Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical d ....Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical development of new concepts to engineer the interfaces with various atomic stacking sequence of two complex oxides and also the three-dimensional binary nanocube superlattices to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of oxide based thermoelectric materials by several times over today's state-of-the-art.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Spin Caloritronic Materials and Devices for Heat Management in Nanoelectronic Systems. Spin caloritronics is a new field that combines concepts from spintronics and thermoelectricity. This project is inspired by spin Seebeck effect observed in magnetic insulators and motivated by the basic requirements of nanoscale heat management devices. Such devices are the key components promising to surmount fundamental limits of microelectronic technologies with heat dissipation and p ....Development of Novel Spin Caloritronic Materials and Devices for Heat Management in Nanoelectronic Systems. Spin caloritronics is a new field that combines concepts from spintronics and thermoelectricity. This project is inspired by spin Seebeck effect observed in magnetic insulators and motivated by the basic requirements of nanoscale heat management devices. Such devices are the key components promising to surmount fundamental limits of microelectronic technologies with heat dissipation and power consumption as the size of charge-based logic devices shrinks into nanometre scale. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical development of novel spin caloritronic materials with spin Seebeck effect at ambient temperature, which is orders of magnitude higher than state-of-the-art materials, for heat management in nanoelectronic systems.Read moreRead less
Advanced high strength steels produced by energy efficient direct strip casting. Over one billion tonnes of steel is produced every year and one method of reducing the environmental footprint of this production is through strip casting. This process reduces the energy required to process liquid steel into thin sheet product by an astounding 90 per cent. This proposal aims to expand the application of this technology to new steel grades.
Room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries for large-scale energy storage. This project aims to develop room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries for renewable energy storage. Sodium-sulfur batteries are ideal for large-scale energy storage, owing to high energy density and low cost. However, there are significant challenges in attaining practical sodium-sulfur batteries with high capacity and safety. By developing novel high capacity sulphur cathodes, dendrite-free sodium metal anodes and quasi-so ....Room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries for large-scale energy storage. This project aims to develop room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries for renewable energy storage. Sodium-sulfur batteries are ideal for large-scale energy storage, owing to high energy density and low cost. However, there are significant challenges in attaining practical sodium-sulfur batteries with high capacity and safety. By developing novel high capacity sulphur cathodes, dendrite-free sodium metal anodes and quasi-solid-state gel polymer electrolytes, this project expects to achieve high-performance sodium-sulfur batteries with high capacity, long cycle life and enhanced safety. Expected benefits will arise from deployment of sodium-sulfur batteries and advances in energy storage technologies that are efficient and cost-effective.Read moreRead less
High performance cathode materials for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. This project aims to address the limitation of current battery technology though the development of innovative high energy/power cathode materials for next generation rechargeable lithium ion batteries with high capacity, high power density and outstanding retention. This improvement will dramatically reduce the costs necessary for the market competitiveness of electric vehicles (EVs). By promoting greater EV uptake, this ....High performance cathode materials for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. This project aims to address the limitation of current battery technology though the development of innovative high energy/power cathode materials for next generation rechargeable lithium ion batteries with high capacity, high power density and outstanding retention. This improvement will dramatically reduce the costs necessary for the market competitiveness of electric vehicles (EVs). By promoting greater EV uptake, this project will contribute to Australia’s emissions targets by helping to decarbonise the transport sector.Read moreRead less
Nano-scale tuning: a path to functional materials for hydrogen storage. If the nano-stores discovered can be taken from bench to markets, the way energy is produced and used will be revolutionised. New markets based on clean energy technologies will appear. The emergence of miniaturised hydrogen stores would create unforeseen markets. By utilising Australia's abundant resources in lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg) and aluminium (Al) to store hydrogen, the beneficiaries would be the Australian industr ....Nano-scale tuning: a path to functional materials for hydrogen storage. If the nano-stores discovered can be taken from bench to markets, the way energy is produced and used will be revolutionised. New markets based on clean energy technologies will appear. The emergence of miniaturised hydrogen stores would create unforeseen markets. By utilising Australia's abundant resources in lithium (Li), magnesium (Mg) and aluminium (Al) to store hydrogen, the beneficiaries would be the Australian industry and academia interested in the knowledge gained and the application of the unique features of nano-hydride materials. By reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, society would also benefit from a cleaner environment and better health.Read moreRead less
Carbon-free Energy Storage and Conversion Using Ammonia as a Mediator. This project aims to develop essential technologies for ammonia-mediated energy storage, hydrogen production, and electricity generation. This project expects to generate new understandings on designing novel multi-atom-cluster catalysts for the critical ammonia synthesis, electrolysis, and oxidation processes using interdisciplinary approaches. The expected outcomes of this project include multi-functional electrocatalysts, ....Carbon-free Energy Storage and Conversion Using Ammonia as a Mediator. This project aims to develop essential technologies for ammonia-mediated energy storage, hydrogen production, and electricity generation. This project expects to generate new understandings on designing novel multi-atom-cluster catalysts for the critical ammonia synthesis, electrolysis, and oxidation processes using interdisciplinary approaches. The expected outcomes of this project include multi-functional electrocatalysts, fundamental insights of principles for electrocatalyst design, and prototype technologies. This should provide significant benefits for the harvest of clean energy, the safe utilization of hydrogen, and the development of carbon-free fuels, which are essential for optimizing the energy structure of Australia.Read moreRead less
Giant Magnetocaloric Materials and Room Temperature Refrigeration. The objectives of this project are to develop new magnetocaloric materials, study their properties and their potential as components of advanced magnetic refrigeration systems. The outcomes of this project will provide an opportunity for Australian industry to produce magnetocaloric materials and magnetic refrigeration systems with higher quality, to embark on this novel innovation technology in an effective way, and to access th ....Giant Magnetocaloric Materials and Room Temperature Refrigeration. The objectives of this project are to develop new magnetocaloric materials, study their properties and their potential as components of advanced magnetic refrigeration systems. The outcomes of this project will provide an opportunity for Australian industry to produce magnetocaloric materials and magnetic refrigeration systems with higher quality, to embark on this novel innovation technology in an effective way, and to access the international magnetic refrigeration market. In the longer term, the successful outcome of this research could lead to energy savings and an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as contributing to the associated economic and social goals.Read moreRead less
Deformation mechanisms of metastable titanium alloys. This project aims to understand the response of deformation-induced products in metastable titanium alloys to external loading. Metastable titanium alloys are mechanically tuneable because they can readily twin and phase transform under load during forming or in service. This project will develop a crystal plasticity model that accounts for these deformation mechanisms. These new alloys are expected to make titanium a viable lightweight alter ....Deformation mechanisms of metastable titanium alloys. This project aims to understand the response of deformation-induced products in metastable titanium alloys to external loading. Metastable titanium alloys are mechanically tuneable because they can readily twin and phase transform under load during forming or in service. This project will develop a crystal plasticity model that accounts for these deformation mechanisms. These new alloys are expected to make titanium a viable lightweight alternative for components in the aerospace and transport industries, with the weight savings helping reduce overall energy consumption.Read moreRead less
New approach to control grain boundary behaviour in superconducting thin films. This project aims at finding a new approach to overcome the cornerstone problem of high temperature superconducting films through new design, magnetic interactions, and real-time magnetic flux visualisation at the quantum level. The expected ultimate achievement would be to develop new technologies, delivering the best performance of the films.