Novel fuel-cell structures based on electroactive polymers. This project will tackle some of the challenges currently hindering progression of our society into a post-petroleum era via materials developments that will lead to in-expensive, more efficient fuel cell technologies. Specifically, a new class of organic catalysts and novel ion conducting membranes will be integrated into functional fuel-cells.
Industrial High Efficiency Solar Cells. Photovoltaics is a promising candidate for sustainable energy generation, with Australia well-placed to capture the economic and environmental benefits from maintaining its strong position with this technology. Suntech, a world-leader in silicon solar cell production with US$2 billion annual revenue, will provide a “high profile” showplace for the developed patterning technology. This will enhance commercial opportunities arising from the project and confi ....Industrial High Efficiency Solar Cells. Photovoltaics is a promising candidate for sustainable energy generation, with Australia well-placed to capture the economic and environmental benefits from maintaining its strong position with this technology. Suntech, a world-leader in silicon solar cell production with US$2 billion annual revenue, will provide a “high profile” showplace for the developed patterning technology. This will enhance commercial opportunities arising from the project and confirm Australia’s reputation as a world leader in innovative photovoltaic research. This reputation attracts high-calibre professionals to Australia, stimulates local research and will provide opportunities for local manufacturing to exploit the technology developed as part of this project.Read moreRead less
Engineering the Microstructure of Electrodes for Advanced Fuel Cells. A polymer solution-based integration technique is proposed to be developed to fabricate polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, allowing for effective engineering of the porous networks and interfaces within electrodes and cells. This novel systems materials engineering approach is expected to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional hot pressing method, enabling precise integration of nanostructured electrodes and membrane ....Engineering the Microstructure of Electrodes for Advanced Fuel Cells. A polymer solution-based integration technique is proposed to be developed to fabricate polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, allowing for effective engineering of the porous networks and interfaces within electrodes and cells. This novel systems materials engineering approach is expected to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional hot pressing method, enabling precise integration of nanostructured electrodes and membrane into high-performance, flexible fuel cells. The outcomes of this research aim to provide a unique opportunity for Australia to become a world leader in the rapidly-emerging clean energy technology, and critical manufacturing of new energy generation systems for domestic uses and exports, thereby producing important economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells: a pathway to 30 per cent efficiency. This project aims to develop a new type of solar cell that is much more efficient than today’s commercial silicon solar cells. Increasing cell efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of solar electricity, but silicon cells are approaching practical and theoretical limits. This project expects to boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells by adding a low-cost solar cell on top to create a tandem d ....Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells: a pathway to 30 per cent efficiency. This project aims to develop a new type of solar cell that is much more efficient than today’s commercial silicon solar cells. Increasing cell efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of solar electricity, but silicon cells are approaching practical and theoretical limits. This project expects to boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells by adding a low-cost solar cell on top to create a tandem device. The expected outcome is a solar cell that can convert more than 30 per cent of incident sunlight into electricity, compared to 20-25 per cent for current cells. Developing cheap, high efficiency solar cells should further reduce the cost of solar electricity, and accelerate the uptake of clean energy.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$480,000.00
Summary
A surface characterisation facility. This surface characterisation facility will provide scientists with an understanding of material's surfaces and interfaces. This will lead to a range of new technologies and innovative solutions required to address the many resource and environmental challenges facing our planet now and in the future.
A defect mechanism for oxygen reduction reaction. This project aims to use defective carbon to replace expensive platinum as a catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. Defective carbons incorporating non-precious metals are better than platinum in terms of over-potential, current density and number of electron transfer. They reduce the overall fuel cell cost but their better stability and higher open voltage and power density promise huge commercial benefit. This project is ex ....A defect mechanism for oxygen reduction reaction. This project aims to use defective carbon to replace expensive platinum as a catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. Defective carbons incorporating non-precious metals are better than platinum in terms of over-potential, current density and number of electron transfer. They reduce the overall fuel cell cost but their better stability and higher open voltage and power density promise huge commercial benefit. This project is expected to be important for large-scale implementation of fuel cells.Read moreRead less
High Performance Monolithic Perovskite Photocapacitors. Monolithic perovskite photocapacitor (MPPC) consisted of integrated energy harvesting perovskite solar cell and energy storage supercapacitor through an internally shared electrode can deliver stable electricity by harnessing solar energy. The performance of MPPC is dependent of properties of the shared electrode materials. This project aims to synthesis carbon materials with tailored surface, electrical and structure properties that are re ....High Performance Monolithic Perovskite Photocapacitors. Monolithic perovskite photocapacitor (MPPC) consisted of integrated energy harvesting perovskite solar cell and energy storage supercapacitor through an internally shared electrode can deliver stable electricity by harnessing solar energy. The performance of MPPC is dependent of properties of the shared electrode materials. This project aims to synthesis carbon materials with tailored surface, electrical and structure properties that are required to make a highly functioning shared electrode in MPPC. The goal is to fabricate stable, high performance MPPC. Successful achievement of the outcomes will enable cost-effective, reliable, solar electricity, placing Australia at the forefront of exploiting photovoltaics technologies.Read moreRead less
High performance durable perovskite solar cells for space applications . There has been a rapid growth in space exploration and experimentation fuelled by global support. Space hardware needs to be powered by a sustainable source of energy. The use of solar photovoltaics is the preferred choice. As we move into the era of 'commercial space', cost will become paramount necessitating the development of new cost effective photovoltaic technologies. Metal halide perovskite solar cells show the great ....High performance durable perovskite solar cells for space applications . There has been a rapid growth in space exploration and experimentation fuelled by global support. Space hardware needs to be powered by a sustainable source of energy. The use of solar photovoltaics is the preferred choice. As we move into the era of 'commercial space', cost will become paramount necessitating the development of new cost effective photovoltaic technologies. Metal halide perovskite solar cells show the greatest potential. They have a higher power to weight ratio and are significantly cheaper to be manufactured compared to incumbent space cells. This project aims to develop and demonstrate perovskite solar cells to achieve high areal power conversion efficiencies and long operating lifetimes withstanding space environment. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101129
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,948.00
Summary
Two-Dimensional Material Tandem Detectors for Polarimetry and Spectroscopy. The aim of this project is to leverage the fundamental advantages that two-dimensional (2D) materials could provide to vertically-stacked (tandem) photodetectors. The strong absorption, tunable bandgap and polarisation dependence that many 2D materials exhibit, provides a means by which to detect properties of light. This topic is significant because it could overcome current cost/performance issues of tandem detectors, .... Two-Dimensional Material Tandem Detectors for Polarimetry and Spectroscopy. The aim of this project is to leverage the fundamental advantages that two-dimensional (2D) materials could provide to vertically-stacked (tandem) photodetectors. The strong absorption, tunable bandgap and polarisation dependence that many 2D materials exhibit, provides a means by which to detect properties of light. This topic is significant because it could overcome current cost/performance issues of tandem detectors, enabling widespread usage. The expected project outcome is the development of a novel tandem 2D detector, which as a single detector/pixel, can extract the intensity, polarisation and wavelength region of incoming light. This would provide benefits for many future applications, including machine vision and aerial surveying.Read moreRead less