needs to be balanced against the imperative of protecting both human and environmental safety. This project aims to develop new methodological and conceptual avenues to close the gap between innovation in nanotechnology and risk ass ....Closing the data gap: High throughput screening of nanoparticle toxicity. The nanotechnology sector is experiencing an exponential growth period with over 100 products containing manufactured nanoparticles entering the market every year. Ensuring growth of the sector needs to be balanced against the imperative of protecting both human and environmental safety. This project aims to develop new methodological and conceptual avenues to close the gap between innovation in nanotechnology and risk assessment. This is intended to be achieved by developing and validating high-throughput in vitro toxicity screening platforms for manufactured nanoparticles. The approach is based on advanced lab-on-a-chip microfluidic technologies. The predictive power of the platform will be refined and optimised via ex-vivo and in-vivo models.Read moreRead less
Nanoparticle adsorption at air-water interfaces for foam stabilization. Pharmaceutical formulations and lightweight materials and processes such as mineral flotation and biocatalysis depend on the interactions between air bubbles and particles in water. This project will provide in-depth insight into how the physics and chemistry of the particle surfaces control the structure of the materials formed in those processes.
Controlling nano-carbon complexity and function. The project aims to develop versatile continuous flow thin film microfluidic device technology incorporating different external fields, including innovative magnetic or electric fields coupled with pulsed lasers, for gaining access to novel nano-carbon material for which current methods are ineffective or of limited utility. The technology will allow exquisite control, with real time monitoring, on reforming of carbon into functional material with ....Controlling nano-carbon complexity and function. The project aims to develop versatile continuous flow thin film microfluidic device technology incorporating different external fields, including innovative magnetic or electric fields coupled with pulsed lasers, for gaining access to novel nano-carbon material for which current methods are ineffective or of limited utility. The technology will allow exquisite control, with real time monitoring, on reforming of carbon into functional material with tunable properties, along with the self assembly of nano-carbon, and fabricating composites of nano-carbon material. Understanding their fundamental properties including photoluminescence will be targeted, for leveraging the properties in applications to generate new processes and products.
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Structural diverse nanocarbon using continuous flow thin film microfluidics. This project aims to develop continuous flow thin film microfluidic device technology to gain access to nano-carbon material or carbon nano-material. This project will exploit high shear stress in dynamic thin films, field effects, including Faraday waves, plasma, magnetic, laser and LED irradiation. The technology is expected to allow both scalable ‘top down’ synthesis of graphene scrolls, laterally slicing carbon nano ....Structural diverse nanocarbon using continuous flow thin film microfluidics. This project aims to develop continuous flow thin film microfluidic device technology to gain access to nano-carbon material or carbon nano-material. This project will exploit high shear stress in dynamic thin films, field effects, including Faraday waves, plasma, magnetic, laser and LED irradiation. The technology is expected to allow both scalable ‘top down’ synthesis of graphene scrolls, laterally slicing carbon nanotubes and composites of different types of carbon, and ‘bottom up’ synthesis of nano-carbon from natural saccharides. By incorporating sustainability metrics including scalability, renewable feed-stocks and minimising waste, this research is expected to be attractive to industry and minimise the effect on the environment.Read moreRead less