Fatigue in Lead-free Piezoceramics. This project aims are to achieve a fundamental understanding of the fatigue behaviour of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics which achieve high strain through phase transformations and then ascertain the effects of this behaviour on material degradation rates. The expected outcomes will facilitate replacement of toxic lead in commodity electronics. The focus will be on new lead-free bismuth-alkali-based piezoelectric ceramic systems which demonstrate exciting pot ....Fatigue in Lead-free Piezoceramics. This project aims are to achieve a fundamental understanding of the fatigue behaviour of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics which achieve high strain through phase transformations and then ascertain the effects of this behaviour on material degradation rates. The expected outcomes will facilitate replacement of toxic lead in commodity electronics. The focus will be on new lead-free bismuth-alkali-based piezoelectric ceramic systems which demonstrate exciting potential as alternate materials to lead zirconate titanate (PZT) materials. Successful optimisation of the materials' design and knowledge of their degradation rates are expected to facilitate their commercialisation through a profound reduction in the environmental challenges associated with manufacture and disposal of devices.Read moreRead less
Industrial High Efficiency Solar Cells. Photovoltaics is a promising candidate for sustainable energy generation, with Australia well-placed to capture the economic and environmental benefits from maintaining its strong position with this technology. Suntech, a world-leader in silicon solar cell production with US$2 billion annual revenue, will provide a “high profile” showplace for the developed patterning technology. This will enhance commercial opportunities arising from the project and confi ....Industrial High Efficiency Solar Cells. Photovoltaics is a promising candidate for sustainable energy generation, with Australia well-placed to capture the economic and environmental benefits from maintaining its strong position with this technology. Suntech, a world-leader in silicon solar cell production with US$2 billion annual revenue, will provide a “high profile” showplace for the developed patterning technology. This will enhance commercial opportunities arising from the project and confirm Australia’s reputation as a world leader in innovative photovoltaic research. This reputation attracts high-calibre professionals to Australia, stimulates local research and will provide opportunities for local manufacturing to exploit the technology developed as part of this project.Read moreRead less
Using extreme conditions to synthesise new materials. This project aims to synthesise useful materials from non-crystalline light element precursors. Boron, carbon and nitrogen are the hardest known solids, and their ability to form many kinds of chemical bonds offers opportunities for attractive new materials. This project will apply high pressures and temperatures to non-crystalline precursor materials to access previously unobtainable synthesis conditions. This project will create strong and ....Using extreme conditions to synthesise new materials. This project aims to synthesise useful materials from non-crystalline light element precursors. Boron, carbon and nitrogen are the hardest known solids, and their ability to form many kinds of chemical bonds offers opportunities for attractive new materials. This project will apply high pressures and temperatures to non-crystalline precursor materials to access previously unobtainable synthesis conditions. This project will create strong and hard materials with tuneable optical and electronic properties. The expected outcome is new light materials that emit and detect light in the far ultraviolet for biological imaging and tough materials with low friction needed for motors and regenerative technologies.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100909
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$360,000.00
Summary
Metal oxide memristors: Switching phenomena in van der Waals nanostructures. This project aims to integrate two recently researched phenomena: memristors (resistive memory) and planar materials. It aims to adopt atomically thin, planar materials for memristors enabling the realisation of high performance resistive memory devices. The physical and environmental effects that govern the memristive properties, which are of utmost importance in understanding resistive memory nature, will be investiga ....Metal oxide memristors: Switching phenomena in van der Waals nanostructures. This project aims to integrate two recently researched phenomena: memristors (resistive memory) and planar materials. It aims to adopt atomically thin, planar materials for memristors enabling the realisation of high performance resistive memory devices. The physical and environmental effects that govern the memristive properties, which are of utmost importance in understanding resistive memory nature, will be investigated. While generating breakthrough knowledge, the key outcomes of this project will lay the foundation for a novel class of memory devices based on planar van der Waals nanostructures. Such a breakthrough will contribute to the realisation of sustainable memristor technology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101501
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
Printed back electrodes enabling low-cost perovskite solar cells. This project aims to address back electrode material, a bottleneck functional material in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells (PSCs). By engineering printable and conductive materials based on carbon and gold nanowires, the project expects to enable highly-efficient and scalable PSCs while reducing cost of materials and production. These expected outcomes are to be implemented in PSCs and their impact rigorously tested in rese ....Printed back electrodes enabling low-cost perovskite solar cells. This project aims to address back electrode material, a bottleneck functional material in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells (PSCs). By engineering printable and conductive materials based on carbon and gold nanowires, the project expects to enable highly-efficient and scalable PSCs while reducing cost of materials and production. These expected outcomes are to be implemented in PSCs and their impact rigorously tested in research cells to large-area PSCs modules produced through industry-relevant, scalable, and low-cost printing and coating methods. This will provide significant benefits to Australian industry, from small to medium enterprises to larger utility power companies, while creating economic opportunities and enabling sustainable societies.Read moreRead less
High efficiency dye-sensitised solar cells containing multiple sensitisers. This project aims to develop a new scalable approach suitable for industrial production of high efficiency dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs) on both glass and flexible polymer substrates. The success of the project would be a breakthrough in DSC technology, bringing the technology a significant step closer to wide-spread commercial applications.
Low-temperature plasma processes for high-quality graphene films. The project aims to develop novel plasma-enabled processes for low-cost, energy-efficient, and scalable growth of high-quality graphene films for applications in touch screen, solar cell and other devices. It aims to discover non-equilibrium plasma-surface interactions enabling nucleation and growth of graphene films with large and low-defect domains on metal catalysts at low temperatures, and then develop energy-efficient, enviro ....Low-temperature plasma processes for high-quality graphene films. The project aims to develop novel plasma-enabled processes for low-cost, energy-efficient, and scalable growth of high-quality graphene films for applications in touch screen, solar cell and other devices. It aims to discover non-equilibrium plasma-surface interactions enabling nucleation and growth of graphene films with large and low-defect domains on metal catalysts at low temperatures, and then develop energy-efficient, environment-friendly, and scalable fabrication and device transfer processes. These processes are designed to retain high quality of graphene films upon scale-up and will be compatible with the existing and emerging applications in touch screens and other devices. The expected outcomes include fundamental understanding and novel practical approaches to control synthesis and device integration of two-dimensional atomically-thin materials.Read moreRead less
Mechanical advantage: biomimetic artificial muscles for micro-machines. This project will develop better ways to operate miniature machines by copying the way that muscle operates in Nature. The outcome will be important for portable devices like digital cameras that need small, efficient motors. The artificial muscles developed in this project may also be used in medical prosthetics and more agile robots.
Dynamic substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering: piezoelectric actuated nanotextures with phase-locked signal processing. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering shows great promise for sensitive detection of a wide range of chemical and biological compounds. Novel electronic devices will be produced to actively tune the nanometre scale structures that generate the scattering signal, resulting in an improved fundamental understanding and control of the effect.