Tailoring metal-organic framework catalysts for carbon dioxide conversion. Reducing the greenhouse gas, CO2, into valuable fuels would be beneficial for relieving energy shortage and improving global sustainability. This project aims to synthesise high-performance heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 conversion by periodic ordering photo-redox metalloligand and thermal-catalytically active metal oxide clusters in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This approach is expected to deliver a unique single-si ....Tailoring metal-organic framework catalysts for carbon dioxide conversion. Reducing the greenhouse gas, CO2, into valuable fuels would be beneficial for relieving energy shortage and improving global sustainability. This project aims to synthesise high-performance heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 conversion by periodic ordering photo-redox metalloligand and thermal-catalytically active metal oxide clusters in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This approach is expected to deliver a unique single-site metal-organic framework catalyst with high reaction-activity and chemo-selectivity in converting CO2 into valuable chemicals. This advancement will provide significant benefits for Australia’s emerging chemical manufacturing industry, and ultimately leading to a carbon-neutral energy economy and environment.Read moreRead less
Heterogeneous hydrophilic catalysts for green oxidation in bio-refining. The project aims to address one significant global challenge of developing green processes for producing high value chemicals from biomass, to enhance the environmental performance and cost-efficiency of bio-refining. This project aims to develop a new class of heterogeneous nanocatalysts with hydrophilic Co (salen) complexes for biomass oxidation in water rather than toxic solvent. This project will use this to devise prac ....Heterogeneous hydrophilic catalysts for green oxidation in bio-refining. The project aims to address one significant global challenge of developing green processes for producing high value chemicals from biomass, to enhance the environmental performance and cost-efficiency of bio-refining. This project aims to develop a new class of heterogeneous nanocatalysts with hydrophilic Co (salen) complexes for biomass oxidation in water rather than toxic solvent. This project will use this to devise practical routes for the production of targeted industrial components for flavours, fragrances, fine chemicals, and petrochemicals. The development of heterogeneous hydrophilic catalysts by which they will oxidise hydrophilic biomasses in a continuous flow system will dramatically improve the sustainability of the chemical industry.Read moreRead less
Next generation easy-clean lenses by robust liquid-repellent nanotextures. This project aims to produce better performing self-cleaning lenses, which are less likely to get dirty and are easy to clean. It will develop water and oil repellent coatings with superior optical transparency and mechanical, solvent and UV stability for both hard coated and anti-reflection coated optical lenses. Engineering of stable, ultra-liquid repellent nanomaterials on transparent surfaces will create a foundation ....Next generation easy-clean lenses by robust liquid-repellent nanotextures. This project aims to produce better performing self-cleaning lenses, which are less likely to get dirty and are easy to clean. It will develop water and oil repellent coatings with superior optical transparency and mechanical, solvent and UV stability for both hard coated and anti-reflection coated optical lenses. Engineering of stable, ultra-liquid repellent nanomaterials on transparent surfaces will create a foundation of knowledge for the industrial development of the future generation of easy care coatings, with vast application potential.Read moreRead less
Engineering an artificial protein molecular motor. This project aims to use non-motor protein building blocks to construct an artificial protein motor. Nature already uses nanotechnology as the basis for all its machinery, and uses proteins to construct machines. Each protein component in the motor will have a well-understood function; this artificial protein will elucidate how it converts chemical energy to motion. This process is not understood as molecular motors do not obey the same principl ....Engineering an artificial protein molecular motor. This project aims to use non-motor protein building blocks to construct an artificial protein motor. Nature already uses nanotechnology as the basis for all its machinery, and uses proteins to construct machines. Each protein component in the motor will have a well-understood function; this artificial protein will elucidate how it converts chemical energy to motion. This process is not understood as molecular motors do not obey the same principles as macroscopic machines. Comparing the artificial motor with biological motors will provide insight into the workings of natural motors. This project should lead to molecular motors for nanobiotechnology.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE160100168
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
Facility for Characterisation of BioNanomaterials. Facility for characterisation of bionanomaterials:
The facility for characterisation of bionanomaterials aims to provide researchers with access to an integrated facility for advanced characterisation of nanomaterials from inception to application in biomedicine. Nanotechnology has contributed to significant advances across a range of disciplines and is increasingly used in biomedical applications. The facility aims to allow detailed examinatio ....Facility for Characterisation of BioNanomaterials. Facility for characterisation of bionanomaterials:
