Oxide Bioceramics for Drug Delivery. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. One out of every two Australians will develop skin cancer at some stage during their lives. On average, 740,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in Australia every year (1 million in the USA). The cost to Australia is over $200 million/year. While today more people are aware of the dangers of UV, the desire to be fashionable outweighs their health concerns. Melanotan is a novel sunscreen soluti ....Oxide Bioceramics for Drug Delivery. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. One out of every two Australians will develop skin cancer at some stage during their lives. On average, 740,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in Australia every year (1 million in the USA). The cost to Australia is over $200 million/year. While today more people are aware of the dangers of UV, the desire to be fashionable outweighs their health concerns. Melanotan is a novel sunscreen solution: a drug that stimulates the body's natural defence mechanism against UV light. Alumina and zirconia bioceramics are ideal implantable drug delivery vehicles because of the long leaching periods possible.Read moreRead less
Studies on metal dusting : reaction mechanisms and their control. Gases which are supersaturated with carbon can react at high temperatures with steels and nickel-base alloys to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon plus metal and/or metal carbides. The mechanism is not properly understood, and the rate of the process impossible to predict. This program will dissect the mechanism using kinetic studies and electron microscopy of precisely located parts of the reacting system. Ways of controll ....Studies on metal dusting : reaction mechanisms and their control. Gases which are supersaturated with carbon can react at high temperatures with steels and nickel-base alloys to destroy them, producing a dust of carbon plus metal and/or metal carbides. The mechanism is not properly understood, and the rate of the process impossible to predict. This program will dissect the mechanism using kinetic studies and electron microscopy of precisely located parts of the reacting system. Ways of controlling the process via alloy compositional changes will be explored.Read moreRead less
"Metal dusting" of austenitic alloys: mechanisms and interventions. "Metal dusting" is a catastrophic form of metal corrosion which we do not yet understand. It affects industries important to Australia: reforming of natural gas and (potentially) ceramic oxide fuel cells. This project aims to understand the process of austenitic alloy dusting, and thereby design materials to resist this form of attack. This will allow new natural gas processing industries in Australia to be internationally compe ...."Metal dusting" of austenitic alloys: mechanisms and interventions. "Metal dusting" is a catastrophic form of metal corrosion which we do not yet understand. It affects industries important to Australia: reforming of natural gas and (potentially) ceramic oxide fuel cells. This project aims to understand the process of austenitic alloy dusting, and thereby design materials to resist this form of attack. This will allow new natural gas processing industries in Australia to be internationally competitive.
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Controlling corrosion of steel by carbon dioxide-rich gases at high temperatures. A growing difficulty for Australia is the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst maintaining the economic advantages of coal fired power stations. Technologies for capturing CO2 from these stations are being developed, but inevitably involve the need to handle hot CO2-rich gases. These are surprisingly corrosive to the materials of which power stations are constructed, in a way which is not fully unde ....Controlling corrosion of steel by carbon dioxide-rich gases at high temperatures. A growing difficulty for Australia is the need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions whilst maintaining the economic advantages of coal fired power stations. Technologies for capturing CO2 from these stations are being developed, but inevitably involve the need to handle hot CO2-rich gases. These are surprisingly corrosive to the materials of which power stations are constructed, in a way which is not fully understood. This project aims to achieve this understanding, and to provide the basis for future alloy design.Read moreRead less
Developing high performance nanocomposite coatings for domestic appliances. Insufficient robustness and durability of the polymeric coatings on precoated metal sheets has resulted in unacceptably high product defects and reject rates. This project aims to develop novel and high performance nanocomposite multilayer coatings through the systematic optimisation of epoxy and polyester/ graphene and nanoclay systems. These complex coatings are expected to have considerably improved toughness, hardnes ....Developing high performance nanocomposite coatings for domestic appliances. Insufficient robustness and durability of the polymeric coatings on precoated metal sheets has resulted in unacceptably high product defects and reject rates. This project aims to develop novel and high performance nanocomposite multilayer coatings through the systematic optimisation of epoxy and polyester/ graphene and nanoclay systems. These complex coatings are expected to have considerably improved toughness, hardness and interfacial adhesion, thus enhancing formability and wear resistance of precoated metal sheets. Successful outcomes from this study will not only solve a long-standing problem in the manufacturing of precoated metals, but generate breakthrough technologies for next-generation nanocomposite coatings. Read moreRead less
