Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100124
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$538,590.00
Summary
An Advanced Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Facility in Queensland. The project aims to establish a world-class ultrafast laser spectroscopy facility to investigate how molecules interact with visible or ultraviolet light. Light-matter interactions are key to energy generation in nature through photosynthesis as well as everyday technologies including optical communications and displays. This project expects to generate new knowledge in on how light interacts with matter at the molecular level. Exp ....An Advanced Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy Facility in Queensland. The project aims to establish a world-class ultrafast laser spectroscopy facility to investigate how molecules interact with visible or ultraviolet light. Light-matter interactions are key to energy generation in nature through photosynthesis as well as everyday technologies including optical communications and displays. This project expects to generate new knowledge in on how light interacts with matter at the molecular level. Expected outcomes of the ultrafast spectroscopic measurements will be understanding the fate of light absorbed by or generated in different materials. Application of the knowledge gained will enable the design of materials for more efficient technologies such as solar cells, lighting, and sensors.Read moreRead less
Electronic-vibrational spectroscopy: A new probe for structure and function. This project aims to solve a major challenge in ultrafast spectroscopy: to identify and quantify competing reaction pathways in complex photochemical systems. Ultrafast Spectroscopy provides information on excited-state processes of photochemical reactions, however, unravelling heterogeneous systems with competing parallel processes remains difficult. Multidimensional electronic-vibrational spectroscopy, sensitive to el ....Electronic-vibrational spectroscopy: A new probe for structure and function. This project aims to solve a major challenge in ultrafast spectroscopy: to identify and quantify competing reaction pathways in complex photochemical systems. Ultrafast Spectroscopy provides information on excited-state processes of photochemical reactions, however, unravelling heterogeneous systems with competing parallel processes remains difficult. Multidimensional electronic-vibrational spectroscopy, sensitive to electronic dynamics and molecular structure, is expected to overcome this barrier. This new level of detail will profoundly enhance our understanding of energy and chemical conversion in complex systems and will reveal design targets for optimising next-generation light-energy harvesting, conducting, and emitting materials.Read moreRead less
Understanding and controlling ion-neutral interactions. Australia faces significant environmental and technological challenges including development of clean, sustainable energy sources and technologies that do not adversely affect the terrestrial atmosphere. This project seeks to facilitate a cleaner, greener future through investigations of fundamental chemical interactions responsible for hydrogen storage in solid media, and atmospheric processes responsible for the production and destruction ....Understanding and controlling ion-neutral interactions. Australia faces significant environmental and technological challenges including development of clean, sustainable energy sources and technologies that do not adversely affect the terrestrial atmosphere. This project seeks to facilitate a cleaner, greener future through investigations of fundamental chemical interactions responsible for hydrogen storage in solid media, and atmospheric processes responsible for the production and destruction of ozone. In both cases, the key interactions between ions and neutral molecules will be elucidated through high-resolution laser studies. Ensuing experimental data will play a crucial role in controlling and predicting ion-neutral interactions in technological and environmental contexts.Read moreRead less
Towards a Microscopic Understanding of Anion Solvation. Atomic and molecular anions are ubiquitous components of oceans, rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and serve as key participants in natural and industrial chemical processes. In most situations ions are surrounded by a structured sheath of neutral solvent molecules which profoundly affects their physical and chemical properties. Currently, interactions between anions and solvent molecules are poorly understood. In this project we will use ....Towards a Microscopic Understanding of Anion Solvation. Atomic and molecular anions are ubiquitous components of oceans, rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and serve as key participants in natural and industrial chemical processes. In most situations ions are surrounded by a structured sheath of neutral solvent molecules which profoundly affects their physical and chemical properties. Currently, interactions between anions and solvent molecules are poorly understood. In this project we will use lasers to probe clusters consisting of just a few molecules attached to an anion, generating information that will enhance our ability to predict and control chemical processes involved in drug design, salination, atmospheric chemistry, and chemical waste remediation.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560658
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$481,533.00
Summary
