Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100820
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Nanowire photoelectrodes for carbon dioxide conversion. Returning carbon dioxide (CO2) to a useful state is a significant and challenging problem which requires appropriate devices and energy input. By utilising sunlight as a promising and green energy input, the conversion of CO2 into liquid fuel would positively impact the global carbon balance. This project aims to prepare abundant, non-toxic and sufficiently active photoelectrodes with one dimensional nanostructure, then develop appropriate ....Nanowire photoelectrodes for carbon dioxide conversion. Returning carbon dioxide (CO2) to a useful state is a significant and challenging problem which requires appropriate devices and energy input. By utilising sunlight as a promising and green energy input, the conversion of CO2 into liquid fuel would positively impact the global carbon balance. This project aims to prepare abundant, non-toxic and sufficiently active photoelectrodes with one dimensional nanostructure, then develop appropriate and robust photoelectrochemical devices to convert CO2 into liquid fuels. This project aims to help reduce the atmospheric CO2 concentrations and explore a new energy source.Read moreRead less
Low cost on-site on-demand cyanide production for gold mining. This project seeks a breakthrough in providing a new, low cost, low environmental impact approach for synthesis of on-site, on-demand cyanide for gold extraction. This will facilitate economic processing of lower grade ores and enhance resource life. Also, avoiding transport of bulk cyanide to remote mine sites will improve community safety.
Adsorption on activated alumina: mitigating fouling of water treatment processes caused by deposition of silica, organics and hardness ions. Coal seam gas offers tremendous economic potential but development of gas reserves will generate considerable quantities of saline water. This project will develop activated alumina technology for the removal of silica and organics from these waters to enable the industry to use evaporative technologies to reduce water volumes.
Mitigation of silica nanoparticle scaling in water treatment. This project aims to develop strategies to mitigate silica scaling at coal seam gas (CSG) water treatment facilities. CSG is adsorbed to the surface of coal along fractures and cleats and released when pressure is reduced by removal of groundwater, which has chemistry specific to the region from which it is extracted. Desalination of produced water is severely impacted by mineral scaling on reverse osmosis membranes. This project will ....Mitigation of silica nanoparticle scaling in water treatment. This project aims to develop strategies to mitigate silica scaling at coal seam gas (CSG) water treatment facilities. CSG is adsorbed to the surface of coal along fractures and cleats and released when pressure is reduced by removal of groundwater, which has chemistry specific to the region from which it is extracted. Desalination of produced water is severely impacted by mineral scaling on reverse osmosis membranes. This project will consider silica and silica-rich nanoparticles in concert with cations and organics, with the aim of better managing cations so to facilitate nanoparticle lubrication. Project outcomes may include more productive use of assets, improved pre-treatment infrastructure to support reverse osmosis operation, and the environmental benefits of reduced chemical waste and increased water recovery.Read moreRead less
Carbon dioxide in water nanoemulsions for carbon sequestration. The project will address a key objection to geological carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration by removing the risk of long-term leakage to drinking water aquifers or to atmosphere. By injecting a nano-emulsion of CO2-in-water, the project seeks to show complete reaction to permanently stable solid carbonate occurs within weeks, eliminating the need for secure caprock or extended seal integrity monitoring. New knowledge will be generated ....Carbon dioxide in water nanoemulsions for carbon sequestration. The project will address a key objection to geological carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration by removing the risk of long-term leakage to drinking water aquifers or to atmosphere. By injecting a nano-emulsion of CO2-in-water, the project seeks to show complete reaction to permanently stable solid carbonate occurs within weeks, eliminating the need for secure caprock or extended seal integrity monitoring. New knowledge will be generated using innovative approaches to create and stabilise CO2-in-water nano-emulsions and demonstrate the fast conversion of CO2 into stable minerals. The benefits are significant in opening potential sequestration targets to include areas without secure caps, reduced cost and elimination of long-term leakage riskRead moreRead less
