Metaphotonics and metasurfaces for disruptive sensing technologies. This project aims to address a big challenge in nanophotonics by developing revolutionary methods for efficient chiral sensing of molecules without the need for spectrometry, frequency scanning, or moving mechanical parts, and to enhance chiroptical signals a hundredfold with the help of metasurface structures. Resonant metasurfaces are arrays of engineered dielectric nanoparticles with extraordinary characteristics, and they wo ....Metaphotonics and metasurfaces for disruptive sensing technologies. This project aims to address a big challenge in nanophotonics by developing revolutionary methods for efficient chiral sensing of molecules without the need for spectrometry, frequency scanning, or moving mechanical parts, and to enhance chiroptical signals a hundredfold with the help of metasurface structures. Resonant metasurfaces are arrays of engineered dielectric nanoparticles with extraordinary characteristics, and they would allow to overcome current limitations of chiral sensing analytical tools. Detecting chiral molecules in low concentrations is crucially important to many fields of biology, chemistry, and pharmacy, as well as to the food and cosmetics industries, constituting a market of tens of billions of dollars.Read moreRead less
Nanoengineered hybrid coatings that control inflammation to artificial bone. This project aims to develop novel biocompatible surfaces using nanotechnology approaches to understand how cells attach to and grow on artificial bone materials. This research is significant because it combines novel nanofabrication and surface modification strategies for unprecedented control and manipulation of inflammatory cell behaviour relevant to orthopaedic implants. The project will overcome current limitations ....Nanoengineered hybrid coatings that control inflammation to artificial bone. This project aims to develop novel biocompatible surfaces using nanotechnology approaches to understand how cells attach to and grow on artificial bone materials. This research is significant because it combines novel nanofabrication and surface modification strategies for unprecedented control and manipulation of inflammatory cell behaviour relevant to orthopaedic implants. The project will overcome current limitations of uncontrollable inflammatory reactions to surfaces. The multifunctional surfaces are expected to give the biomaterials field new tools to control and maintain bone cell functionality, in vitro. Potential long-term benefits include applications as coatings in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and medical implants.Read moreRead less
Diamane: A New Frontier in Materials Science. Single-layer diamond (‘diamane’) is a new frontier of material research although its preparation is still in infancy with many structures predicted possible but have not been made experimentally. Built on a new chemical route for 'graphite to diamane' transformation, this project will address a research gap towards synthesising new diamane(-like) nanostructures and developing an in-depth understanding of the chemically induced phase transformation an ....Diamane: A New Frontier in Materials Science. Single-layer diamond (‘diamane’) is a new frontier of material research although its preparation is still in infancy with many structures predicted possible but have not been made experimentally. Built on a new chemical route for 'graphite to diamane' transformation, this project will address a research gap towards synthesising new diamane(-like) nanostructures and developing an in-depth understanding of the chemically induced phase transformation and structure-property correlations, which will have far-reaching impact on scientific fields beyond carbon research. Preliminary data points to both feasibility and impact for discovering new materials and technologies, which will bring foreseeable scholarly, economic, and social benefits.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101396
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,209.00
Summary
Dynamics and dispersion of microplastics in turbulent shallow water flows. Microplastics have become ubiquitous in our rivers, lakes and reservoirs, detrimentally impacting ecosystems. Via high-fidelity numerical simulations, the project aims to advance our understanding of the complex interplay between dispersed microplastics and key fluvial processes including turbulence, sediment transport and free-surface wave dynamics. The project intends to buildup a data-base containing high-resolution da ....Dynamics and dispersion of microplastics in turbulent shallow water flows. Microplastics have become ubiquitous in our rivers, lakes and reservoirs, detrimentally impacting ecosystems. Via high-fidelity numerical simulations, the project aims to advance our understanding of the complex interplay between dispersed microplastics and key fluvial processes including turbulence, sediment transport and free-surface wave dynamics. The project intends to buildup a data-base containing high-resolution data of the occurrence, trajectories and distribution of microplastics. The outcome is anticipated to be invaluable in improving microplastic transport models, standardisation of sampling and quantification techniques, and in designing innovative mitigation technologies for microplastic collection.
