Materials

Materials science research aims to discover new materials and manufacturing processes to use in the next generation of medical devices, communication systems, energy production and more. At the most fundamental level, researchers are modelling the behaviours of individual atoms within complex molecules to understand their intricacies.

The letters A, L, C and G in blue on a translucent background showing computer imagery.

Research Highlights

27 Apr 2021

Generating great Australian science with giant research grants

NCI Australia is proud to support incredible Australian research through the 2021 Australasian Leadership Computing Grants (ALCG). The highly competitive Grants will allow researchers to work on some

A strip of grass leads to an upright tyre.

Research Highlights

27 May 2020

New rubber creates path for greener tyres

Chemistry

Materials

THE CHALLENGE The idiom ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ has been a part of our lives for decades. Three little words have gone on to save countless tonnes of rubbish from landfill, and remain an important

An illustration showing sheets of blue atoms connected together with rods.

Research Highlights

10 Aug 2019

New materials for future technologies

Materials

Materials scientists working at the cutting-edge of chemistry and physics need to drill down to the atomic level to properly understand the compounds they are dealing with. Materials scientists used

Lights shining out the end of individual strands of a fibre optic cable.

Case Studies

24 Jul 2019

Materials

Materials science research aims to discover new materials and manufacturing processes to use in the next generation of medical devices, communication systems, energy production and more. At the most

A scientific diagram showing incoming light beams being carried sideways through the layers of a complex molecular material.

Research Highlights

18 Apr 2019

Creating a super thin light absorber

Materials

If you look at the sun through a sheet of paper, you can see the light shining through. Now imagine you take that sheet of paper and shave it into 720 separate layers, each 90 nanometres thick

Overlay of the predicted global minimum crystal structure (purple) with the experimentally determined crystal structure for molecule 1. Hydrogen atoms are hidden.

Research Highlights

02 Apr 2019

Materials design using machine learning

Chemistry

Materials

The complex task of developing future materials, built on the stable crystal forms of new molecules with outstanding properties, relies on the speed and power only available through supercomputing. By

The atomic structure of a Metal Organic Framework, with interlaced atoms offering gaps, effectively creating the porous structure.

Research Highlights

12 Mar 2019

New materials for smart filters

Materials

Technology

Gas mask technology has existed for over a century yet the way they work has not changed very much. Originally, the filters used activated charcoal to adsorb – to chemically attract impurities to the

Close up look at a shiny computer motherboard coloured in shades of red and purple, with a golden glow coming off it.

Research Highlights

10 Oct 2018

Producing the electronics of the future

Materials

Physics

Researchers from one of NCI’s newest Affiliate Partners, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET), are using the NCI supercomputer to discover the building

Image showing dozens of balls, representing nanomaterials, floating in the air, reflecting off each other with a golden hue all around them.

Research Highlights

28 Sep 2018

Enhancing catalysis for industry impact

Materials

A major use case for high-performance computing in research comes from the detailed modelling of atomic interactions. Whether for materials design or chemical analysis, being able to understand the

Two view of three different gold nanoparticles covered in different peptides.

Research Highlights

29 Sep 2017

Nanoparticles for industrial catalysis

Materials

Professor Tiffany Walsh and her team from Deakin University is working with international collaborators to understand what makes certain kinds of nanoparticles good at catalysing chemical reactions

Materials

Generating great Australian science with giant research grants

New rubber creates path for greener tyres

New materials for future technologies

Materials

Creating a super thin light absorber

Materials design using machine learning

New materials for smart filters

Producing the electronics of the future

Enhancing catalysis for industry impact

Nanoparticles for industrial catalysis

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