Fluidised bed nanoparticle reactors for gas-solid catalytic reactions. This is a "frontier technologies" (nanotechnology) project and promises to open up new opportunities for exciting development in molecular engineering. Catalytic gas-solid reactions are among the most important reactions in chemical industry and energy industry. The novel fluidised bed nanoparticle catalytic reactor is expected to have many important advantages over the conventional porous supported catalyst system. These rea ....Fluidised bed nanoparticle reactors for gas-solid catalytic reactions. This is a "frontier technologies" (nanotechnology) project and promises to open up new opportunities for exciting development in molecular engineering. Catalytic gas-solid reactions are among the most important reactions in chemical industry and energy industry. The novel fluidised bed nanoparticle catalytic reactor is expected to have many important advantages over the conventional porous supported catalyst system. These reactors promise to minimise the waste product generation from chemical and energy industries and so offer great benefit for the environment. Young researchers involved in the project will be equipped with knowledge at the forefront of nanotechnology, enabling them to contribute to Australia's new, high technology future.Read moreRead less
Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design stand ....Micro Process Plants - Non-Newtonian flow and particle synthesis in confined geometries. Understanding the flow behaviour of well characterised non-Newtonian fluids within microfluidic and nanofluidic devices is of vital importance to development of novel high-value added services, products and devices within Australia's burgeoning biotechnology, environmental technology, communications and information technology industries. The outcomes of this project will provide new 'systematic' design standards for microdevice manufacture for these industries, ultimately leading to the creation of new, exciting avenues for tailoring novel biotechnology and 'point-of-care' products for Australia.Read moreRead less
Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically inv ....Nanorheology: Hydrodynamic Slip in Newtonian Fluids. Understanding fluid flow across a surface is essential to a great number of technologies. For over one hundred years it has been assumed that the layer of fluid adjacent to the solid moves with the solid, this is known as the no-slip boundary condition. Recently direct force balance measurements of aqueous Newtonian solutions have indicated the presence of boundary slip. Using a newly developed nanorheology technique we will systematically investigate the conditions that control boundary slip. This information will be used to quantify, model and control boundary slip, progressing the fields of microfluidics, particle deposition, and colloid stability.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668520
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$560,000.00
Summary
South Australian Supercluster Facility. This project will maintain and build on existing excellence and strength in areas ranging from computational chemistry, bioinformatics, and plant functional genomics through to water resources management, fluid dynamics and novel fibres and materials for photonics. It will enable the development of cutting edge computational tools and techniques and will maintain and grow strong international links. It will produce graduates of the highest quality able t ....South Australian Supercluster Facility. This project will maintain and build on existing excellence and strength in areas ranging from computational chemistry, bioinformatics, and plant functional genomics through to water resources management, fluid dynamics and novel fibres and materials for photonics. It will enable the development of cutting edge computational tools and techniques and will maintain and grow strong international links. It will produce graduates of the highest quality able to use advanced computing to solve real-world problems. The training provided and the tools and techniques developed will bring major economic benefits and provide excellent links to Australian industry.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0347582
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,000.00
Summary
South Australian Supercomputing Facility. This grant will fund the construction and installation of a state-of-the-art, heterogeneous supercomputing facility to be named the "South Australian Supercomputing Facility". The facility will be available to all of the State's academic and industrial researchers with advanced high-performance computing needs in a transparent and equitable way. Areas of research excellence to be supported by the facility include but are not limited to: research in comp ....South Australian Supercomputing Facility. This grant will fund the construction and installation of a state-of-the-art, heterogeneous supercomputing facility to be named the "South Australian Supercomputing Facility". The facility will be available to all of the State's academic and industrial researchers with advanced high-performance computing needs in a transparent and equitable way. Areas of research excellence to be supported by the facility include but are not limited to: research in computational physics, computational chemistry, geophysics, computational fluid dynamics, oil and water resource modelling, plant science, bio-informatics, space-environment research, and high-performance, parallel, and grid-based computing.Read moreRead less
Development of Novel Detergents for Green Solvent Systems and Their Self-Assembly into Nanostructures. Successful outcomes from this collaborative project will lead to the development of new commercially viable green solvent systems for the chemical industry, e.g. dry cleaning. This has the potential to impact the community on the economic and environmental level, by significantly reducing the costs of current green solvent systems, resulting in greater likelihood of conventional toxic solvent ....Development of Novel Detergents for Green Solvent Systems and Their Self-Assembly into Nanostructures. Successful outcomes from this collaborative project will lead to the development of new commercially viable green solvent systems for the chemical industry, e.g. dry cleaning. This has the potential to impact the community on the economic and environmental level, by significantly reducing the costs of current green solvent systems, resulting in greater likelihood of conventional toxic solvents being replaced. The project will also expand the training of junior and early career scientists by allowing them to work in overseas laboratories.Read moreRead less