Low emission iron and steelmaking using hydrogen to pre-reduce lump ore. This project aims to develop and apply a new route of lump iron ore pre-reduction with hydrogen or H2-enriched gases for ironmaking to minimise CO2 emission from steel production. The route will be built up on the base of H2 reduction kinetics of iron ore and with novel technologies such as CO2 recycle and H2-heating using hot blast, underpinning the hydrogen economy by addressing the environmental concerns in mineral and s ....Low emission iron and steelmaking using hydrogen to pre-reduce lump ore. This project aims to develop and apply a new route of lump iron ore pre-reduction with hydrogen or H2-enriched gases for ironmaking to minimise CO2 emission from steel production. The route will be built up on the base of H2 reduction kinetics of iron ore and with novel technologies such as CO2 recycle and H2-heating using hot blast, underpinning the hydrogen economy by addressing the environmental concerns in mineral and steel industries. It is not only significant for low-carbon steel production, but also for better fundamental understanding to develop the future zero-emission iron and steelmaking with hydrogen. The project will be very beneficent because it increases the use of lump iron ore and expends Australian export of iron ores.Read moreRead less
Scale up of direct carbon fuel cells. As a modern society, Australia is highly reliant on energy which is derived predominantly from coal using pulverised fuel technology with low efficiency (35-40 per cent) and high greenhouse gas emissions. This project will develop a new method for the more efficient utilisation of Australia's coals. Consequently, the power generation industry in Australia will be able to export energy in the 80 per cent efficiency range, while pure carbon dioxide can be easi ....Scale up of direct carbon fuel cells. As a modern society, Australia is highly reliant on energy which is derived predominantly from coal using pulverised fuel technology with low efficiency (35-40 per cent) and high greenhouse gas emissions. This project will develop a new method for the more efficient utilisation of Australia's coals. Consequently, the power generation industry in Australia will be able to export energy in the 80 per cent efficiency range, while pure carbon dioxide can be easily sequestrated.Read moreRead less
Nano-engineered catalysts for sustainable fuel production from waste . This project aims to address two major problems simultaneously-reducing the burden of non-recyclable waste currently going to landfill in Australia, and offsetting Australia’s reliance on imported diesel to support industry and transport needs. While approximately 95% of diesel consumed in Australia is imported, vast quantities of carbon-based waste ends up in landfill. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a mixture of plant-based ....Nano-engineered catalysts for sustainable fuel production from waste . This project aims to address two major problems simultaneously-reducing the burden of non-recyclable waste currently going to landfill in Australia, and offsetting Australia’s reliance on imported diesel to support industry and transport needs. While approximately 95% of diesel consumed in Australia is imported, vast quantities of carbon-based waste ends up in landfill. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a mixture of plant-based waste (including food, garden, paper, and wood) and fossil-fuel derived materials (plastics). Using an innovative and environmentally-sustainable catalytic process, the outcomes of this project are aimed alleviating Australia’s dependence on diesel fuel imports and better waste management solutions in Australia.Read moreRead less
Advanced chemical recycling of mixed plastics for monomer recovery. This project aims to develop innovative catalytic routes to the chemical recycling of mixed plastics for recovery of their molecular building blocks. Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the Australian ecosystem. Efficient recycling technologies are urgently needed as Australia only recycles ~4% of its 3.4 million tons of mixed waste plastics. This project expects to design highly efficient catalysts for the stepwise ....Advanced chemical recycling of mixed plastics for monomer recovery. This project aims to develop innovative catalytic routes to the chemical recycling of mixed plastics for recovery of their molecular building blocks. Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the Australian ecosystem. Efficient recycling technologies are urgently needed as Australia only recycles ~4% of its 3.4 million tons of mixed waste plastics. This project expects to design highly efficient catalysts for the stepwise breakdown of mixed polyolefin plastics into monomers for the subsequent manufacturing of virgin plastics in a circular economy, and to elucidate fundamental underpinning reaction mechanisms. Outcomes will stimulate the Australian waste plastic recycling industry, and minimise plastic accumulation in the environment.Read moreRead less
Solar-driven massive hydrogen production from biomass and biomass/coal mixtures by supercritical water gasification. Cheap and massive hydrogen production from renewable resources is one of the key challenges to achieve a hydrogen economy that promises to ultimately solve critical problems, such as energy depletion and climate change. This project exactly falls into this research and development priority and will benefit Australian economy and environment.