Nanoscale liquid interfaces: properties and molecular sensitivity. Challenges facing society in health and environment need new molecular measurements that are accurate, sensitive and fast. By use of nanoscale oil-water junctions, the project will develop new chemical and biological sensors that hold great promise for solving molecular measurement problems, including the ability to detect single molecules.
New biosensing strategies based on bipolar electrochemiluminescence. Chemical analysis is a vital activity in our society, which is to a large extent confined to scientific laboratories and carried out with complex instrumentation. The breakthrough technology envisioned in this proposal will pave the way for simple, low-cost tests which can be used by non-scientists. The development of small, portable sensors for applications ranging from pollution monitoring to health testing, will enable ordi ....New biosensing strategies based on bipolar electrochemiluminescence. Chemical analysis is a vital activity in our society, which is to a large extent confined to scientific laboratories and carried out with complex instrumentation. The breakthrough technology envisioned in this proposal will pave the way for simple, low-cost tests which can be used by non-scientists. The development of small, portable sensors for applications ranging from pollution monitoring to health testing, will enable ordinary people to gain knowledge about the concentrations of molecular compounds in their environments and in themselves. This will stimulate economic and social benefits related to environmental testing and early disease diagnosis and generate new commercial opportunities for the Australian biotechnology industry.Read moreRead less
Gelled electrolyte materials for toxic gas sensing. This project aims to develop and implement an alternative approach to the current methods of monitoring of oxygen and toxic gas levels. The aim is to use novel gelled electrolytes based on ionic liquids and polymers, combined with miniaturised sensor devices, to create a robust membrane-free and spill-less design. Amperometric gas sensors are commonly employed to monitor oxygen and toxic gas levels, but the technology used is still based on a ....Gelled electrolyte materials for toxic gas sensing. This project aims to develop and implement an alternative approach to the current methods of monitoring of oxygen and toxic gas levels. The aim is to use novel gelled electrolytes based on ionic liquids and polymers, combined with miniaturised sensor devices, to create a robust membrane-free and spill-less design. Amperometric gas sensors are commonly employed to monitor oxygen and toxic gas levels, but the technology used is still based on a 1950s design. The expected outcome of the project is to make fundamental advances in the design of materials that are not affected by humidity changes and which impart selectivity towards particular gases. This will provide the basis for a new generation of low-cost, miniaturised, selective sensors for use in applications such as wearable toxic gas sensors, and as leak detectors on hydrogen-powered vehicles.Read moreRead less
Three Dimensional Anti-biofouling Conducting Polymer Hydrogel Electrodes for Biosensor and Biofuel cell Applications. Exploitation of advances in nanotechnology, electrochemical technology, biosensor, biofuel cell and material science are important to Australia's prosperity from a societal industrial perspective. Currently, research in this field is being actively conducted around the world due to their huge potential for commercial applications. Therefore, through the development of new princi ....Three Dimensional Anti-biofouling Conducting Polymer Hydrogel Electrodes for Biosensor and Biofuel cell Applications. Exploitation of advances in nanotechnology, electrochemical technology, biosensor, biofuel cell and material science are important to Australia's prosperity from a societal industrial perspective. Currently, research in this field is being actively conducted around the world due to their huge potential for commercial applications. Therefore, through the development of new principles and concepts, and the synthesis of newly designed materials, this project will bring significant benefits in improving the efficiency of these devices and to promote Australian leadership in the field of medical devices and alternative energy generation.Read moreRead less
Parameterisation of voltammetry in a machine learning environment. Important devices in modern society such as batteries, fuel cells and medical sensors exploit special properties of complex electrochemical reactions. The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to develop an integrated approach to intelligent collection and analysis of large electrochemical data sets in a machine-learning environment. As a result, it will become possible for the first time to globally model and quantitatively p ....Parameterisation of voltammetry in a machine learning environment. Important devices in modern society such as batteries, fuel cells and medical sensors exploit special properties of complex electrochemical reactions. The aim of this multidisciplinary project is to develop an integrated approach to intelligent collection and analysis of large electrochemical data sets in a machine-learning environment. As a result, it will become possible for the first time to globally model and quantitatively parameterise all aspects of the dynamic electrochemistry associated with exceptionally complex electrochemical reactions in a statistically significant framework. Problems to be addressed are of biological and chemical significance. An end product will be a commercially viable, user-friendly instrumentation package.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the potential of poly(ionic liquids) for electrochemical sensing. This project aims to create new science that will enable the development of low-cost, miniaturised electrochemical sensors based on poly-ionic liquids. The chemistry of the materials will be tuned to selectively detect hazardous pollutants to enable trace concentration detection at analytically relevant levels. Fundamental behaviour of gases and solid contaminants dissolved in poly-ionic liquid/ionic liquid membranes wil ....Unlocking the potential of poly(ionic liquids) for electrochemical sensing. This project aims to create new science that will enable the development of low-cost, miniaturised electrochemical sensors based on poly-ionic liquids. The chemistry of the materials will be tuned to selectively detect hazardous pollutants to enable trace concentration detection at analytically relevant levels. Fundamental behaviour of gases and solid contaminants dissolved in poly-ionic liquid/ionic liquid membranes will be uncovered, and their performance for sensing in real environments will be examined. It is expected that these advances will transform detection methods by taking sensing out of the lab and in to the hands of the everyday person, giving rapid and accurate knowledge about the concentration of hazards in the environment.Read moreRead less
