Unravelling the structural origin of cyclic fatigue in ferroelectrics. Ferroelectric materials have extensive applications in electromechanical devices and memories and in service are often subjected to repeat mechanical and/or electrical loading, leading to cyclic fatigue and failure. This project aims to apply in-situ electron microscopy techniques and computational modelling to explore cyclic ferroelectric fatigue behaviour and to understand the relationships between local atomic scale struct ....Unravelling the structural origin of cyclic fatigue in ferroelectrics. Ferroelectric materials have extensive applications in electromechanical devices and memories and in service are often subjected to repeat mechanical and/or electrical loading, leading to cyclic fatigue and failure. This project aims to apply in-situ electron microscopy techniques and computational modelling to explore cyclic ferroelectric fatigue behaviour and to understand the relationships between local atomic scale structure and fatigue. The structural origin of ferroelectric fatigue has not been clear because of the limitations of previous measurement capabilities. This project will provide guidance in materials design to increase ferroelectric fatigue lifetime for more reliable ferroelectric-based electronic devices.Read moreRead less
Oxide-semiconductor epitaxy: towards next generation nanoelectronics. This project aims to integrate high quality functional oxide heterostructures with semiconductor platforms and address the fundamental obstacles in oxides for highly efficient and high-speed transistor applications by engineering their electronic band structures. The project aims to establish a bridge between the diverse electronic properties of oxides and the established semiconductor platform, and generate new devices and fu ....Oxide-semiconductor epitaxy: towards next generation nanoelectronics. This project aims to integrate high quality functional oxide heterostructures with semiconductor platforms and address the fundamental obstacles in oxides for highly efficient and high-speed transistor applications by engineering their electronic band structures. The project aims to establish a bridge between the diverse electronic properties of oxides and the established semiconductor platform, and generate new devices and functionalities. Expected outcomes include epitaxial functional oxides on Gallium arsenide with ultrahigh, room-temperature sheet electron mobility and a comprehensive understanding of its microscopic origin. This will fundamentally change the route toward novel transistors based on high speed and low energy oxide electronics.Read moreRead less
Beyond the Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors. The von Neumann paradigm is the foundation of modern computing systems, which are based on the data exchange between central processing unit (CPU) and memory. The physical separation between the CPU and memory will cause von Neumann bottleneck – a memory wall to limit the data processing speed for contextually intelligent applications. This project aims to develop a novel ferroelectric field effect transistor that integrates a ferroelectric mat ....Beyond the Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors. The von Neumann paradigm is the foundation of modern computing systems, which are based on the data exchange between central processing unit (CPU) and memory. The physical separation between the CPU and memory will cause von Neumann bottleneck – a memory wall to limit the data processing speed for contextually intelligent applications. This project aims to develop a novel ferroelectric field effect transistor that integrates a ferroelectric material into a semiconductor transistor structure to merge logic and memory functionalities in a single-device level. This will solve the memory wall problem while provide low power, high speed, high density and long data retention time for future logic-in-memory and data centric computing paradigms.Read moreRead less
Low-density high-performance proppants for hydraulic fracturing process . Australia has vast resources of unconventional oil/gas, which require hydraulic fracturing to stimulate production. This project aims to develop advanced low-density high-performance proppants from industry waste for hydraulic fracturing. This will be achieved by selecting purer SiO2 raw material, carefully designing the porous structure, and fully understanding its relationship with strength and pack conductivity. Low-den ....Low-density high-performance proppants for hydraulic fracturing process . Australia has vast resources of unconventional oil/gas, which require hydraulic fracturing to stimulate production. This project aims to develop advanced low-density high-performance proppants from industry waste for hydraulic fracturing. This will be achieved by selecting purer SiO2 raw material, carefully designing the porous structure, and fully understanding its relationship with strength and pack conductivity. Low-density means no chemicals in proppant transportation and application. Successful development of such high-performance proppants will significantly increase Australia oil/gas exploration and production with an environmental acceptable technology, a leap forward for the oil/gas industry in Australia and the world.Read moreRead less
Improvement of Additive Manufacturing Processability of Alloys and Ceramics. As the current materials that can be additively processed are still very limited, this project aims to increase the additive manufacturing processability of commercial engineering materials through developing effective and practical grain refinement technology so that more engineering parts can be additively fabricated. The project expects to widen the applications of this advanced manufacturing technology in industry p ....Improvement of Additive Manufacturing Processability of Alloys and Ceramics. As the current materials that can be additively processed are still very limited, this project aims to increase the additive manufacturing processability of commercial engineering materials through developing effective and practical grain refinement technology so that more engineering parts can be additively fabricated. The project expects to widen the applications of this advanced manufacturing technology in industry productions. Expected outcomes include commercialisation ready grain refinement technologies and breakthrough fundamental understanding of the physical metallurgy of melt pools. This should enhance Australia’s capability to establish world-leading additive manufacturing activities serving to various other industry sectors. Read moreRead less
