Designed Delivery - Novel Hydrogels for Drug Delivery from Precisely-Structured Networks. This project will lead to the development of new biodegradable biomaterials ideally suited to many applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering. The understanding of their properties will be built on comprehensive models for diffusion of molecules through the material. The availability of these new biomaterials will facilitate future developments in drug delivery, and will ultimately lead to improve ....Designed Delivery - Novel Hydrogels for Drug Delivery from Precisely-Structured Networks. This project will lead to the development of new biodegradable biomaterials ideally suited to many applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering. The understanding of their properties will be built on comprehensive models for diffusion of molecules through the material. The availability of these new biomaterials will facilitate future developments in drug delivery, and will ultimately lead to improved medical outcomes in many areas such as tissue and bone regeneration. The materials designed in this project will help position the Australian biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to take advantage of the more than $100B USD market (US alone; growth ~ 10% p.a.) in drug delivery.Read moreRead less
Formation and stability of polymerically stabilized colloids. This project will bring economic, medical and environmental benefits, with improved product performance and manufacturing processes for everyday industrial items relevant to a large industrial sector with significant employment in Australia: inks and paints (for example, surface coatings that can be applied more rapidly without clogging the jets); better means of preventing the fouling of industrial membranes; and improved materials f ....Formation and stability of polymerically stabilized colloids. This project will bring economic, medical and environmental benefits, with improved product performance and manufacturing processes for everyday industrial items relevant to a large industrial sector with significant employment in Australia: inks and paints (for example, surface coatings that can be applied more rapidly without clogging the jets); better means of preventing the fouling of industrial membranes; and improved materials for biomedical applications, with more desirable interactions between living cells and body fluids. These advances will also speed the replacement of solvent-based lacquer paints - detrimental to both environment and user - with water-based products of high quality.Read moreRead less
Microspheres from (Sun)Light – A Sustainable Materials Platform. This project will break new ground in light-induced step-growth precipitation polymerisation techniques for polymer particle formation that do not require any initiator, surfactants, additives or heating, thus constituting an environmentally friendly process. The project will establish the underpinning photochemical particle formation processes and establish a broad monomer base for the production of particles with a wide property ....Microspheres from (Sun)Light – A Sustainable Materials Platform. This project will break new ground in light-induced step-growth precipitation polymerisation techniques for polymer particle formation that do not require any initiator, surfactants, additives or heating, thus constituting an environmentally friendly process. The project will establish the underpinning photochemical particle formation processes and establish a broad monomer base for the production of particles with a wide property profile, including particles with tailored surface properties and the ability to degrade upon a defined trigger signal. Scaling the particles' synthesis, including using Australian sunlight, will enable multi-gram production allowing real-world applications.Read moreRead less
A new generation of photoresists for three- dimensional laser lithography. This project aims at a step-change in photoresist technology by introducing visible-light-induced photochemistry as the basis of next generation direct laser writing (DLW) technology. This willenable functional photoresists that allow precision coding of complex soft matter material properties on the three-dimensional nanoscale. The outcomes of the project will enable the mild fabrication of three-dimensional structures w ....A new generation of photoresists for three- dimensional laser lithography. This project aims at a step-change in photoresist technology by introducing visible-light-induced photochemistry as the basis of next generation direct laser writing (DLW) technology. This willenable functional photoresists that allow precision coding of complex soft matter material properties on the three-dimensional nanoscale. The outcomes of the project will enable the mild fabrication of three-dimensional structures with unique property control and resolution, benefitting diverse fields ranging from designer (stem) cell niches and lab-on-a-chip applications to photonic wire bonding.Read moreRead less
Bioinspired Ceramifiable Fire-Retardant Composite Coatings. This project aims to design bioinspired, adhesive, ceramifiable fire-retardant coatings through understanding their composition-property relationship and fire-retardant mechanism. The fire-retardant coatings are then applied to typical polymer foams to create fire-safe building thermal insulation materials. This project will generate new knowledge in materials science that helps to expedite next-generation advanced fire-retardant coatin ....Bioinspired Ceramifiable Fire-Retardant Composite Coatings. This project aims to design bioinspired, adhesive, ceramifiable fire-retardant coatings through understanding their composition-property relationship and fire-retardant mechanism. The fire-retardant coatings are then applied to typical polymer foams to create fire-safe building thermal insulation materials. This project will generate new knowledge in materials science that helps to expedite next-generation advanced fire-retardant coatings for a variety of flammable substrates. Expected outcomes of this project are cost-effective fire-retardant coatings and fire-safe, inexpensive thermal insulation materials. This project will bring significant economic benefits to Australia and help to create fire-resilient and energy-efficient buildings.Read moreRead less