New Polymers for Cellulose-based Bioplastics. We will design new cellulose derivatives by combining carefully engineered synthetic polymers to cellulose. We will explore the fundamental science underpinning the manufacture of these bioplastics, and apply the concept to the design of two new materials, with (super)hydrophobic and antibacterial properties. These materials have the potential to replace synthetic plastics, which comprise one of the major outputs of the chemical industry worldwide. P ....New Polymers for Cellulose-based Bioplastics. We will design new cellulose derivatives by combining carefully engineered synthetic polymers to cellulose. We will explore the fundamental science underpinning the manufacture of these bioplastics, and apply the concept to the design of two new materials, with (super)hydrophobic and antibacterial properties. These materials have the potential to replace synthetic plastics, which comprise one of the major outputs of the chemical industry worldwide. Plastic is present everywhere in human life, but its manufacture and disposal have a strong negative impact on the environment; the new materials manufactured in this project are viable alternatives to plastics, and are sustainable from a production and disposal point of view.Read moreRead less
Synthesis and Characterisation of Encoded Hybrid Polymer/Gold Nanoparticles for Application in Bioassays. Bioassays are the cornerstone of in vitro diagnostic and biomedical research. This proposal will significantly contribute to these areas, by targeting an emerging technology that is crucial for their future development. The hybrid nanoparticles described in this project have the potential to replace conventional detection strategies that are currently used for bioassays. In doing so, they sh ....Synthesis and Characterisation of Encoded Hybrid Polymer/Gold Nanoparticles for Application in Bioassays. Bioassays are the cornerstone of in vitro diagnostic and biomedical research. This proposal will significantly contribute to these areas, by targeting an emerging technology that is crucial for their future development. The hybrid nanoparticles described in this project have the potential to replace conventional detection strategies that are currently used for bioassays. In doing so, they should provide significant advantages over conventional detection strategies. These advantages include increased sample throughput and conservation of biological samples, which makes possible the acceleration of patient diagnosis and drug discovery. Read moreRead less
Reactivity and Spectroscopy of Gas Phase Metal Oxide Cluster Ions: Structure-Reactivity Correlations and Fundamental Insights into Heterogeneous Catalysis. This project will make use of world class ARC funded instrumentation to carry out breakthrough science. The research will contribute fundamental insights into chemical bond activation relevant to industrial catalytic processes important to national manufacturing industries. These insights will improve the efficiency and selectivity of catal ....Reactivity and Spectroscopy of Gas Phase Metal Oxide Cluster Ions: Structure-Reactivity Correlations and Fundamental Insights into Heterogeneous Catalysis. This project will make use of world class ARC funded instrumentation to carry out breakthrough science. The research will contribute fundamental insights into chemical bond activation relevant to industrial catalytic processes important to national manufacturing industries. These insights will improve the efficiency and selectivity of catalytic processes and lead to increased profitability and/or a reduction in unwanted side products and pollution. The project will train young scientists in important experimental and theoretical chemical techniques, and will enhance and contribute to Australia's international research profile.Read moreRead less
Calcification of acrylic hydrogels in abiotic media: mechanism and control. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) and other acrylic hydrogels are extensively used as biomaterials, yet conclusive evidence exists that they have a propensity to calcify following implantation. This process has undesirable consequences on the functionality of various prostheses. Based on preliminary observations that PHEMA can promote the deposition of calcium minerals from media devoid of biological factors, whic ....Calcification of acrylic hydrogels in abiotic media: mechanism and control. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA) and other acrylic hydrogels are extensively used as biomaterials, yet conclusive evidence exists that they have a propensity to calcify following implantation. This process has undesirable consequences on the functionality of various prostheses. Based on preliminary observations that PHEMA can promote the deposition of calcium minerals from media devoid of biological factors, which appears thus to be an inherent property of the polymer, the project aims at formulating new hypotheses to explain this phenomenon, and to confirm them experimentally. The "chelation" hypothesis will be validated by modifying the structure of polymers, and the "spontaneous precipitation" hypothesis by assessing the effect of solutes on the equilibrium water content of polymers. NMR and FTIR spectrometric techniques will be used to gain further insight into the mechanism of calcification. Methods to prevent the calcification will potentially result from these experiments, however, anticalcification agents will also be incorporated into hydrogels and their effect evaluated in calcification assays.Read moreRead less