Powder blending for dry powder inhalers: a new approach for direct control of powder structure. Over 80 per cent of pharmaceutical products involve the processing of powders. This project will generate new knowledge of how to assemble fine and cohesive particles into the structure required for dry powder inhaler products, leading to the development of new low-cost medicines in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
Environmentally Sustainable Solvents for Natural Pharmaceutical Extraction Processes. Australia supplies 25 per cent of the world's pain relieving medicinal opiates which contributes to a $200 million export industry for Australia. The active pharmaceutical ingredients are extracted and purified at GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Port Fairy processing plant using a solvent extraction based process. Together with GSK the project team aim to examine the use of environmentally sustainable bio-derived natur ....Environmentally Sustainable Solvents for Natural Pharmaceutical Extraction Processes. Australia supplies 25 per cent of the world's pain relieving medicinal opiates which contributes to a $200 million export industry for Australia. The active pharmaceutical ingredients are extracted and purified at GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Port Fairy processing plant using a solvent extraction based process. Together with GSK the project team aim to examine the use of environmentally sustainable bio-derived natural solvents to replace the volatile organic compound (VOC) fossil fuels based solvents used in the current process. Due to environmental and health concerns associated with VOCs the development of alternative solvents will be of great benefit to not only GSK but a range of other processing industries that also use VOC based solvent extraction processes.Read moreRead less
Iron and phosphorus recovery from ferric precipitation sludge. To minimise health risks and environmental pollution, water and wastewater treatment processes often use iron salts to eliminate phosphate and other pollutants. This generates large amounts of chemical sludge that is typically sent to landfill. The benefits of this new process will be the recovery of both the iron, which can be reused in the process, and the phosphate, which is a key component in fertiliser. Since phosphate is a limi ....Iron and phosphorus recovery from ferric precipitation sludge. To minimise health risks and environmental pollution, water and wastewater treatment processes often use iron salts to eliminate phosphate and other pollutants. This generates large amounts of chemical sludge that is typically sent to landfill. The benefits of this new process will be the recovery of both the iron, which can be reused in the process, and the phosphate, which is a key component in fertiliser. Since phosphate is a limited natural resource with an increasingly high value, the recovery and recycling of this critical element in food production is highly important. The process will also avoid a large part of the sludge production and will make the water treatment processes more cost-effective.Read moreRead less
Novel hybrid silica membranes for desalination. This project aims to produce high flux, highly stable ceramic membranes for use in desalination. This will result in novel, low energy desalination processes, delivering potable water at a greatly reduced cost.
The Development of New Carrier Technologies for Spray-Dried Fruit Extracts. This project aims to develop new carrier techniques for spray drying fruit extracts based on the use of natural fibres, with the aim of overcoming a key problem in the operation of spray dryers for producing powders, the deposition of particles on walls. Carriers are non-sticky materials that effectively dilute the stickiness of any materials. The significance is that it will use waste products from fruit processing (th ....The Development of New Carrier Technologies for Spray-Dried Fruit Extracts. This project aims to develop new carrier techniques for spray drying fruit extracts based on the use of natural fibres, with the aim of overcoming a key problem in the operation of spray dryers for producing powders, the deposition of particles on walls. Carriers are non-sticky materials that effectively dilute the stickiness of any materials. The significance is that it will use waste products from fruit processing (the fibres from skins) to overcome this problem, and it will also be possible to dry sticky materials using material from the fruit itself, rather than additives such as maltodextrin.Read moreRead less
A skin-on-a-chip device for investigating wound healing. This project aims to research the mechanism of skin wound healing. It will design a skin-on-a-chip microfluidic device that mimics human skin in vitro. This device will reduce the need for animal studies and assess how active compounds heal wounds. This project will design smart polymers with superior properties for controlled delivery of multiple active compounds in this device and choose the most effective combination of compounds to boo ....A skin-on-a-chip device for investigating wound healing. This project aims to research the mechanism of skin wound healing. It will design a skin-on-a-chip microfluidic device that mimics human skin in vitro. This device will reduce the need for animal studies and assess how active compounds heal wounds. This project will design smart polymers with superior properties for controlled delivery of multiple active compounds in this device and choose the most effective combination of compounds to boost skin healing rate. This knowledge may ultimately be used to develop wound dressings that maximise healing rate for various skin defects such as chronic wounds and decrease health care costs.Read moreRead less