Pro-Fluorescent Aryl Nitroxides: New Probes for Polymer Lifetime and Kinetics Research. Internal aryl rings present in novel probes developed for this project impart fluorescence which is efficiently and internally quenched by the presence of a paramagnetic nitroxide group. Scavenging of radicals by the nitroxide however "switches on" the fluorescence and this enables powerful new fluorescence-based detection levels for the technique of nitroxide free radical scavenging. Such sensitivity is a ....Pro-Fluorescent Aryl Nitroxides: New Probes for Polymer Lifetime and Kinetics Research. Internal aryl rings present in novel probes developed for this project impart fluorescence which is efficiently and internally quenched by the presence of a paramagnetic nitroxide group. Scavenging of radicals by the nitroxide however "switches on" the fluorescence and this enables powerful new fluorescence-based detection levels for the technique of nitroxide free radical scavenging. Such sensitivity is applicable to polymerization kinetics studies, as well as providing new means for the determination of materials lifetimes. The development of pro-fluorescent markers as indicators for polymer degradation would be a significant outcome for materials where component failure has a major negative impact.Read moreRead less
Multilayer Graphene Based Anti-Corrosion Polymer Coated Structures. This project aims to develop a novel multilayer graphene/polymer coating for structures exposed to corrosive environment with graphene concentration varying layer-wise to eliminate galvanic corrosion yet maintain all unique advantages owing to graphene inclusion, thus offering a cost-effective design solution with significantly improved anti-corrosion performance and remarkably enhanced safety and durability for structures. Expe ....Multilayer Graphene Based Anti-Corrosion Polymer Coated Structures. This project aims to develop a novel multilayer graphene/polymer coating for structures exposed to corrosive environment with graphene concentration varying layer-wise to eliminate galvanic corrosion yet maintain all unique advantages owing to graphene inclusion, thus offering a cost-effective design solution with significantly improved anti-corrosion performance and remarkably enhanced safety and durability for structures. Expected outcomes of this project include an innovative design, experimental data on corrosion prevention, development of reliable simulation techniques and design procedures for the proposed coating. This should provide huge benefits to Australian civil, offshore and marine engineering industry and national economy.Read moreRead less
Engineered Polymer Nanoparticles: A Potent Weapon Against Cancer. Cervical cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death in women under the age of 50 worldwide, the 8th most common cancer among women in Australia, and is the leading cause of cancer death in Aboriginal women. While a vaccine is available to prevent HPV-mediated disease, it would not impact upon death rates for at least 25 years. The systemic delivery of RNAi offers to best opportunity to solve this problem. The delivery devices w ....Engineered Polymer Nanoparticles: A Potent Weapon Against Cancer. Cervical cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death in women under the age of 50 worldwide, the 8th most common cancer among women in Australia, and is the leading cause of cancer death in Aboriginal women. While a vaccine is available to prevent HPV-mediated disease, it would not impact upon death rates for at least 25 years. The systemic delivery of RNAi offers to best opportunity to solve this problem. The delivery devices will be designed with precision and function to meet the delivery needs in vivo. These polymer structures will be suitable for use in drug and gene delivery providing Australian products with advanced features and capabilities, significantly improving product performance.Read moreRead less
Synthesis of nanocomposite polymers with targeted properties. This project aims to synthesise novel nanocomposite polymers by living radical polymerisation in water and to understand the way polymer microstructure and nanomorphology control material properties. This will provide the enabling science so that nanomaterials with targeted properties can be tailor-made for biomedical and speciality-coatings applications, and thus dispense with the current trial-and-error methodology. The innovations ....Synthesis of nanocomposite polymers with targeted properties. This project aims to synthesise novel nanocomposite polymers by living radical polymerisation in water and to understand the way polymer microstructure and nanomorphology control material properties. This will provide the enabling science so that nanomaterials with targeted properties can be tailor-made for biomedical and speciality-coatings applications, and thus dispense with the current trial-and-error methodology. The innovations in this project are the novel synthesis of complex polymer architectures in water, and the first quantitative and qualitative structure-property correlations for such materials. This will also result in a deepened understanding of the mechanisms governing the formation of these nanocomposites.Read moreRead less
Composite biomaterials for modulation of dermal fibroblast function. The successful outcome of this research will revolutionize the way scars are treated for the large number of people who suffer burns and even minor trauma that leads to disfigurement. By using advanced chemical synthesis, biochemical analysis, cell biology and polymer materials science, an intelligent gel sheet will be devised that is able to control the formation of scar tissue and also reduce the effect of existing scars. Thi ....Composite biomaterials for modulation of dermal fibroblast function. The successful outcome of this research will revolutionize the way scars are treated for the large number of people who suffer burns and even minor trauma that leads to disfigurement. By using advanced chemical synthesis, biochemical analysis, cell biology and polymer materials science, an intelligent gel sheet will be devised that is able to control the formation of scar tissue and also reduce the effect of existing scars. This will produce improved quality of life for sufferers of severe scarring and have major economic benefits in reduced health costs. Read moreRead less