Solar-thermal desalination system for parallel water-electricity generation. This project aims to develop a multi-functional solar-thermal desalination device to simultaneously produce clean water and electricity. Interfacial solar evaporation-based desalination technology has the unique advantage of using solar light as the sole energy source for affordable clean water production. However, its absolute evaporation rate is still too low for practical application and all of the latent heat releas ....Solar-thermal desalination system for parallel water-electricity generation. This project aims to develop a multi-functional solar-thermal desalination device to simultaneously produce clean water and electricity. Interfacial solar evaporation-based desalination technology has the unique advantage of using solar light as the sole energy source for affordable clean water production. However, its absolute evaporation rate is still too low for practical application and all of the latent heat released from vapor condensation during desalination is wasted. Solving these two critical issues by the study of energy nexus, design and fabrication of advanced photothermal materials and desalination devices could accelerate practical adoption of this technology and benefit millions of people who desperately need clean water. Read moreRead less
Multi-energy driven photothermal evaporators for all-weather desalination. This project aims to develop advanced Interfacial solar evaporation (ISE) technology to stably deliver clean water. This project expects to facilitate desalination practices by generating new ISE systems that use multiple energy sources from the environment and can operate under different weather conditions. Expected outcomes of this project include new knowledge in the area of renewable energy, improved ISE technique and ....Multi-energy driven photothermal evaporators for all-weather desalination. This project aims to develop advanced Interfacial solar evaporation (ISE) technology to stably deliver clean water. This project expects to facilitate desalination practices by generating new ISE systems that use multiple energy sources from the environment and can operate under different weather conditions. Expected outcomes of this project include new knowledge in the area of renewable energy, improved ISE technique and enhanced capacity for desalination and industrial wastewater treatment. This should provide significant benefits to remote communities who suffer from severe freshwater shortages and enhance research capabilities to position Australia as a global leader in developing green and affordable desalination technologies.Read moreRead less
Fairness aware data mining for discrimination free decision-making. This project aims to develop data mining methods to detect algorithmic discriminations and to build fair decision models. It expects to provide techniques for regulatory organisations to detect discriminations in algorithmic decisions, and for various companies and organisations to build fair decision systems. Expected outcomes are novel and accurate methods for discrimination detection, practical and versatile techniques for fa ....Fairness aware data mining for discrimination free decision-making. This project aims to develop data mining methods to detect algorithmic discriminations and to build fair decision models. It expects to provide techniques for regulatory organisations to detect discriminations in algorithmic decisions, and for various companies and organisations to build fair decision systems. Expected outcomes are novel and accurate methods for discrimination detection, practical and versatile techniques for fair decision model building, and improved understanding of the relationships between privacy preservation and discrimination prevention to enable new techniques to achieve both goals. The developed techniques enable society to tackle ethical challenges in the big data era where many decisions are analytics based. Read moreRead less
Safe and Reliable Solid-State Zinc Batteries. The project aims to design and fabricate a new-type of flexible and durable solid-state zinc-based battery with satisfactory energy density and long-term lifespan for scalable energy storage. A variety of novel electrode materials and solid-state electrolytes with desirable crystallographic and thermodynamic properties will be developed to construct flexible solid-state zinc battery systems, by combining advanced material engineering, in-situ instrum ....Safe and Reliable Solid-State Zinc Batteries. The project aims to design and fabricate a new-type of flexible and durable solid-state zinc-based battery with satisfactory energy density and long-term lifespan for scalable energy storage. A variety of novel electrode materials and solid-state electrolytes with desirable crystallographic and thermodynamic properties will be developed to construct flexible solid-state zinc battery systems, by combining advanced material engineering, in-situ instrumental techniques, and atomic-level computation - an interdisciplinary approach. The successful completion of this project will be of great significance for low-cost, safe and reliable energy storage technology – the key energy and environmental challenges facing today’s Australia and the world.Read moreRead less
Switching Dynamics Approach for Distributed Global Optimisation . This project aims to create a breakthrough switching dynamics approach and new technology to speed up finding optimal solutions. It will develop a distributed switching dynamics based optimisation scheme for global optimisation problems in industrial big-data environments where timely decision making is required. It will result in a practical technology for industry optimisation problems such as economic energy dispatch in smart g ....Switching Dynamics Approach for Distributed Global Optimisation . This project aims to create a breakthrough switching dynamics approach and new technology to speed up finding optimal solutions. It will develop a distributed switching dynamics based optimisation scheme for global optimisation problems in industrial big-data environments where timely decision making is required. It will result in a practical technology for industry optimisation problems such as economic energy dispatch in smart grids and optimal charging and discharging tasks in a large network of electric vehicles, helping Australian power industry improve efficiency and security, as well as training the next generation scientists and engineers for Australia in this emerging field.Read moreRead less
Understanding particle-laden flows for clean high temperature processes. This project aims to understand and provide computational design tools for the complex heat and mass transfer processes within the new technologies that needed for the high temperature processing of minerals with low net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, both with and without the use of concentrated solar thermal energy. These models are needed to achieve low-cost scale-up and development of the new technologies under develop ....Understanding particle-laden flows for clean high temperature processes. This project aims to understand and provide computational design tools for the complex heat and mass transfer processes within the new technologies that needed for the high temperature processing of minerals with low net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, both with and without the use of concentrated solar thermal energy. These models are needed to achieve low-cost scale-up and development of the new technologies under development, because they operate in regimes of particle-laden flow for which present numerical design tools are unreliable. The project will underpin the development of new technologies that are needed for Australia to meet its greenhouse emissions targets and to capitalise on the anticipated global demand for low-carbon-intensive metals and other value-added products.Read moreRead less