Understanding, Control, and Optimisation of Free Volume Mediated Transport in Technologically Important Materials. The understanding gained by this work will enable Australian scientists to outpace their competitors in rational materials design for transport of atoms and molecules in materials while reducing the costly trial and error stage of research. Specific examples studied and new materials investigated have important technological significance from use in flat panel TV screens, to solid ....Understanding, Control, and Optimisation of Free Volume Mediated Transport in Technologically Important Materials. The understanding gained by this work will enable Australian scientists to outpace their competitors in rational materials design for transport of atoms and molecules in materials while reducing the costly trial and error stage of research. Specific examples studied and new materials investigated have important technological significance from use in flat panel TV screens, to solid state electrolytes for application in a wide range of electrochemical devices. The understanding gained by this work can be applied to a wide range of important materials e.g. separation membranes, nanofilters and catalysts which help address a number of National Research Priorities.Read moreRead less
Development of Nanocrystalline Transition Metal Oxide and Polymer-Transition Metal Oxide Composite Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Battery Applications. Recent work by the applicants has shown that nanocrystalline titanates and aluminates hold considerable promise as lithium battery electrodes. Nanocrystalline anatase materials showed considerably greater lithium intercalation ratios compared with their microcrystalline counterparts, and doping with vanadium showed further improvements in ....Development of Nanocrystalline Transition Metal Oxide and Polymer-Transition Metal Oxide Composite Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Battery Applications. Recent work by the applicants has shown that nanocrystalline titanates and aluminates hold considerable promise as lithium battery electrodes. Nanocrystalline anatase materials showed considerably greater lithium intercalation ratios compared with their microcrystalline counterparts, and doping with vanadium showed further improvements in capacity. Sol-gel synthesised V-doped anatase materials produced an initial discharge capacity of 428 Ah/kg compared with only 280 mAh/kg for the undoped anatase electrode in the same Li test cell.In this project different dopants and preparation conditions will be investigated to produce nanocrystalline rutile and aluminate materials as potential candidates for high capacity lithium battery applications.Read moreRead less
Manipulation of Nano-Scale Assembly, Structure and Interaction: New Drug Delivery Vehicles and Energy Storage Devices for Miniaturised Portable Electronic Products. Nano-scale molecular and surface interactions will be manipulated to develop new nano-structured products. There will be two themes of research activity. In the first theme, newly discovered ionic liquids will be employed to better elucidate the role of hydrophobic interaction in molecular assembly processes. These findings wil ....Manipulation of Nano-Scale Assembly, Structure and Interaction: New Drug Delivery Vehicles and Energy Storage Devices for Miniaturised Portable Electronic Products. Nano-scale molecular and surface interactions will be manipulated to develop new nano-structured products. There will be two themes of research activity. In the first theme, newly discovered ionic liquids will be employed to better elucidate the role of hydrophobic interaction in molecular assembly processes. These findings will assist in the development of surfactant-drug conjugates that can self-assemble and can converge therapeutic, drug delivery and controlled release functions; allowing drugs to be administered in the therapeutic concentration range for prolonged periods of time with reduced side-effects. In the second theme, nano-materials will be used to converge capacitor and battery technologies to provide a dramatic performance boost to miniaturised portable electronic devices.Read moreRead less
Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent wor ....Ionic Liquids and Solids - New Designs, Insights and Applications. Ionic Materials in the form of liquid salts and plastic crystals are of interest in a wide range of applications including environmentally benign synthesis of chemicals and high stability electrolytes for batteries, capacitors and other devices. These materials represent some of the most stable chemicals known, making them attractive for any application where complete stability and recycling are issues. Building on our recent work, this project will design, prepare and characterize novel materials of this type for a number of target applications. Collaborators in Europe and USA will be involved in the analysis and testing of the materials.Read moreRead less
Low viscosity, high ionic conductivity ionic liquids for lithium metal batteries. Current consumer electronic devices rely on lithium-ion batteries to provide a high energy density power source. There are growing safety concerns about the electrolytes in these devices after recent incidents involving fires in mobile phones. Recent advances in ionic liquids (ILs) have seen the development of new electrolytes for such devices, with enhanced physical properties that offer major safety advantages. H ....Low viscosity, high ionic conductivity ionic liquids for lithium metal batteries. Current consumer electronic devices rely on lithium-ion batteries to provide a high energy density power source. There are growing safety concerns about the electrolytes in these devices after recent incidents involving fires in mobile phones. Recent advances in ionic liquids (ILs) have seen the development of new electrolytes for such devices, with enhanced physical properties that offer