Group 13 Mixed Halide-Hydride and Rare Earth Complexes - New Selective Chiral Hydridic or Low Valent Reducing Agents. This project will make a landmark contribution to two areas of metallohydride chemistry. Both studies will utilise and develop metals that have traditionally been mined and exported from these shores while concurrently imported as value added products at vastly inflated cost. This research will identify knock-on applications in order to stem this financial bias. The new paths to ....Group 13 Mixed Halide-Hydride and Rare Earth Complexes - New Selective Chiral Hydridic or Low Valent Reducing Agents. This project will make a landmark contribution to two areas of metallohydride chemistry. Both studies will utilise and develop metals that have traditionally been mined and exported from these shores while concurrently imported as value added products at vastly inflated cost. This research will identify knock-on applications in order to stem this financial bias. The new paths to rare earth (= Ln) hydrides will have broad industrial appeal, particularly for new materials, where, like similar group 13 materials, they may be used in the deposition of Ln films or even as precursors to superconducting solids. It is anticipated industrial collaboration will ensue. Australia will be promoted as a developer and innovator of frontier technologies.Read moreRead less
New Methods to Harvest Light: Towards Better Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) technology has emerged as a complementary energy source to silicon photovoltaic technology. The efficiency of the DSC relies heavily on sensitizing molecules to absorb solar photons and then transfer electrons to a semi-conducting particle. This project will investigate new sensitizing methods using a combination of different dyes which work cooperatively to absorb a large part of the solar ....New Methods to Harvest Light: Towards Better Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) technology has emerged as a complementary energy source to silicon photovoltaic technology. The efficiency of the DSC relies heavily on sensitizing molecules to absorb solar photons and then transfer electrons to a semi-conducting particle. This project will investigate new sensitizing methods using a combination of different dyes which work cooperatively to absorb a large part of the solar spectrum and efficiently inject electrons into a semi-conducting particles. The development and understanding of these new methods to sensitize the dye-sensitized solar cell should lead to new and better solar cells.Read moreRead less
Bioinorganic chemistry between immune cell and pathogen. This project aims to investigate the bioinorganic chemistry that occurs when immune system cells encounter pathogens and they try to kill one another, or in the case of a pathogen, to also modify the genetics of the mammalian cell to enable its intracellular survival. Pathogenic bacteria and fungi accumulate chromium (Cr) in their membranes and it was recently discovered that Cr is likely to be an important virulence factor. Similarly, H ....Bioinorganic chemistry between immune cell and pathogen. This project aims to investigate the bioinorganic chemistry that occurs when immune system cells encounter pathogens and they try to kill one another, or in the case of a pathogen, to also modify the genetics of the mammalian cell to enable its intracellular survival. Pathogenic bacteria and fungi accumulate chromium (Cr) in their membranes and it was recently discovered that Cr is likely to be an important virulence factor. Similarly, Hyperaccummulation of Nickel (Ni) is also involved in virulence. The project will investigate the roles of Cr and Ni in virulence using advanced spectroscopic imaging and biochemical techniques. These insights will provide new knowledge on the innate immune system and may lead to more efficacious treatments for serious infections.Read moreRead less
Electrode-Supported Ionogels for Reversible Energy Storage. The project aims to generate an understanding of electrode-supported ionic liquid gel films to form the basis for the rational design and development of new energy storage technology. For the world to truly move into a new age of low carbon power, it needs transformational battery technology. The creation of novel ionic liquid systems to capture redox-active species would allow for revolutionary designs with the potential to eliminate m ....Electrode-Supported Ionogels for Reversible Energy Storage. The project aims to generate an understanding of electrode-supported ionic liquid gel films to form the basis for the rational design and development of new energy storage technology. For the world to truly move into a new age of low carbon power, it needs transformational battery technology. The creation of novel ionic liquid systems to capture redox-active species would allow for revolutionary designs with the potential to eliminate membranes, with major advantages for charging/discharging speed and deep cyclability. This would directly translate to storage systems that combine high power with high energy density.Read moreRead less
Selective photocatalytic lignin biomass conversion. If the prospective ‘hydrogen economy’ is to use hydrogen as a fuel and energy carrier to replace fossil sources, vast amounts of renewable cheap hydrogen must be available. A likely candidate is catalytic water splitting by sunlight. The hydrogen can be made affordable, by coupling hydrogen production to a higher value-added stream. The aim of this project is to produce a stable, hybrid heterogenous catalyst system able to oxidise organic subst ....Selective photocatalytic lignin biomass conversion. If the prospective ‘hydrogen economy’ is to use hydrogen as a fuel and energy carrier to replace fossil sources, vast amounts of renewable cheap hydrogen must be available. A likely candidate is catalytic water splitting by sunlight. The hydrogen can be made affordable, by coupling hydrogen production to a higher value-added stream. The aim of this project is to produce a stable, hybrid heterogenous catalyst system able to oxidise organic substrates derived from lignin biomass as an adjunct to visible light hydrogen generation from water. The significance will be to provide fuels and organic chemicals for industry from biomass, water and sunlight and catalytically remediate waste water with sunlight.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354474