Scalable Graphene Enabled Smart Composites. The need for lightweight composite materials is increasing exponentially in the context of renewable energy, e-mobility and related emission reductions. This project aims to develop novel approaches to integrate graphene nanomaterials into structural composites, enabling damage sensing and structural health monitoring functionalities. The outcome of this project will be a new class of smart composites that will address the critical need for improving s ....Scalable Graphene Enabled Smart Composites. The need for lightweight composite materials is increasing exponentially in the context of renewable energy, e-mobility and related emission reductions. This project aims to develop novel approaches to integrate graphene nanomaterials into structural composites, enabling damage sensing and structural health monitoring functionalities. The outcome of this project will be a new class of smart composites that will address the critical need for improving structural integrity, safety and reliability, while significantly reducing lifecycle costs. This should provide significant benefits in creating confidence to increase investment in Australia for manufacturing graphene enabled smart materials and technologies with enormous export potential.Read moreRead less
Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being pro ....Photo-enhanced water oxidation using novel structures and conjugated polymers. This project will lead to a more sustainable environment in Australia as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emission from energy consumption. The proposed solar water splitting cell will facilitate an efficient, low-cost and renewable production of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered to be the ultimate fuel since only water is produced as a product of combustion. Already hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles are being produced by a number of the major car manufacturers. The solar water splitting technology based on sustainable materials and the novel cell configuration to be developed in this project will provide the needed stability and efficiency of the cell as well as reduce the manufacturing cost. Read moreRead less
Optimising paint adhesion to polymers. The Australian automotive export market (vehicles, parts, engines) is worth approximately $4,500 million p.a. and is a major employer in many areas. A reliable, cheap and efficient method for preparing polymer surfaces for painting will significantly benefit that market. The ability to manufacture quality, cheaper, lightweight parts improves the competitiveness of the local automotive industry. More importantly, a technology for production of cheap, high qu ....Optimising paint adhesion to polymers. The Australian automotive export market (vehicles, parts, engines) is worth approximately $4,500 million p.a. and is a major employer in many areas. A reliable, cheap and efficient method for preparing polymer surfaces for painting will significantly benefit that market. The ability to manufacture quality, cheaper, lightweight parts improves the competitiveness of the local automotive industry. More importantly, a technology for production of cheap, high quality painted polymer surfaces vastly improves the competitiveness of local component manufacturers who supply to international vehicle manufacturers. This project falls under the National Research Priority Area 'Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries'.Read moreRead less
The development of optimum microstructures in hot worked metals. Hot working is used to obtain the shape and properties of a wide range of metal products. At present our knowledge of how to control the forming process and properties of the final product is limited to laboratory conditions that do not apply in industry. This work will systematically study the deformation behaviour of a range of metals, including steel, titanium, aluminium, magnesium and copper from standard laboratory to real i ....The development of optimum microstructures in hot worked metals. Hot working is used to obtain the shape and properties of a wide range of metal products. At present our knowledge of how to control the forming process and properties of the final product is limited to laboratory conditions that do not apply in industry. This work will systematically study the deformation behaviour of a range of metals, including steel, titanium, aluminium, magnesium and copper from standard laboratory to real industrial conditions. We will develop advanced models to predict the properties of these metals for any hot working process and identify opportunities to develop new high strength products.Read moreRead less
New Electron Field Emission Films Based on Aligned Carbon Nanotube Guests in Liquid Crystalline Polymer Hosts. This project seeks to develop a new class of electron field emitting nanocomposite consisting of nanotubes in liquid crystalline polymers. Electron emitting materials are in much demand in x-ray and microwave generation, computer displays and low-energy lighting. We utilise the ready alignability of liquid crystalline units in magnetic fields to cause realignment of incorporated carbon ....New Electron Field Emission Films Based on Aligned Carbon Nanotube Guests in Liquid Crystalline Polymer Hosts. This project seeks to develop a new class of electron field emitting nanocomposite consisting of nanotubes in liquid crystalline polymers. Electron emitting materials are in much demand in x-ray and microwave generation, computer displays and low-energy lighting. We utilise the ready alignability of liquid crystalline units in magnetic fields to cause realignment of incorporated carbon nanotubes, followed by polymer solidification to maintain orientation. It involves low temperature processing, contrasting very favourably with current problematic, high temperature processes. This allows materials to be cast on flexible polymer substrates, potentially enabling construction of cathode tubes to replace existing mercury-containing fluorescent lighting.Read moreRead less