Granulation of hydrophobic powders: design and control of granule structure. This unique project will further enhance Australia's established world-class excellence in granulation research, and will assist in setting up a new school of excellence in granulation at Monash University. The innovative use of normally problematic material properties to produce 'designer granules' is a clear example of a 'Frontier Technologies' that can be used to develop 'Advanced Materials' for the next generation o ....Granulation of hydrophobic powders: design and control of granule structure. This unique project will further enhance Australia's established world-class excellence in granulation research, and will assist in setting up a new school of excellence in granulation at Monash University. The innovative use of normally problematic material properties to produce 'designer granules' is a clear example of a 'Frontier Technologies' that can be used to develop 'Advanced Materials' for the next generation of agricultural, food and pharmaceutical industries, particularly for delivery of hydrophobic drugs. The innovative ideas presented in this proposal are expected to provide multiple opportunities for collaboration with national and international research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR180100027
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,086,676.00
Summary
Integrated, scalable technology solutions for PFAS removal and destruction. This project aims to deliver a ready-to-deploy and scalable modular technology that is capable of removing poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a variety of water sources, including groundwater and surface waters, to make them virtually PFAS-free and therefore safe for human consumption. The concept draws on recent advances in water treatment and electrochemistry that is based on ion exchange, nanofiltration ....Integrated, scalable technology solutions for PFAS removal and destruction. This project aims to deliver a ready-to-deploy and scalable modular technology that is capable of removing poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a variety of water sources, including groundwater and surface waters, to make them virtually PFAS-free and therefore safe for human consumption. The concept draws on recent advances in water treatment and electrochemistry that is based on ion exchange, nanofiltration and advanced oxidation. A risk-based framework will be developed to deliver fit-for-purpose solutions at minimal cost for stakeholders and taxpayers. This project is expected to benefit the residents who live in the vicinity of contaminated waterways or consume water from polluted sources.Read moreRead less
Perfect particles: Accurate breakage predictions by 3D printing of granules. Granule breakage of micro-structured specialty products impedes manufacturing and degrades product performance. Predictive breakage models have had limited success as each granule has a unique structure. Differences between the model predictions and experimental breakage test results could be due to inaccurate models or irreproducible experimental results due to granule structure differences. This project is expected to ....Perfect particles: Accurate breakage predictions by 3D printing of granules. Granule breakage of micro-structured specialty products impedes manufacturing and degrades product performance. Predictive breakage models have had limited success as each granule has a unique structure. Differences between the model predictions and experimental breakage test results could be due to inaccurate models or irreproducible experimental results due to granule structure differences. This project is expected to be the first ever application of three-dimensional printing for reproducible breakage testing. The project aims to: create the first ever multiple identical copies of complex granules using polyjet three-dimensional printing; model and experimentally measure granule breakage; and develop sophisticated Digital Elevation Models of granule breakage for practical use in industry.Read moreRead less
Epitaxial Stacking of Nanoporous Nanosheets for Next-generation Membranes. The project aims to develop high-precision selective membranes which are urgently needed in Australian key industries for solute-solute separation by constructing vertically-aligned and chemically-tailorable nanochannels using two-dimensional porous nanosheets as building blocks. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge in the areas of nanosheet synthesis and functionalisation, membrane design and fabrication, s ....Epitaxial Stacking of Nanoporous Nanosheets for Next-generation Membranes. The project aims to develop high-precision selective membranes which are urgently needed in Australian key industries for solute-solute separation by constructing vertically-aligned and chemically-tailorable nanochannels using two-dimensional porous nanosheets as building blocks. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge in the areas of nanosheet synthesis and functionalisation, membrane design and fabrication, selective transport of solutes and applications. The membranes developed in the project should make existing separation processes more effective and sustainable and advance emerging applications in pharmaceutical, dairy and mining industries, providing significant economic and environmental benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less