Development of nanoporous materials for capture and release of oxygen. This project aims to develop new materials to make lighter, more efficient oxygen concentrators. The project will combine materials that can capture oxygen with particles that can be magnetically heated, making it possible to release the oxygen rapidly and efficiently when needed. Expected outcomes from this project include new composite materials and better understanding of how gases are trapped and released within composite ....Development of nanoporous materials for capture and release of oxygen. This project aims to develop new materials to make lighter, more efficient oxygen concentrators. The project will combine materials that can capture oxygen with particles that can be magnetically heated, making it possible to release the oxygen rapidly and efficiently when needed. Expected outcomes from this project include new composite materials and better understanding of how gases are trapped and released within composite materials. Benefits from this project may include oxygen concentrators that are more portable and have longer battery life, both with industrial and medical applications.Read moreRead less
Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective mole ....Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Organic Solvent Separation. Directly addressing the pressing challenge of organic solvent separation faced by numerous industries, the project aims to develop molecular sieve membranes with outstanding selectivity and solvent tolerance by constructing zeolite-carbon mixed matrix membrane via incorporating zeolite nanosheets into carbon materials. The project expects to generate advanced knowledge of nanosheet synthesis, membrane fabrication and selective molecule transport. The membranes developed in the project have great potentials for improving the production capacity and sustainability of Australian industries, e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing, bioethanol production and petroleum refining, providing significant economic and environmental benefits to Australia.Read moreRead less
Designing the surface and structural properties of MFI zeolite membranes for low energy ion-selective desalination. Desalination is being established in response to climate change and growing demands on existing supplies. Fresh water from infinitely abundant ocean sources using little energy input will benefit communities by providing affordably a vital resource with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Fresh water from current desalination costs $2 per kl, being a major expense for a vital resourc ....Designing the surface and structural properties of MFI zeolite membranes for low energy ion-selective desalination. Desalination is being established in response to climate change and growing demands on existing supplies. Fresh water from infinitely abundant ocean sources using little energy input will benefit communities by providing affordably a vital resource with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. Fresh water from current desalination costs $2 per kl, being a major expense for a vital resource normally $0.2 per kl. As energy input accounts for half of the desalination cost, the smart ion-selective membrane to be developed in this project has the capability to reduce desalinated water price by 50%. Such an advancement derived from fundamental material properties is a novel contribution to both science and membrane desalinationRead moreRead less
Crystal engineering of membranes for chiral separation . This project addresses the urgent challenge of chiral separation in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals by creating a new class of membranes produced by engineering functionalised porous framework crystals. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how membrane chemistry and architecture can be used to achieve highly selective, fast chiral molecule transport. The expected outcomes of the project include ne ....Crystal engineering of membranes for chiral separation . This project addresses the urgent challenge of chiral separation in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals by creating a new class of membranes produced by engineering functionalised porous framework crystals. This project expects to generate new knowledge regarding how membrane chemistry and architecture can be used to achieve highly selective, fast chiral molecule transport. The expected outcomes of the project include new membrane compositions, design principles, fabrication techniques, and proof-of-concept production of scalable, high-performance composite membranes. This project should produce significant economic and environmental benefits in the development of advanced membranes, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals.Read moreRead less
Advanced hierarchical materials for separation applications. The proposed project represents an international collaboration between Monash University and Fudan University and builds on the research strengths within these two Institutions in nano-materials research and applications. The proposed research will lead to a new class of materials for use in the chemical and biological industries, making their operation more efficient and permitting new separations to be performed. The research will ....Advanced hierarchical materials for separation applications. The proposed project represents an international collaboration between Monash University and Fudan University and builds on the research strengths within these two Institutions in nano-materials research and applications. The proposed research will lead to a new class of materials for use in the chemical and biological industries, making their operation more efficient and permitting new separations to be performed. The research will also pioneer new techniques for use in nano-engineering materials and falls within one of Australia's National Research Priorities: Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries.Read moreRead less