major safety advantages. However, the viscosity of these materials currently limit their capabilities. New IL materials to be developed in this project will pave the way for the development of safer devices and new sustainable energy industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Molecular Framework Materials: Nanoporosity and Anomalous Thermal Expansion. The design and construction of advanced nanomaterials represents both a key area of fundamental research and a critical step in the push towards smarter and more efficient high-level technologies. Here we explore the strategic assembly of molecular materials that have entirely new and highly useful properties, namely, nanoporosity and anomalous thermal expansion. This innovative work will lead to important fundamental ....Molecular Framework Materials: Nanoporosity and Anomalous Thermal Expansion. The design and construction of advanced nanomaterials represents both a key area of fundamental research and a critical step in the push towards smarter and more efficient high-level technologies. Here we explore the strategic assembly of molecular materials that have entirely new and highly useful properties, namely, nanoporosity and anomalous thermal expansion. This innovative work will lead to important fundamental advances in nanoscience and will forge deep understandings of how materials properties relate to nanoscale structure. These advances will spur a wide range of important new technologies, with application of the materials in molecular separations and sensing, clean energy storage, electronics and photonics.Read moreRead less
Advanced Molecular Nanomaterials. The design and construction of advanced nanomaterials is a key step in the push towards smarter and more efficient high-level technologies. Here we mount a major research program into the strategic assembly of molecular nanomaterials that have entirely new and highly useful properties. This innovative work will lead to important fundamental advances in nanoscience and will forge deep understandings of how materials properties relate to nanoscale structure. Th ....Advanced Molecular Nanomaterials. The design and construction of advanced nanomaterials is a key step in the push towards smarter and more efficient high-level technologies. Here we mount a major research program into the strategic assembly of molecular nanomaterials that have entirely new and highly useful properties. This innovative work will lead to important fundamental advances in nanoscience and will forge deep understandings of how materials properties relate to nanoscale structure. These advances will spur a wide range of important new technologies, with application of the materials in electronics, photonics, molecular sensing, drug synthesis and purification, clean energy and the controlled release of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.Read moreRead less
Capacitance Fade Mechanisms in Carbon-Based Supercapacitors. Energy storage is of significant importance to the global community. This project addresses certain performance issues concerning prolonged energy storage in supercapacitors, which are an emerging technology in the electronics industry. CAP-XX is Australia's only manufacturer of supercapacitors, and the improvements to their products that will result from this work, will lead to significant returns to them and the Australian economy.
ARC Centre of Excellence - Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science. The Centre will tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society: those of renewable energy, sustainable industries and enhancing human health. Improvements in all these areas are possible by developing electromaterials with improved efficiency in the generation and transfer of electrical charge. By developing new nano-materials and new theories to explain their behaviour, the Centre will make advances in the areas ....ARC Centre of Excellence - Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science. The Centre will tackle some of the biggest challenges facing society: those of renewable energy, sustainable industries and enhancing human health. Improvements in all these areas are possible by developing electromaterials with improved efficiency in the generation and transfer of electrical charge. By developing new nano-materials and new theories to explain their behaviour, the Centre will make advances in the areas of human health through the regeneration of damaged nerves (eg. in spinal injury) and development of artificial muscles; in renewable energy (plastic solar cells, lightweight batteries and electronic textiles) and in sustainable industries (recovery of precious metals and new corrosion protection technologies).Read moreRead less
Designing Nano-Pore Architectures for High Power Battery Materials. In recent years there has been a steady increase in the popularity of portable electronic devices. Of the numerous battery systems available, alkaline MnO2/Zn cells are most commonly used to power these devices. However, as the device power requirements increase, so too does the demand on these cells to perform. Delta EMD, Australia, currently exports ~10% of the world's supply of MnO2 for these cells. Their collaboration with p ....Designing Nano-Pore Architectures for High Power Battery Materials. In recent years there has been a steady increase in the popularity of portable electronic devices. Of the numerous battery systems available, alkaline MnO2/Zn cells are most commonly used to power these devices. However, as the device power requirements increase, so too does the demand on these cells to perform. Delta EMD, Australia, currently exports ~10% of the world's supply of MnO2 for these cells. Their collaboration with personnel from the University of Newcastle, who have significant expertise in the field of MnO2 research, will focus on designing a superior MnO2 with optimized nano-pore architecture for high power battery applications.Read moreRead less