Read moreRead less
Dynamics and Enhanced Suppression of Fires. This project aims to transform our understanding of the dynamics of fires and smoke in enclosures and their interaction with water sprays and mists carrying chemical suppressants. Fires in buildings remain very difficult to contain and continue to cause extensive loss of lives and property. The proposed research will exploit advances in laser diagnostics and computer power to determine and quantify the complex interactions between droplets, turbulent f ....Dynamics and Enhanced Suppression of Fires. This project aims to transform our understanding of the dynamics of fires and smoke in enclosures and their interaction with water sprays and mists carrying chemical suppressants. Fires in buildings remain very difficult to contain and continue to cause extensive loss of lives and property. The proposed research will exploit advances in laser diagnostics and computer power to determine and quantify the complex interactions between droplets, turbulent flames, smoke formation and chemical suppression processes. Outcomes include novel experimental databases for turbulent buoyant flames and chemical suppression effectiveness, thus laying the foundation for enhancing our predictive capabilities and improving fire control methodologies.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100063
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,900,000.00
Summary
Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope for Beam-Sensitive Materials. This project aims to establish a transmission electron microscopy facility for the high-throughput characterisation of delicate materials, at the atomic scale and a broad range of temperatures. Unique in Australia, this capability will enable the location and type of atoms critical to materials properties to be determined for materials as diverse as lithium-bearing minerals, next-generation solar cells and drug-delivery agen ....Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope for Beam-Sensitive Materials. This project aims to establish a transmission electron microscopy facility for the high-throughput characterisation of delicate materials, at the atomic scale and a broad range of temperatures. Unique in Australia, this capability will enable the location and type of atoms critical to materials properties to be determined for materials as diverse as lithium-bearing minerals, next-generation solar cells and drug-delivery agents. In this way it will foster the engineering of new materials for addressing current challenges in energy, environment, transport, health and manufacturing. This will be a national, open access facility for use by research institutions and industry, and for training the next generation of postgraduate students.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL220100020
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,647,737.00
Summary
Unveiling the Winds of Star-Forming Galaxies. This project seeks to resolve an outstanding problem in the formation of cosmic structure: what is the nature of galactic winds, and what physical mechanisms are responsible for driving them? Answering these questions requires computer simulations of greater resolution than have previously been possible, coupled to next-generation telescopic observations. This research aims to develop novel methods to enable the required simulations, leveraging new h ....Unveiling the Winds of Star-Forming Galaxies. This project seeks to resolve an outstanding problem in the formation of cosmic structure: what is the nature of galactic winds, and what physical mechanisms are responsible for driving them? Answering these questions requires computer simulations of greater resolution than have previously been possible, coupled to next-generation telescopic observations. This research aims to develop novel methods to enable the required simulations, leveraging new hardware architectures at Australian supercomputer facilities, and to use these approaches to solve a major open problem in astrophysics, open new frontiers in simulation, and multiply the return on Australia's investment in both computer facilities and telescopes that will study galactic winds.Read moreRead less
Organic Bionics: Soft Materials to Solve Hard Problems in Neuroengineering. This project aims to combine innovations in organic conductors, nanotechnology, 3D biofabrication and neuroengineering to develop a bioelectronic system capable of wireless neuromodulation with unprecedented stability and precision. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the properties of materials that promote optical neuromodulation and new strategies to obtain long-term material stability in biologic ....Organic Bionics: Soft Materials to Solve Hard Problems in Neuroengineering. This project aims to combine innovations in organic conductors, nanotechnology, 3D biofabrication and neuroengineering to develop a bioelectronic system capable of wireless neuromodulation with unprecedented stability and precision. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding the properties of materials that promote optical neuromodulation and new strategies to obtain long-term material stability in biological environments. The expected outcome is to generate new material design rules to facilitate wireless neuromodulation technologies in biomedical engineering. The project will position Australia as a leader in bionic devices by creating a new 3D bioprinting hub for low-cost fabrication of bioelectronic systems.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL210100180
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,781,000.00
Summary
Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for fun ....Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for functional imaging of subcellular organelles. This research offers exciting opportunities for single-molecule tracking, quantitative diagnostics, non-invasive imaging, bio-mechanical force measurement and thermometry; tools to observe the nanoscale world inside live cells.Read moreRead less
3D Bipolar Electroactive Architectures for Wireless BioStimulation. Traditional Electrostimulation requires hard-wired metal electrodes and electronic wires connected to a power supply. These tethered systems face numerous challenges in establishing long-lasting effective electronic interfaces with targeted cells and tissues. This project aims to combine technologies in conductive polymers, bipolar electrochemistry, 3D fabrication and cell engineering to develop a 3D bioelectronic system that e ....3D Bipolar Electroactive Architectures for Wireless BioStimulation. Traditional Electrostimulation requires hard-wired metal electrodes and electronic wires connected to a power supply. These tethered systems face numerous challenges in establishing long-lasting effective electronic interfaces with targeted cells and tissues. This project aims to combine technologies in conductive polymers, bipolar electrochemistry, 3D fabrication and cell engineering to develop a 3D bioelectronic system that enables wireless cell stimulation. The major benefit is to generate advanced knowledge of wireless powered electromaterials and novel wireless biotechnology in medical engineering, which could help well-position the Australian in smart bionic devices for human well-being with a bright future.Read moreRead less