Shared Laser Facility. The Australian Shared Laser Facility (ASLF) has been providing lasers for physical chemistry research for a decade. ASLF lasers are portable and are transported between participating laboratories according to need and research priorities. Funds are sought to expand the ASLF by 3 laser systems and 2 research groups. The requested lasers provide mid-IR and deep UV wavelengths, spectral regions inaccessible with existing ASLF lasers. Access to these wavelengths is essenti ....Shared Laser Facility. The Australian Shared Laser Facility (ASLF) has been providing lasers for physical chemistry research for a decade. ASLF lasers are portable and are transported between participating laboratories according to need and research priorities. Funds are sought to expand the ASLF by 3 laser systems and 2 research groups. The requested lasers provide mid-IR and deep UV wavelengths, spectral regions inaccessible with existing ASLF lasers. Access to these wavelengths is essential for Australian research to remain at the forefront of international physical chemistry research. ASLF laboratories support a wide range of chemical research including spectroscopy, environmental chemistry, astrochemistry, and exploration of nanostructured materials.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0883036
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Integrated Vibrational Spectroscopic Mapping for Archeological, Biological, Geological, Materials, and Medical Research. The expected benefits that will arise will include: green chemical processes with improved environmental and economic impacts; improved treatments and diagnoses of diseases; understanding of fundamental geological processes; identification of the earliest forms; studies of archaeological artefacts; evolution of life on Earth; the design of improved dental materials. Ultimatel ....Integrated Vibrational Spectroscopic Mapping for Archeological, Biological, Geological, Materials, and Medical Research. The expected benefits that will arise will include: green chemical processes with improved environmental and economic impacts; improved treatments and diagnoses of diseases; understanding of fundamental geological processes; identification of the earliest forms; studies of archaeological artefacts; evolution of life on Earth; the design of improved dental materials. Ultimately, this research will include economic and social benefits in; industrial processes; the mining industry; medicine; and dentistry. An understanding of the origin and early evolution of life on Earth also has many social implications.Read moreRead less
Lighting up the charged brigade: laser spectroscopy of protonated and metal-containing complexes. Increasingly, the design of new pharmaceuticals uses computer modeling to account for the shapes of molecules and how they interact with their surroundings. The strongest forces between molecular components are those that involve charged chemical species known as ions. In this project, we will develop advanced laser-based techniques to study in unprecedented detail how molecules respond to the prese ....Lighting up the charged brigade: laser spectroscopy of protonated and metal-containing complexes. Increasingly, the design of new pharmaceuticals uses computer modeling to account for the shapes of molecules and how they interact with their surroundings. The strongest forces between molecular components are those that involve charged chemical species known as ions. In this project, we will develop advanced laser-based techniques to study in unprecedented detail how molecules respond to the presence of nearby charge, or to acquiring charge themselves. Understanding the nature of these attractions, and the structural changes that they induce eventually results in more accurate computer models. This has relevance to fields that include the architecture of proteins, recognition of signaling molecules in the brain, and drug development.Read moreRead less
Molecules as probes of the interstellar medium. It is one of the greatest challenges in Nature is to remotely identify what is in space. Interstellar molecules are identified by their spectra, but many features in these spectra are unknown, implying that there are many more molecules in space than we know about. With a stronger understanding of space chemistry, we could predict what should be there and verify it in the lab. Conversely, identification of these features will provide the tools to u ....Molecules as probes of the interstellar medium. It is one of the greatest challenges in Nature is to remotely identify what is in space. Interstellar molecules are identified by their spectra, but many features in these spectra are unknown, implying that there are many more molecules in space than we know about. With a stronger understanding of space chemistry, we could predict what should be there and verify it in the lab. Conversely, identification of these features will provide the tools to understand interstellar chemistry. In this project we combine skills in spectroscopy and astronomy to make these molecules in the laboratory, measure their spectra and thereby identify unknown molecules in space.Read moreRead less
Optical Spectroscopy of Extraterrestrial Molecules. Space is not empty. In the vast regions between stars is a complex soup of molecules. Some of these molecules get incorporated into meteorites and find their way to Earth where they can be identified. Analysis has yielded amino acids; the building blocks of life, but these molecules do not match what we know about the interstellar regions. Interstellar molecules are identified by their spectra, but many features in these spectra are unknown. ....Optical Spectroscopy of Extraterrestrial Molecules. Space is not empty. In the vast regions between stars is a complex soup of molecules. Some of these molecules get incorporated into meteorites and find their way to Earth where they can be identified. Analysis has yielded amino acids; the building blocks of life, but these molecules do not match what we know about the interstellar regions. Interstellar molecules are identified by their spectra, but many features in these spectra are unknown. Could they be caused by the missing molecules? In this project we combine the skills of three spectroscopists, each expert in different areas, in an attempt to make these molecules in the laboratory, measure their spectra and thereby identify these unknown molecules that are in space.Read moreRead less