Advanced Fibre Interfaces in Active Water Management Systems. Flooding is a critical issue in Australia, generating considerable economic losses, including by stormwater contamination. The current project will pioneer an integrated solution for stormwater retention, while removing chemical pollutants. In collaboration with the company ROCKWOOL-Lapinus - based on a stonewool fibre platform - we will (i) design fibre coatings based on a versatile and chemically simple deposition process, (ii) inco ....Advanced Fibre Interfaces in Active Water Management Systems. Flooding is a critical issue in Australia, generating considerable economic losses, including by stormwater contamination. The current project will pioneer an integrated solution for stormwater retention, while removing chemical pollutants. In collaboration with the company ROCKWOOL-Lapinus - based on a stonewool fibre platform - we will (i) design fibre coatings based on a versatile and chemically simple deposition process, (ii) incorporate functionalities onto the fibres allowing active stormwater treatment to e.g. retain pollutants or target heavy metals and (iii) investigate these interfaces in-depth by advanced surface and interface characterisation methods to understand the fibre interface properties from nano- to macroscale.Read moreRead less
Hybrid photocatalytic nanomaterials for water purification. This project aims to synthesise and characterise a range of porous photocatalytic materials (materials that absorb light to catalyse a reaction), and to establish high-throughput processes to simultaneously test the effectiveness of multiple photocatalytic materials. This interdisciplinary project expects to develop two new techniques that will lead to faster materials optimisation of materials that breakdown organic pollutants in water ....Hybrid photocatalytic nanomaterials for water purification. This project aims to synthesise and characterise a range of porous photocatalytic materials (materials that absorb light to catalyse a reaction), and to establish high-throughput processes to simultaneously test the effectiveness of multiple photocatalytic materials. This interdisciplinary project expects to develop two new techniques that will lead to faster materials optimisation of materials that breakdown organic pollutants in water under light irradiation. The intended outcomes include the production of industrially relevant photocatalysts and building capability in Australia to decrease photocatalytic testing time and cost. This should provide significant benefits to industry and the environment, and have an impact on human health.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100797
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$411,000.00
Summary
Shape-shifting polymer assemblies as stimuli-adaptive nanomaterials. This project aims to develop shape-shifting polymer nanomaterials that can adapt to changes in their environments by undergoing nanoscale morphology transformations. Shape-shifting polymer nanostructures are exciting new building blocks for designing the cutting-edge materials and biomedical therapies of tomorrow. This project will use shape-shifting polymer nanostructures to develop innovative tools for building technologies t ....Shape-shifting polymer assemblies as stimuli-adaptive nanomaterials. This project aims to develop shape-shifting polymer nanomaterials that can adapt to changes in their environments by undergoing nanoscale morphology transformations. Shape-shifting polymer nanostructures are exciting new building blocks for designing the cutting-edge materials and biomedical therapies of tomorrow. This project will use shape-shifting polymer nanostructures to develop innovative tools for building technologies that can detect environmental pollutants, accelerate tissue regeneration and deliver drugs to diseased tissue with unparalleled specificity. These technologies have high commercial potential with benefits to the Australian economy and the potential to contribute powerful technological impacts across Australia's biomedical, agricultural and environmental industries.Read moreRead less
Data-driven development of photocatalytic and optoelectronic perovskites. This project aims to use materials informatics to discover new, high efficiency perovskites for synthesis and testing in optoelectronic applications. This project expects to identify perovskite composition-property relationships to overcome current drawbacks of high performance perovskites (contain rare or toxic elements and low stability in oxidative and humid environments) by considered selection of elements and their pr ....Data-driven development of photocatalytic and optoelectronic perovskites. This project aims to use materials informatics to discover new, high efficiency perovskites for synthesis and testing in optoelectronic applications. This project expects to identify perovskite composition-property relationships to overcome current drawbacks of high performance perovskites (contain rare or toxic elements and low stability in oxidative and humid environments) by considered selection of elements and their properties. Expected outcomes from this project include new perovskites with commercial potential in critical areas such as energy conversion, photocatalysis and luminescence. This should provide significant benefits including approaches to materials discovery, novel materials and in renewable energy and environmental areas.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100558
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$420,000.00
Summary
Biomimetic catalysis for sustainable polymer syntheses. New classes of sustainable polymers are required to produce biodegradable materials for nanotechnology applications. This project aims to address this demand by developing versatile polymerisation catalysis protocols inspired by enzymatic systems. This new method of polymer synthesis expects to generate a diverse set of nanomaterials using chemical networks that modulate reaction conditions on-demand, providing facile control over polymer f ....Biomimetic catalysis for sustainable polymer syntheses. New classes of sustainable polymers are required to produce biodegradable materials for nanotechnology applications. This project aims to address this demand by developing versatile polymerisation catalysis protocols inspired by enzymatic systems. This new method of polymer synthesis expects to generate a diverse set of nanomaterials using chemical networks that modulate reaction conditions on-demand, providing facile control over polymer form and resulting function. The expected outcomes of this project will advance our understanding of polymer structure-property relationships and stimuli-responsive systems, and should provide significant benefits for the deployment of biorenewable polymers as next-generation soft materials.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101788
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,498.00
Summary
Advanced Macromolecular Architecture via Selenium. The overarching aim of this project is to drastically expand the scale and scope of selenium-based macromolecular chemistry via safe, odor-free multicomponent reactions utilising elemental selenium. This project will develop new methods and techniques in drastically reducing the cost while increasing worker and environmental safety of industrial elastomers such as Spandex. Next the project will exploit selenium's sensitivity to ozonolysis to des ....Advanced Macromolecular Architecture via Selenium. The overarching aim of this project is to drastically expand the scale and scope of selenium-based macromolecular chemistry via safe, odor-free multicomponent reactions utilising elemental selenium. This project will develop new methods and techniques in drastically reducing the cost while increasing worker and environmental safety of industrial elastomers such as Spandex. Next the project will exploit selenium's sensitivity to ozonolysis to design a new instrument capable of extreme precision in monitoring oxidative damage in polymeric materials. Finally, selenium's unique reactivity will lend itself towards the next generation of smart materials which will be capable of completely reorganizing their structure down to the molecular level.Read moreRead less