A highly sensitive and selective nano-engineered sensor for the online monitoring of mercury vapour emissions from harsh industrial processes. The Australian alumina and aluminium industries contribute over $11 billion export income annually. All refineries, except one, operate in rural areas and are the main economic drivers in these regions. In order to maintain the industry's commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its processes and remain economically sustainable, innovative technol ....A highly sensitive and selective nano-engineered sensor for the online monitoring of mercury vapour emissions from harsh industrial processes. The Australian alumina and aluminium industries contribute over $11 billion export income annually. All refineries, except one, operate in rural areas and are the main economic drivers in these regions. In order to maintain the industry's commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its processes and remain economically sustainable, innovative technologies are required to monitor mercury emissions. The aim of this project is to develop robust sensors, for online monitoring of mercury vapours, that operate under challenging industrial environments. This project will also provide excellent training for young researchers in established international industrial research groups, thereby meeting skill shortages in the Australian resource sector.Read moreRead less
Nickel(III) Oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) as a Positive Electrode Material in Primary Cells. In recent years, the demands put on batteries has increased due to the development of sophisticated portable electronic devices. With the currently available primary battery systems finding it difficult to cope with these demands, there is considerable incentive to develop an improved system with an appropriate capability. This project focuses on nickel(III) oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) as a cathode material. NiOOH is us ....Nickel(III) Oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) as a Positive Electrode Material in Primary Cells. In recent years, the demands put on batteries has increased due to the development of sophisticated portable electronic devices. With the currently available primary battery systems finding it difficult to cope with these demands, there is considerable incentive to develop an improved system with an appropriate capability. This project focuses on nickel(III) oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) as a cathode material. NiOOH is used widely in rechargeable battery systems, where it performs adequately even under severe discharge conditions. However, in primary battery systems, NiOOH suffers from self discharge. This project aims to use the performance capabilities of NiOOH in a primary system, by investigating ways to improve its stability. The benefits for Delta EMD will be protection of their existing business, as well as opening the door to the commercial manufacture of an advanced export material.Read moreRead less
Light Activated Electrochemistry: Microelectrode Arrays with just one wire. Electrochemistry requires each electrode to be connected to the external circuit by a wire. With many electrodes this means many wires. Wires limit electrode density in arrays and dictate that the electrode architecture must be predetermined. This project aims to remove the need for a wire for each electrode by using light to sequentially connect each electrode to a single wire. This will be achieved using modified silic ....Light Activated Electrochemistry: Microelectrode Arrays with just one wire. Electrochemistry requires each electrode to be connected to the external circuit by a wire. With many electrodes this means many wires. Wires limit electrode density in arrays and dictate that the electrode architecture must be predetermined. This project aims to remove the need for a wire for each electrode by using light to sequentially connect each electrode to a single wire. This will be achieved using modified silicon electrodes where irradiating with light causes an increase in conductivity at the illumination spot. The project will explore the variables that influence the spatial resolution and apply the ideas to making soft connects for nanoelectronics and making high density electrode arrays for electroanalysis.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100732
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,544.00
Summary
Electrostatic Catalysis: guiding reactive interfaces using electric fields. This project seeks to gain quantitative understanding of the role of electrostatics over chemical processes. Chemical transformations of organic compounds at interfaces underpin some of the most important processes, from the production of fine chemicals for pharmaceuticals to assisting bio-degradation of pollutants in clean technologies. Recent computational studies suggest that by applying oriented electric fields at in ....Electrostatic Catalysis: guiding reactive interfaces using electric fields. This project seeks to gain quantitative understanding of the role of electrostatics over chemical processes. Chemical transformations of organic compounds at interfaces underpin some of the most important processes, from the production of fine chemicals for pharmaceuticals to assisting bio-degradation of pollutants in clean technologies. Recent computational studies suggest that by applying oriented electric fields at interfaces, the rate and the selectivity of chemical processes can be altered at will. The project intends to test these theoretical findings. The knowledge generated by this research may translate into new technologies for the fine-chemical and biotechnology industries.Read moreRead less