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Metals in Medicine. Metal-based drugs account for several billion dollars of pharmaceutical sales worldwide, but proportionally much less research and development has focussed on this area than organic drugs. Australia has played a pivotal role in the early development of metal-based pharmaceuticals, which remains a research strength. The dual aims of the initiative are to provide a network for a vibrant industry based around metals in medicine and to improve the health of Australians. The ini ....Metals in Medicine. Metal-based drugs account for several billion dollars of pharmaceutical sales worldwide, but proportionally much less research and development has focussed on this area than organic drugs. Australia has played a pivotal role in the early development of metal-based pharmaceuticals, which remains a research strength. The dual aims of the initiative are to provide a network for a vibrant industry based around metals in medicine and to improve the health of Australians. The initiative will foster national and international cross-disciplinary collaborations to address the impediments holding back Australia's potential to take full advantage of our research strength in metals in medicine.Read moreRead less
Enhancing single-molecule magnets. This project aims to design, synthesise and investigate single-molecule magnets that can function at higher temperatures for use in quantum computing and molecular spintronics. Materials science increasingly benefit from molecular approaches, and lanthanoid-based single-molecule magnets could achieve otherwise inaccessible technological developments such as the development of molecular materials for quantum computing and molecular spintronics. Advances in funda ....Enhancing single-molecule magnets. This project aims to design, synthesise and investigate single-molecule magnets that can function at higher temperatures for use in quantum computing and molecular spintronics. Materials science increasingly benefit from molecular approaches, and lanthanoid-based single-molecule magnets could achieve otherwise inaccessible technological developments such as the development of molecular materials for quantum computing and molecular spintronics. Advances in fundamental chemistry are anticipated, and this project is expected to benefit Australia's participation in related high-end technology industries.Read moreRead less
Pushing the Boundaries of Multi-modal Biospectroscopic Microscopies. In order to understand the fundamentals of life processes, diseases, and their treatments, it is essential to probe fundamental changes in molecular processes in cells, tissues and whole organisms. Much of our understanding of these processes has involved the introduction of chemical probes for biospectroscopy, but these have inherent problems because the probe can often change the biochemistry that is being probed. This projec ....Pushing the Boundaries of Multi-modal Biospectroscopic Microscopies. In order to understand the fundamentals of life processes, diseases, and their treatments, it is essential to probe fundamental changes in molecular processes in cells, tissues and whole organisms. Much of our understanding of these processes has involved the introduction of chemical probes for biospectroscopy, but these have inherent problems because the probe can often change the biochemistry that is being probed. This project will push the boundaries of a variety of micro and nano "probe-free" microscopies to provide fundamental insights into these life processes, which could ultimately lead to improvements in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases.Read moreRead less
Cooperativity in Spin Crossover Systems: Memory, Magnetism and Microporosity. Spin-crossover centres are a well known form of inorganic electronic switch for which variation of temperature, pressure and irradiation leads to a change in d-electron configuration and therefore changes to structure, colour and magnetism. Here we aim to synthesise and study a wide variety of new spin-crossover systems where cooperativitiy between centres, induced by careful supramolecular design, will lead to molecul ....Cooperativity in Spin Crossover Systems: Memory, Magnetism and Microporosity. Spin-crossover centres are a well known form of inorganic electronic switch for which variation of temperature, pressure and irradiation leads to a change in d-electron configuration and therefore changes to structure, colour and magnetism. Here we aim to synthesise and study a wide variety of new spin-crossover systems where cooperativitiy between centres, induced by careful supramolecular design, will lead to molecules and materials having memory retention, magnetic ordering and/or microporosity. The significance of these aims covers several fundamental questions in the science of electronic systems. We also identify a number of potential nanochemical switching applications for the unique systems proposed.Read moreRead less
Dinuclear Ruthenium Complexes as Sequence- and Structure-Selective Binding Agents for DNA. Studies of the interaction of mononuclear metal complexes with DNA have greatly increased our understanding of the ways that small molecules recognise particular sites on DNA. However, in order to design drugs that target specific genes, and hence be potentially capable of controlling gene expression, it is necessary to study the binding of metal complexes that can associate with larger segments of DNA. ....Dinuclear Ruthenium Complexes as Sequence- and Structure-Selective Binding Agents for DNA. Studies of the interaction of mononuclear metal complexes with DNA have greatly increased our understanding of the ways that small molecules recognise particular sites on DNA. However, in order to design drugs that target specific genes, and hence be potentially capable of controlling gene expression, it is necessary to study the binding of metal complexes that can associate with larger segments of DNA. Using the combined expertise of the applicants, it is proposed to stereospecifically synthesise dinuclear complexes and study their DNA binding. This will greatly assist in the development of drugs that can selectively target genes and altered DNA.Read moreRead less