The facility for characterisation of bionanomaterials aims to provide researchers with access to an integrated facility for advanced characterisation of nanomaterials from inception to application in biomedicine. Nanotechnology has contributed to significant advances across a range of disciplines and is increasingly used in biomedical applications. The facility aims to allow detailed examination of how nanomaterials interact in biological systems; from individual nanoparticles to whole animals, and through developing this fundamental understanding provide the means to produce new and highly effective nanomaterials for biomedical applications. The facility plans to support programs using nanomaterials for molecular imaging and intelligent drug delivery, while developing greater understanding of how to create more effective nanobiomaterials.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100087
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,100,000.00
Summary
Plasma-focused ion beam for nanoscale characterisation of materials. This project aims to enable research programmes in functional materials to characterise materials using xenon-plasma focused ion beam (FIB) instrumentation. The plasma FIB, with its fast milling speeds across large areas, will enable new three-dimensional imaging experiments and types of transmission electron microscopy samples. This will have applications in engineering, photovoltaics and environmental geosciences, which all n ....Plasma-focused ion beam for nanoscale characterisation of materials. This project aims to enable research programmes in functional materials to characterise materials using xenon-plasma focused ion beam (FIB) instrumentation. The plasma FIB, with its fast milling speeds across large areas, will enable new three-dimensional imaging experiments and types of transmission electron microscopy samples. This will have applications in engineering, photovoltaics and environmental geosciences, which all need to analyse materials on a nanometre scale.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL210100180
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,781,000.00
Summary
Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for fun ....Upconversion nanophotonic systems . The photon upconversion process can produce visible light from lower-energy near-infrared incident light. This Laureate Program aims to address major bottlenecks in upconversion nanotechnology – the efficiency, stability and absorption bandwidth. Expected outcomes include new knowledge in the interface design of hybrid materials, a world-leading single-particle spectroscopy system, a new family of molecular probes, and novel super-resolution microscopy for functional imaging of subcellular organelles. This research offers exciting opportunities for single-molecule tracking, quantitative diagnostics, non-invasive imaging, bio-mechanical force measurement and thermometry; tools to observe the nanoscale world inside live cells.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100156
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$289,500.00
Summary
3D Two-Photon Nanoprinter for Advanced Multi-Functional Materials & Devices. The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 Two-Photon 3D Printer enables tailoring materials’ architecture at nanoscale. This results in unique optical, mechanical, electrical, chemical, biochemical, and acoustic properties enabling a wealth of cutting-edge research activities in variety of fields including mechanical/optical/electrical metamaterials, bioinspired hard/soft materials, biomaterials (e.g., structured cell-ti ....3D Two-Photon Nanoprinter for Advanced Multi-Functional Materials & Devices. The Nanoscribe Photonic Professional GT2 Two-Photon 3D Printer enables tailoring materials’ architecture at nanoscale. This results in unique optical, mechanical, electrical, chemical, biochemical, and acoustic properties enabling a wealth of cutting-edge research activities in variety of fields including mechanical/optical/electrical metamaterials, bioinspired hard/soft materials, biomaterials (e.g., structured cell-tissue interfaces), biomedical devices (implantable devices and drug-delivery systems), nanofluidics, and photonic crystals. In each of these fields, we will use GT2 to print variety of polymers, hydrogels, metals and ceramics, for example by printing polymer-derived nanoceramics that will be simultaneously strong and tough.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100104
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,175,000.00
Summary
An aberration corrected analytical Transmission Electron Microscope for nanoscale characterisation of materials. This new-generation scanning transmission electron microscope enables selective determination of atomic and chemical structure within sub-nanometre regions of materials. It will enable cutting-edge developments in nanotechnology, materials science and engineering; technologies which underpin progress in our modern society.
Indistinguishable Quantum Emitters in van der Waals Materials. Solid state sources of single photons ("quantum emitters") are a key building block for implementation of scalable quantum technologies. Amongst many potential platforms studied, impurities in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are at the forefront due to their brightness and ease of manufacturing. However, their main disadvantage is spectral instability which prohibits engineering of practical devices. The current project will address th ....Indistinguishable Quantum Emitters in van der Waals Materials. Solid state sources of single photons ("quantum emitters") are a key building block for implementation of scalable quantum technologies. Amongst many potential platforms studied, impurities in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are at the forefront due to their brightness and ease of manufacturing. However, their main disadvantage is spectral instability which prohibits engineering of practical devices. The current project will address this bottleneck and deliver an optically stable solid state quantum light source in hBN. The project will produce a robust hardware toolkit for quantum technologies. It will provide excellent training for young Australians and generate key intellectual property for quantum startups and the quantum industry.Read moreRead less