New Extraction Membranes and Beads for Use in Industrial Separation. This project involves the development and testing of new polymeric membranes and beads exhibiting high efficiency in the recovery of metal ions from hydrometallurgical solutions. These membranes and beads will also allow effective removal of toxic metal contaminants from wastewater streams before discharge into the environment and clean-up of contaminated natural waters. The research will ultimately lead to: (a) interactions wi ....New Extraction Membranes and Beads for Use in Industrial Separation. This project involves the development and testing of new polymeric membranes and beads exhibiting high efficiency in the recovery of metal ions from hydrometallurgical solutions. These membranes and beads will also allow effective removal of toxic metal contaminants from wastewater streams before discharge into the environment and clean-up of contaminated natural waters. The research will ultimately lead to: (a) interactions with Australian companies involved in metal processing, metal finishing and hydrometallurgy with beneficial effects to Australian industry; (b) training of high quality scientists; and (c) more efficient environmental protection and remediation thus helping to maintain Australia environmentally sustainable.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the ion selectivity of lithium superionic conductor membranes. This project aims to address a longstanding challenge in designing advanced membranes to enable sustainable lithium refining by unlocking the ion selectivity of lithium superionic conductors. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of membrane science and emerging nanoionics by using interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include a novel class of lithium separation membranes and ....Unlocking the ion selectivity of lithium superionic conductor membranes. This project aims to address a longstanding challenge in designing advanced membranes to enable sustainable lithium refining by unlocking the ion selectivity of lithium superionic conductors. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the areas of membrane science and emerging nanoionics by using interdisciplinary approaches. Expected outcomes of this project include a novel class of lithium separation membranes and their fabrication techniques. This should provide significant benefits in improving lithium extraction and recycling efficiency, reducing their environmental impact and building the research capacity in advanced membrane manufacturing and critical mineral refining in Australia. Read moreRead less
Tuning Membrane Chemistry for Desalination and Water Reuse Applications. Climate change has led to a dramatic reduction in the availability of fresh water in southern Australia. Consequently, seawater desalination and wastewater recycling facilities are growing in number and size throughout the country. This project will directly benefit operation of these facilities by providing insight into the fundamentals of the membranes they utilise. The development of better predictive models of performan ....Tuning Membrane Chemistry for Desalination and Water Reuse Applications. Climate change has led to a dramatic reduction in the availability of fresh water in southern Australia. Consequently, seawater desalination and wastewater recycling facilities are growing in number and size throughout the country. This project will directly benefit operation of these facilities by providing insight into the fundamentals of the membranes they utilise. The development of better predictive models of performance will lead to more efficient water production. The project will specifically evaluate the ability of these membranes to retain dangerous contaminants such as endocrine disrupting chemicals and boric acid. Ultimately, the project will lead to lower costs for water production in Australia and better guarantee of supply.Read moreRead less
Overcoming performance limiting chemistries in membrane distillation. This project aims to study performance limiting chemistries associated with fouling of solution-borne components on membrane surfaces that cause critical vapour pressure loss. Membrane distillation could be used for sustainable resource recovery, but no research has overcome the total loss of membrane water flux when removing water from saturated solutions where the critical resource recovery function occurs. This project will ....Overcoming performance limiting chemistries in membrane distillation. This project aims to study performance limiting chemistries associated with fouling of solution-borne components on membrane surfaces that cause critical vapour pressure loss. Membrane distillation could be used for sustainable resource recovery, but no research has overcome the total loss of membrane water flux when removing water from saturated solutions where the critical resource recovery function occurs. This project will characterise the physical and chemical properties of the flux limiting solid on the membrane surface, and the role of membrane chemistry and functional conditions in overcoming this limit. The outcomes of the work will provide innovative sustainable solutions to recover valuable products from current wastes.Read moreRead less
The Permeation of Water through Industrial Membrane Systems. This project aims to understand the permeation of water through commercially relevant non-porous polymeric membranes. Permeation, solubility and diffusivity will be studied in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature to elucidate the changes in free volume that occur through this transition. Non-linear concentration gradients due to anisotropic swelling will be probed using novel laminated membrane systems. Water clustering wil ....The Permeation of Water through Industrial Membrane Systems. This project aims to understand the permeation of water through commercially relevant non-porous polymeric membranes. Permeation, solubility and diffusivity will be studied in the vicinity of the glass transition temperature to elucidate the changes in free volume that occur through this transition. Non-linear concentration gradients due to anisotropic swelling will be probed using novel laminated membrane systems. Water clustering will be evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. Results are proposed to be used to build a new phenomenological model of water permeation that can be used directly by engineers in the design of industrial membrane systems.Read moreRead less