Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits f ....Plasma-Catalytist Hybrid Process for Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SOx. Coal combustion provides over 80% of the electricity produced in Australia, with the power stations being major emitters of the pollutants NOx and SOx. This project will potentially lead to a new technology to simultaneously remove NOx and SOx in a single and economical process, eliminating the secondary waste streams that disadvantage current competing technologies. This will provide: significant environmental benefits for Australia in reducing these dangerous atmospheric pollutants; economic advantage to our power stations by enabling cheaper, more efficient technologies and consolidate Australia's leading position in the world in air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx a ....Development of a Novel One Step Process for Gas Conversion to Liquid. Australia has a rich natural gas reserve, most of which is in remote locations. This project will lead to a new technology to use the remote gas that would be flared into the atmosphere, thus benefiting both Australian economy and green house gas reduction. It will also reduce the risk of relying on importing oil from Overseas thus contributing to Australia's energy security. In addition, while crude-based oil emits SOx, NOx and particulates etc into air, the liquid fuels from gas are pure and burns cleanly thus also contributing to air pollution control. Read moreRead less
Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasm ....Hydrogen Production by Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Catalytic Pyrolysis of Natural Gas. This project aims to develop a cost effective technology for hydrogen production using catalytic pyrolysis of natural gas assisted by non-thermal plasma. The mechanism and kinetics of catalytic hydrocarbon decomposition on carbons produced in situ will be systematically studied. Based on the fundamental understanding of carbon nanostructures and their catalytic activities and stabilities, the non-thermal plasma and the catalytic reactions will be optimized to achieve high conversion and catalytic stability. The project will lead to a new process combining effective carbon catalyst and low temperature plasma to produce pure hydrogen with high energy efficiency and no CO2 emissions.Read moreRead less
Advanced chemical recycling of mixed plastics for monomer recovery. This project aims to develop innovative catalytic routes to the chemical recycling of mixed plastics for recovery of their molecular building blocks. Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the Australian ecosystem. Efficient recycling technologies are urgently needed as Australia only recycles ~4% of its 3.4 million tons of mixed waste plastics. This project expects to design highly efficient catalysts for the stepwise ....Advanced chemical recycling of mixed plastics for monomer recovery. This project aims to develop innovative catalytic routes to the chemical recycling of mixed plastics for recovery of their molecular building blocks. Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the Australian ecosystem. Efficient recycling technologies are urgently needed as Australia only recycles ~4% of its 3.4 million tons of mixed waste plastics. This project expects to design highly efficient catalysts for the stepwise breakdown of mixed polyolefin plastics into monomers for the subsequent manufacturing of virgin plastics in a circular economy, and to elucidate fundamental underpinning reaction mechanisms. Outcomes will stimulate the Australian waste plastic recycling industry, and minimise plastic accumulation in the environment.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
Programming anisotropy into responsive soft materials. The project aims to generate viscoelastic soft materials with programmable anisotropy using aqueous suspensions of colloidal rods that have tunable surface coatings. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the rheology and structural characteristics of this unique class of materials. A key innovation is the use of charge-directed polymer self-assembly to control colloidal interactions, suspension rheology and phase behaviour. The in ....Programming anisotropy into responsive soft materials. The project aims to generate viscoelastic soft materials with programmable anisotropy using aqueous suspensions of colloidal rods that have tunable surface coatings. The project expects to generate new knowledge in the rheology and structural characteristics of this unique class of materials. A key innovation is the use of charge-directed polymer self-assembly to control colloidal interactions, suspension rheology and phase behaviour. The intended outcome is spatial control over the orientation of nanostructures, potentially mimicking the structural hierarchy found in nature. This should provide significant benefits to the creation of viscoelastic materials with complex rheology as well as structural, mechanical and optical heterogeneity.Read moreRead less
Synthetic natural gas and biochar from biomass for energy services in remote communities and soil carbon sequestration. Resources, industry and rural communities, the backbone of Australian economy, are confronted by unprecedented challenges of carbon pollution reduction, land conservation and eco-sustainability to combat global climate change. This exciting, highly integrated and multidisciplinary project will develop a scientific basis and technological options for the resources industry and r ....Synthetic natural gas and biochar from biomass for energy services in remote communities and soil carbon sequestration. Resources, industry and rural communities, the backbone of Australian economy, are confronted by unprecedented challenges of carbon pollution reduction, land conservation and eco-sustainability to combat global climate change. This exciting, highly integrated and multidisciplinary project will develop a scientific basis and technological options for the resources industry and remote communities to respond to these challenges. The outcomes of this research will enable the deployment of renewable biomass energy technology, bio-char for carbon storage, and affect the restoration of marginal lands and salinity levels in an environmentally and economically sustainable way, thus contributing to the development of an environmentally sustainable Australia.Read moreRead less
A new management tool for effective wastewater source control. The use of recycled wastewater can dramatically increase the water supply capacity. However, the potential health risk from possible containments in recycled wastewater must be mitigated. This project aims to develop an effective wastewater source management tool for safeguarding the recycled water production and usage.
Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in mu ....Quantum Induced Kinetic Molecular Sieving of Hydrogen Isotopes in Nanoporous Materials. This research addresses a key challenge in gas separation; that of separation of deuterium from hydrogen, while advancing the molecular science of adsorption and transport of light gases in molecularly confined spaces. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, not only because of the economic potential of deuterium, but because it will see a new generation of Australian researchers trained in multidisciplinary cutting-edge research while addressing several areas of national priority, including breakthrough sciences, and development of frontier technologies, and thereby creating new opportunities for industry.Read moreRead less
Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving t ....Improved Nanoscale and Molecular Models for Nanostructured Carbons, and their Applications in Simulation of Confined Fluids. This project has a multitude of benefits for Australia, a key one of which is the promotion of cross-disciplinary interaction and collaboration to conduct leading edge research in a technologically important area. In addition the project will utilize two PhD students who will be trained in research, and gain a broad range of skills in this multifaceted project involving theory, simulation and experiment. The research, grounded in molecular fundamentals, will also lead to the development of advanced tools for adsorption process modelling, useful in process design and scale-up, and contribute to Goal 1 of National Priority Area 3: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.Read moreRead less