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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100128
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
High performance analytical tools to strengthen clean energy research. High performance analytical tools are vital to the success of emerging research fields of national priority. By filling a gap in materials routine characterisation capabilities, the equipment requested will lead to major advances in fundamental and applied research aimed at carbon abatement and clean energy technologies. This includes technologies for clean energy generation by solar means and from decarbonised fossil fuels, ....High performance analytical tools to strengthen clean energy research. High performance analytical tools are vital to the success of emerging research fields of national priority. By filling a gap in materials routine characterisation capabilities, the equipment requested will lead to major advances in fundamental and applied research aimed at carbon abatement and clean energy technologies. This includes technologies for clean energy generation by solar means and from decarbonised fossil fuels, efficient energy storage systems, advanced fuel cells for electricity generation, and hydrogen as the universal energy vector. Advancement of these technologies will bring solutions to the grand challenges facing Australia and in turn benefit industry and society.
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Biomimetic surface coatings for drag and fouling reduction. This project aims to provide new insights into liquid flow and adsorption at liquid/solid and liquid/liquid interfaces, by using a combination of theoretical predictions, nanoscale techniques and nanofabrication approaches. Expected outcomes are the development of liquid-repellent slippery surface coatings that reduce hydrodynamic drag and inhibit marine fouling. This will benefit the fields of advanced manufacturing and smart coatings, ....Biomimetic surface coatings for drag and fouling reduction. This project aims to provide new insights into liquid flow and adsorption at liquid/solid and liquid/liquid interfaces, by using a combination of theoretical predictions, nanoscale techniques and nanofabrication approaches. Expected outcomes are the development of liquid-repellent slippery surface coatings that reduce hydrodynamic drag and inhibit marine fouling. This will benefit the fields of advanced manufacturing and smart coatings, and will underpin a wide range of energy efficient processes and products. Slippery coatings will solve urgent environmental problems of social value by improving the energy and chemical efficiency in fluid flow, heat transfer, secondary oil recovery, microfluidics, and anti-fouling.Read moreRead less
Engineering two dimensional polymers for membrane-based chemical separation. This project aims to develop novel two-dimensional polymers with precisely controlled pore-sizes for preparing membrane materials which can efficiently separate these gaseous chemicals at ambient temperatures. Key industrial chemical mixtures with similar size and boiling points are difficult to separate by conventional distillation methods. Currently, purification of olefins alone accounts for 0.3% of global energy use ....Engineering two dimensional polymers for membrane-based chemical separation. This project aims to develop novel two-dimensional polymers with precisely controlled pore-sizes for preparing membrane materials which can efficiently separate these gaseous chemicals at ambient temperatures. Key industrial chemical mixtures with similar size and boiling points are difficult to separate by conventional distillation methods. Currently, purification of olefins alone accounts for 0.3% of global energy use. The expected outcomes of the project will have a huge impact on industrial purification processing by providing a disruptive membrane technology, and will significantly reduce energy consumption and open up new routes for resources.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.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102784
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Water-swellable rubber with nanoparticle-enabled super capacity as smart water-leakage sealant. A novel water-swellable rubber (WSR) sealant with continuous hydrophobic phase and isolated hydrophilic phase is developed for stopping water leakage from gaps and cracks. Nanoparticle-enabled blocks and network channels in rubber matrix effectively improve the integrity and capability of WSR as smart water-leakage sealants in various applications.
Bioactive Polymer Platelets. This project aims to develop polymers that can be self-assembled into 2D structures. Most nanoparticles developed for drug delivery are spherical. However these are not always the most efficacious as theory suggest that non-spherical nanoparticles have longer circulation times. It is proposed that discoid morphologies may be advantageous as they tend to migrate to the vascular membrane and adhere more efficiently. The polymers developed by this project will be tailor ....Bioactive Polymer Platelets. This project aims to develop polymers that can be self-assembled into 2D structures. Most nanoparticles developed for drug delivery are spherical. However these are not always the most efficacious as theory suggest that non-spherical nanoparticles have longer circulation times. It is proposed that discoid morphologies may be advantageous as they tend to migrate to the vascular membrane and adhere more efficiently. The polymers developed by this project will be tailored towards bioactive and biocompatible material to create a drug delivery platform for more efficient disease treatment. The outcome will be better understanding on how polymer platelets can be obtained and how they compare in their biological activity with spherical nanoparticles.Read moreRead less
Thin combinatorial films for heat management in microelectronics. This project aims to provide a viable solution for heat management in microelectronics by using highly efficient Peltier devices made with thin combinatorial films. Heat generated by electric current, which is ubiquitous in microelectronic devices, has become increasingly problematic for high density charge-based logical circuitries. The project will significantly enhance the energy conversion efficiency of Peltier devices by opti ....Thin combinatorial films for heat management in microelectronics. This project aims to provide a viable solution for heat management in microelectronics by using highly efficient Peltier devices made with thin combinatorial films. Heat generated by electric current, which is ubiquitous in microelectronic devices, has become increasingly problematic for high density charge-based logical circuitries. The project will significantly enhance the energy conversion efficiency of Peltier devices by optimising the interdependent electron and phonon transports, simultaneously, with a new concept of thin combinatorial films for heat management in microelectronic devices. This is expected to facilitate the development of novel materials in Australia, with access to a large global market.Read moreRead less