Graft copolymers from starch and synthetic monomers. Polymer dispersions, manufactured as latexes in large quantities in Australia and elsewhere, have myriad applications, such as in adhesives, bitumen modifiers, paints and paper coatings. This project will create the enabling science to replace by starch the current synthetic products used to stop these dispersions from coagulating. This will create new uses for renewable resources and will reduce environmental insult by avoiding the leaching o ....Graft copolymers from starch and synthetic monomers. Polymer dispersions, manufactured as latexes in large quantities in Australia and elsewhere, have myriad applications, such as in adhesives, bitumen modifiers, paints and paper coatings. This project will create the enabling science to replace by starch the current synthetic products used to stop these dispersions from coagulating. This will create new uses for renewable resources and will reduce environmental insult by avoiding the leaching of biologically incompatible chemicals. By using starch from crops suited for Australia's arid climate, the new technology will reduce both our dependence on imported products and our greenhouse gas emissions.Read moreRead less
Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliv ....Photochemical Design of Microstructured Aerospace Materials. Commercial aviation and shipping spend over US$300 billion on fuel and emit almost 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at an enormous environmental cost. This project will provide the material chemistry innovation basis for the production of drag reduction surfaces that can be applied to enable a more effective airflow over an aircraft, thus reducing fuel consumption. Critically, the material design approach will not only deliver a high performance coating for the production of drag reduction surfaces, but allow these surfaces to be tailored to specific application profiles including UV resistance and anti-fouling properties. The project will place an Australian company at the forefront of drag reduction technologyRead moreRead less
Enhancing Direct Cu Recovery through Increased Gas Processing Understanding. This project aims to investigate mechanisms of copper loss during smelting and find new ways to reduce the loss. Smelting, which produces copper matte product and slag tailings, is an important step of the copper-making process from copper sulphides. The loss of copper to slag can be as high as 12 per cent. The project aims to create new knowledge about copper loss by matte droplets floated with gas bubbles generated by ....Enhancing Direct Cu Recovery through Increased Gas Processing Understanding. This project aims to investigate mechanisms of copper loss during smelting and find new ways to reduce the loss. Smelting, which produces copper matte product and slag tailings, is an important step of the copper-making process from copper sulphides. The loss of copper to slag can be as high as 12 per cent. The project aims to create new knowledge about copper loss by matte droplets floated with gas bubbles generated by chemical reactions to the slag phase. The outcomes are intended to enable copper smelters to maximise direct copper recovery, reduce copper production costs and increase the productivity of the smelting process.Read moreRead less
Scale-up of catalytic furandicarboxylic acid production at room temperature. This project will use new knowledge acquired from our laboratory-scale discoveries to develop a new process feasible for industrial-scale production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The method makes FDCA, a platform chemical for future chemical industry, from a completely renewable source derived from plant sugars, 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural. This is an essential process for production of biodegradable plastic from s ....Scale-up of catalytic furandicarboxylic acid production at room temperature. This project will use new knowledge acquired from our laboratory-scale discoveries to develop a new process feasible for industrial-scale production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The method makes FDCA, a platform chemical for future chemical industry, from a completely renewable source derived from plant sugars, 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural. This is an essential process for production of biodegradable plastic from sugar that has not been commercialised. This technology will realise sizeable industrial-scale production of FDCA at low costs and without heating. The production development of this valuable commodity from renewable plant sugars will provide high-quality postgraduate training in future green chemical production methods.Read moreRead less
Mechanistic investigation of fluorinated coatings for stone preservation. We will investigate mechanisms governing the synthesis of a latex used for stone preservation. This latex is made from novel and unusual starting materials, and will be the most complex system for which mechanisms have been investigated. We will redesign the synthesis procedure to control particle size and composition of the functional species at the particle surface. This will enable both particle size and surface composi ....Mechanistic investigation of fluorinated coatings for stone preservation. We will investigate mechanisms governing the synthesis of a latex used for stone preservation. This latex is made from novel and unusual starting materials, and will be the most complex system for which mechanisms have been investigated. We will redesign the synthesis procedure to control particle size and composition of the functional species at the particle surface. This will enable both particle size and surface composition to be tailored as desired. The results will be used to investigate the influence of these quantities on interactions between particles and sandstone surfaces. The outcomes will be used by the industrial partner to devise improved protective coatings for stone surfaces in Australian conditions.Read moreRead less
