Nanotechnology Research - Universities in Australia

Sydney Nano is the University of Sydney's latest step in the creation of flexible, interdisciplinary institutes that are devoted to bringing the best people and infrastructure together in the support of frontier research.

The group's research enables nanodevices and integrated systems with ultralow energy consumption, minimising all the parasitic energy (electrical, thermal, mechanical) losses which make devices power-hungry and less performant. Low energy consumption needs to be complemented with efficient energy storage and an appropriate system design. Nanomaterials like graphene and novel 2D materials are key enablers.

This program investigates the basic theory and applications of nanotechnology in the biological and chemical sciences, in physics and in engineering science. One of these four streams is completed at Levels 2 and 3, with a major project unit in nanotechnology at Level 3.

This research theme encompasses applications to nanotechnology with particular emphasis on medical nanotechnology, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) for characterising molecular dynamics.

The research objectives of the group are to develop novel experimental (especially NMR-based) techniques and theoretical models for studying molecular association, organisation and dynamics.

Aiming to explore the science of nanomaterials having an electron or charge transfer functionality; to prepare such nanomaterials, study and develop theories for their behaviour, and exploit these new behaviours in useful applications.

The thrust of the institute's activities to date has been to develop more processable Inherently Conducting Polymers and to integrate these functional materials with other host structures with desirable mechanical properties.