Development of Fire Retardant Thermal Insulation Materials for Buildings. This Fellowship proposal aims to develop next-generation fire-retardant rigid polymer foams (RPF)-based thermal insulation materials for buildings. Through investigating fire-retardancy, mechanical and ageing properties, we will fundamentally understand the structure/composition - performance relationships of as-designed nanostructured fire-retardant polymer coatings and will achieve robust, durable and fire-retardant coat ....Development of Fire Retardant Thermal Insulation Materials for Buildings. This Fellowship proposal aims to develop next-generation fire-retardant rigid polymer foams (RPF)-based thermal insulation materials for buildings. Through investigating fire-retardancy, mechanical and ageing properties, we will fundamentally understand the structure/composition - performance relationships of as-designed nanostructured fire-retardant polymer coatings and will achieve robust, durable and fire-retardant coatings. This project will then apply the fire-retardant coatings to the RPF to create the target fire-retardant thermal insulation materials. New knowledge and patentable technologies to be generated will bring significant benefits to Australia by reducing energy costs and economic losses associated with building fires.Read moreRead less
Encoding Interactions and Printability into Hairy Colloidal Biomaterials. Printing mixtures of live cells and biomaterials (or 'BioInks') to make bespoke engineered tissues has the potential to enable personalised platforms for therapeutic discovery and organ replacement. Using a novel high throughput approach to materials synthesis, BioInk design and process optimisation, this project aims to discover new biomaterials and printing nozzles to help realise this potential. It will produce new insi ....Encoding Interactions and Printability into Hairy Colloidal Biomaterials. Printing mixtures of live cells and biomaterials (or 'BioInks') to make bespoke engineered tissues has the potential to enable personalised platforms for therapeutic discovery and organ replacement. Using a novel high throughput approach to materials synthesis, BioInk design and process optimisation, this project aims to discover new biomaterials and printing nozzles to help realise this potential. It will produce new insights in colloid science, cell-laden biomaterials design, and BioInk processing. Structure-property-function guides for colloid-based BioInks and quality-assured bioprinting as outcomes represent significant benefits for researchers and industries alike engaged in biofabrication, cell therapy and biotherapeutics.Read moreRead less
A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at s ....A new generation high crash energy absorbing barrier for improved road safety. The new, high energy absorbing road safety barrier developed in this project will provide better protection for all road users than current barriers by reducing the severity of car crashes. Current road barriers result in an average loss of 1600 lives in Australia annually, including a disproportionate number of young lives. The new barrier will be highly efficient in absorbing collisions from vehicles travelling at speeds between 60 to over a 100 kilometres per hour. Installation of the new road safety barrier systems in high accident zones will save lives by reducing the severity of accidents involving road barriers. This will significantly benefit the community by reducing injury, medical, rehabilitation and property damage costs, and improve quality of life for all road users.Read moreRead less
Stretchable Organic Transistors for Wearable Electronics and Robotics. The project aims to address the challenges of fabricating stretchable organic transistors for applications in wearable electronics and robotics through the development of new semiconducting polymers with stretchability and integrating them into novel, stretchable organic transistor configurations. The project will take a molecular engineering approach to the complex needs of this challenge by combining appropriate chemical f ....Stretchable Organic Transistors for Wearable Electronics and Robotics. The project aims to address the challenges of fabricating stretchable organic transistors for applications in wearable electronics and robotics through the development of new semiconducting polymers with stretchability and integrating them into novel, stretchable organic transistor configurations. The project will take a molecular engineering approach to the complex needs of this challenge by combining appropriate chemical functionality which provides high charge carrier mobility with judiciously placed flexible spacers and side chains to provide mechanical dexterity. These novel polymers will be integrated into transistor structures and their fabricated arrays deposited on stretchable substrates will be used for a real world applications.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101550
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Functional polymer encapsulation to enhance biological performance of implantable materials. This project will develop biomaterial films from essential oils using a low-cost 'green' technology. Applied to commercial biomaterials, these films will minimise infections and inflammations commonly associated with implants. These films will also enable clinical use of metallic resorbable implants for tissue engineering and function restoration.
Intracellular manufacturing - high performance biomaterials from methane. The aim of this project is to produce high performance biodegradable polymers directly from methane. The key innovation is employing cutting-edge community genomic and transcriptomic approaches to characterise intracellular production lines in order to tailor polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) copolymer microstructures. This is a truly multidisciplinary project bringing together engineers, polymer scientists and molecu ....Intracellular manufacturing - high performance biomaterials from methane. The aim of this project is to produce high performance biodegradable polymers directly from methane. The key innovation is employing cutting-edge community genomic and transcriptomic approaches to characterise intracellular production lines in order to tailor polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate (PHBV) copolymer microstructures. This is a truly multidisciplinary project bringing together engineers, polymer scientists and molecular biologists. It is expected that a direct outcome of the project will be the first PHBV copolymer from methane. As such, the project aims to develop technology for the production of tough, flexible and affordable biopolymers and, at the same time, provide an opportunity to add value to methane.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC210100023
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,943,949.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre in Bioplastics and Biocomposites. There is unprecedented growth in demand for bioderived and biodegradable materials. This Training Centre in Bioplastics and Biocomposites will capitalise on Australia’s abundance of the requisite natural bioresources to drive advances in technology for the development of bioplastic and biocomposite products for the new bioeconomy. The aim is to deliver leading edge research with a holistic focus on technical, social, policy and end of life so ....ARC Training Centre in Bioplastics and Biocomposites. There is unprecedented growth in demand for bioderived and biodegradable materials. This Training Centre in Bioplastics and Biocomposites will capitalise on Australia’s abundance of the requisite natural bioresources to drive advances in technology for the development of bioplastic and biocomposite products for the new bioeconomy. The aim is to deliver leading edge research with a holistic focus on technical, social, policy and end of life solutions, training a cohort of industry ready research specialists to underpin Australia’s transition to a globally significant bioplastics and biocomposites industry, while at the same time laying the foundations for accelerated growth in this space.Read moreRead less
Scale-up of catalytic furandicarboxylic acid production at room temperature. This project will use new knowledge acquired from our laboratory-scale discoveries to develop a new process feasible for industrial-scale production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The method makes FDCA, a platform chemical for future chemical industry, from a completely renewable source derived from plant sugars, 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural. This is an essential process for production of biodegradable plastic from s ....Scale-up of catalytic furandicarboxylic acid production at room temperature. This project will use new knowledge acquired from our laboratory-scale discoveries to develop a new process feasible for industrial-scale production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The method makes FDCA, a platform chemical for future chemical industry, from a completely renewable source derived from plant sugars, 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural. This is an essential process for production of biodegradable plastic from sugar that has not been commercialised. This technology will realise sizeable industrial-scale production of FDCA at low costs and without heating. The production development of this valuable commodity from renewable plant sugars will provide high-quality postgraduate training in future green chemical production methods.Read moreRead less