Hot stage separation of non-ferrous fraction during iron ore reduction. The project aims to provide in-situ investigation of the behaviour and properties of the non-ferrous fraction in iron ore during reduction. The results aim to allow industry to: improve the quality of the final metallic iron product; economically separate and recover high-value non-ferrous impurities in the iron ore; reduce waste generated by ironmaking; and enable utilisation of, and add value to, iron ores that currently a ....Hot stage separation of non-ferrous fraction during iron ore reduction. The project aims to provide in-situ investigation of the behaviour and properties of the non-ferrous fraction in iron ore during reduction. The results aim to allow industry to: improve the quality of the final metallic iron product; economically separate and recover high-value non-ferrous impurities in the iron ore; reduce waste generated by ironmaking; and enable utilisation of, and add value to, iron ores that currently are not commercially viable due to their high impurity levels and low iron contents. The project aims to help expand the mining potential of the currently unviable iron ore deposits and enable industry to maintain the economic benefits from iron ore production in the years to come.Read moreRead less
Future copper metallurgy for the age of e-mobility and the circular economy. Copper, nickel, cobalt, chromium and tin metals are essential for the manufacture of new battery materials, electrical and electronic devices and technologies that will enable the global transition to sustainable energy systems. There are major technical challenges associated with the industrial scale high temperature production, separation and recycling of these metals. The aim of the present study is develop advanced ....Future copper metallurgy for the age of e-mobility and the circular economy. Copper, nickel, cobalt, chromium and tin metals are essential for the manufacture of new battery materials, electrical and electronic devices and technologies that will enable the global transition to sustainable energy systems. There are major technical challenges associated with the industrial scale high temperature production, separation and recycling of these metals. The aim of the present study is develop advanced chemical thermodynamic databases and models that can be used to predict the outcomes of these complex chemical reactions, and in doing so provide the industry with the vital fundamental scientific information and tools needed to be able to design and improve new, more efficient metal production and recycling technologies. Read moreRead less
Low emission iron and steelmaking using hydrogen to pre-reduce lump ore. This project aims to develop and apply a new route of lump iron ore pre-reduction with hydrogen or H2-enriched gases for ironmaking to minimise CO2 emission from steel production. The route will be built up on the base of H2 reduction kinetics of iron ore and with novel technologies such as CO2 recycle and H2-heating using hot blast, underpinning the hydrogen economy by addressing the environmental concerns in mineral and s ....Low emission iron and steelmaking using hydrogen to pre-reduce lump ore. This project aims to develop and apply a new route of lump iron ore pre-reduction with hydrogen or H2-enriched gases for ironmaking to minimise CO2 emission from steel production. The route will be built up on the base of H2 reduction kinetics of iron ore and with novel technologies such as CO2 recycle and H2-heating using hot blast, underpinning the hydrogen economy by addressing the environmental concerns in mineral and steel industries. It is not only significant for low-carbon steel production, but also for better fundamental understanding to develop the future zero-emission iron and steelmaking with hydrogen. The project will be very beneficent because it increases the use of lump iron ore and expends Australian export of iron ores.Read moreRead less
Sustainable copper metallurgy and recycling – saving energy and resources. This project aims to develop new, powerful and sophisticated, computer-based models that can reliably predict the results of chemical reactions in complex, high temperature metal production processes. This project expects to use these models, initially applied to copper smelting systems, to enable the improved recycling of other valuable metals. These models should be able to be applied to a wide range of technologies use ....Sustainable copper metallurgy and recycling – saving energy and resources. This project aims to develop new, powerful and sophisticated, computer-based models that can reliably predict the results of chemical reactions in complex, high temperature metal production processes. This project expects to use these models, initially applied to copper smelting systems, to enable the improved recycling of other valuable metals. These models should be able to be applied to a wide range of technologies used in the metallurgical industry as most of the world’s metals are produced by these pyrometallurgical processes. This should provide significant benefits such as substantial improvements in productivity and process efficiencies, whilst at the same time delivering energy savings and improved use of valuable metal resources.Read moreRead less
Creating wealth from new resources - High temperature extraction of metals from complex copper ores and recycled materials. Most of the world’s copper is produced using high temperature chemical processing (smelting). Both primary ores and recycled raw materials contain valuable elements and also potentially harmful impurity elements. To unlock and utilise current and new resources, and also minimise the environmental impacts the industry has identified the need for new fundamental scientific da ....Creating wealth from new resources - High temperature extraction of metals from complex copper ores and recycled materials. Most of the world’s copper is produced using high temperature chemical processing (smelting). Both primary ores and recycled raw materials contain valuable elements and also potentially harmful impurity elements. To unlock and utilise current and new resources, and also minimise the environmental impacts the industry has identified the need for new fundamental scientific data that describe the chemical behaviour of impurity elements in these systems. The project aims to then use the data to develop powerful computer-based thermodynamic models that can predict the products of complex industrial processes. These sophisticated tools are intended to then be used to improve the performance of existing industrial operations and assist in the development of new process designs.Read moreRead less