Advanced Ionic Materials for Organic Photovoltaics. Australia will greatly benefit from the development of improved solar energy technology, as a means of addressing the issue of climate change as a result of continued fossil fuel use. Solar power is also advantageous as it also allows electricity to be generated locally where it is needed, which is particularly important for the many remote areas of Australia. The climate in Australia is ideally suited for the electricity production through pho ....Advanced Ionic Materials for Organic Photovoltaics. Australia will greatly benefit from the development of improved solar energy technology, as a means of addressing the issue of climate change as a result of continued fossil fuel use. Solar power is also advantageous as it also allows electricity to be generated locally where it is needed, which is particularly important for the many remote areas of Australia. The climate in Australia is ideally suited for the electricity production through photovoltaics, and this project will focus on improving the performance of these devices to enable their widespread use. Read moreRead less
Novel Fuel-Cell Structures based on Electroactive Polymers. The Discovery Project will tackle some of the challenging issues regarding the conversion of our society into a post-petroleum era through: Development and understanding of a new class of organic catalysts for efficient low temperature fuel-cells; Developing cheap and effective, ultra-thin, ion-conducting membranes for fuel-cells based on new plasma-polymers; and Integrating the components into fuel-cells suitable for stationary, portab ....Novel Fuel-Cell Structures based on Electroactive Polymers. The Discovery Project will tackle some of the challenging issues regarding the conversion of our society into a post-petroleum era through: Development and understanding of a new class of organic catalysts for efficient low temperature fuel-cells; Developing cheap and effective, ultra-thin, ion-conducting membranes for fuel-cells based on new plasma-polymers; and Integrating the components into fuel-cells suitable for stationary, portable and automotive applications. These outcomes will contribute to national research priorities: Frontier Technologies for building and transforming Australian Industries, and An Environmentally Sustainable Australia.
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Computational approaches to selection and design of ionic materials. Advanced batteries, fuel cells and solar cell technologies are beginning to use ionic liquids/plastic crystals as electrolytes due to their superb stability and valuable properties. As a broad class these ionic materials have only been known for the last 10 years or so and there is much to learn about their structure and properties. The project will develop and advance quantum chemical techniques for selection and design of ion ....Computational approaches to selection and design of ionic materials. Advanced batteries, fuel cells and solar cell technologies are beginning to use ionic liquids/plastic crystals as electrolytes due to their superb stability and valuable properties. As a broad class these ionic materials have only been known for the last 10 years or so and there is much to learn about their structure and properties. The project will develop and advance quantum chemical techniques for selection and design of ionic materials with the goal of developing electrolytes for a range of applications from advanced metal batteries, solar cells to fuel cells. These applications will have impact on energy efficiency and energy conservation by enabling CO2 replacing technologies. Read moreRead less
Fully ab initio, large-scale calculations of thermodynamic and transport properties of ionic materials. Advanced batteries, fuel cells, and photonic device technologies are beginning to use ionic materials as electrolytes due to their superb stability and technologically valuable properties. As a broad class these materials have only been known for just over a decade and there is still more unknown than known about their structure and properties. The project will develop new advanced computation ....Fully ab initio, large-scale calculations of thermodynamic and transport properties of ionic materials. Advanced batteries, fuel cells, and photonic device technologies are beginning to use ionic materials as electrolytes due to their superb stability and technologically valuable properties. As a broad class these materials have only been known for just over a decade and there is still more unknown than known about their structure and properties. The project will develop new advanced computational methods as a basis for understanding their properties and thereby allowing us to design-in desired features. Ultimately these advances will have support the development of energy efficient CO2 replacement technologies.Read moreRead less
Polymerization of amyloid fibrils and electroactive hybrid nanowires using ionic liquids. The electronics world is constantly shrinking with devices being miniaturised and increasing levels of complexity built in. To maintain this trend, new technologies and new device fabrication approaches are required. APD Byrne, will develop new materials based on amyloid fibrils by their facile conversion to a range of novel high strength electroactive nanoscopic wires with application in many electronic d ....Polymerization of amyloid fibrils and electroactive hybrid nanowires using ionic liquids. The electronics world is constantly shrinking with devices being miniaturised and increasing levels of complexity built in. To maintain this trend, new technologies and new device fabrication approaches are required. APD Byrne, will develop new materials based on amyloid fibrils by their facile conversion to a range of novel high strength electroactive nanoscopic wires with application in many electronic devices. One such device that will benefit from these nanowires is organic solar cells. Solar is a clean renewable energy source that can reduce Australia's dependence on fossil fuels. The development of new approaches and materials aimed at increasing solar cell efficiencies is an important outcome for Australia.Read moreRead less
Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being pro ....Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being produced by a number of the major car manufacturers. The solar water splitting technology based on sustainable materials and the novel cell configuration to be developed in this project will provide the needed stability and efficiency of the cell as well as reduce the manufacturing cost. Read moreRead less