Interface/Boundary Engineering Towards Better Solid-State Lithium Batteries. This project aims to develop high-performance solid-state lithium batteries by engineering the design of grain boundaries within the oxide electrolyte and interfaces between the electrolyte and both anode and cathode. This project expects to propose a novel cation exsolution strategy for comprehensively engineering the interfaces and boundaries. This project should provide significant benefits on energy safety and susta ....Interface/Boundary Engineering Towards Better Solid-State Lithium Batteries. This project aims to develop high-performance solid-state lithium batteries by engineering the design of grain boundaries within the oxide electrolyte and interfaces between the electrolyte and both anode and cathode. This project expects to propose a novel cation exsolution strategy for comprehensively engineering the interfaces and boundaries. This project should provide significant benefits on energy safety and sustainable development of Australia. The successful completion of this project can lead to the development of battery technologies that may lift Australia to a better position in the international market and may also help boost the prosperity of Australia’s world-leading lithium mining industry.Read moreRead less
Design of Non-Equilibrium Architectures: Leveraging High Entropy Materials. Novel metallic alloys, termed as ‘high entropy materials’, will be investigated as surface coatings in order to provide improved strength, corrosion and wear performance under extreme industrial environments. This new evolution in materials engineering is created by mixing at least 5 elements in equal ratios and has recently been proven to provide excellent functionality in the bulk form. The novelty of this project is t ....Design of Non-Equilibrium Architectures: Leveraging High Entropy Materials. Novel metallic alloys, termed as ‘high entropy materials’, will be investigated as surface coatings in order to provide improved strength, corrosion and wear performance under extreme industrial environments. This new evolution in materials engineering is created by mixing at least 5 elements in equal ratios and has recently been proven to provide excellent functionality in the bulk form. The novelty of this project is that thermal spray engineering will be employed to manufacture bespoke coatings for industries such as the mining and power generation sectors. We now need to understand the materials science for a technological tipping point that directly impacts manufacturing industries for improved performance, efficiency and reliability.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100773
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$354,446.00
Summary
Electric power and useful chemicals co-generation. This project aims to design and develop a fuel cell-reactor that can simultaneously produce electric power and value-added useful chemicals by utilising abundant and cheap gaseous fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal-seam gas. This project expects to realise zero greenhouse gas emissions during the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, meanwhile opening up a new strategy in the development of highly efficient electro-catalysts for th ....Electric power and useful chemicals co-generation. This project aims to design and develop a fuel cell-reactor that can simultaneously produce electric power and value-added useful chemicals by utilising abundant and cheap gaseous fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal-seam gas. This project expects to realise zero greenhouse gas emissions during the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, meanwhile opening up a new strategy in the development of highly efficient electro-catalysts for the advanced energy conversion and storage devices. The new technology developed in this project will lead to new breakthroughs in the commercial viability of fuel cell industries.Read moreRead less
2D heterostructures with ultrafast interlayer transport for energy devices. This project aims to design novel 2D heterostructures with ultrafast interlayer transport properties and to modulate the associated optical, electric, catalytic, surface and storage properties by using a combination of experimental and computational approaches for sustainable energy applications, such as fuel generation and energy conversion and storage devices. This project expects to generate new knowledge in materials ....2D heterostructures with ultrafast interlayer transport for energy devices. This project aims to design novel 2D heterostructures with ultrafast interlayer transport properties and to modulate the associated optical, electric, catalytic, surface and storage properties by using a combination of experimental and computational approaches for sustainable energy applications, such as fuel generation and energy conversion and storage devices. This project expects to generate new knowledge in materials science and nanotechnology and make fundamental breakthroughs in new sustainable energy technologies. The outcomes of this project will facilitate the development of novel materials and low-cost sustainable energy in Australia with access to an enormous global market. Read moreRead less
Bio-inspired two-dimensional nanomaterials for sustainable applications. This project aims to design multifunctional nanomaterials in the form of two-dimensional (2D) structures or architectures with targeted extraordinary bio-mimicking functions for sustainable development and energy applications by learning the best from nature. Millions of years of evolution and natural selection have turned the biological world into an effective materials-development laboratory. The project expects to enhanc ....Bio-inspired two-dimensional nanomaterials for sustainable applications. This project aims to design multifunctional nanomaterials in the form of two-dimensional (2D) structures or architectures with targeted extraordinary bio-mimicking functions for sustainable development and energy applications by learning the best from nature. Millions of years of evolution and natural selection have turned the biological world into an effective materials-development laboratory. The project expects to enhance research and innovation in materials science, nanotechnology, and biological science, and lead to advances in the chemical industry and sustainable environmental and energy applications in Australia. Read moreRead less