Modern technology is physically built of solid-state materials. Their finely tuned properties underpin almost every modern electronic device and are essential for the batteries, catalysts and solar cells needed for the green energy transition. Our aim is to predict, make, and characterise new functional solid-state materials with the breakthrough performance needed to enable technological progress and revolutions.
We take a “crystal chemical” approach whereby we try to relate the crystal structure of a material to its chemical composition on the one hand, and to its physical properties on the other. Structural characterisation therefore plays a central role, and we make particularly heavy use of neutron, synchrotron X-ray and electron diffraction, complementary techniques such as spectroscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy, and ab initio computational modelling.
Structural information is used to guide our exploratory synthetic studies and to interpret the results of our physical property measurements.
Most of our current projects fall into one of the following categories: solid-state ionic conductors for fuel cell and lithium-ion battery applications; frustrated, low-dimensional and otherwise complex magnetism; diffuse scattering and nanoscale structure in functional materials such as ferroelectrics; naturally layered multi-functional materials, especially magnetoresistors and multiferroics; and the crystallography and physical properties (such as thermoelectricity or non-linear optics) of modulated structures in up to six-dimensional superspace.
We have a comprehensive set of facilities for materials synthesis and characterisation, including a controlled-atmosphere microwave furnace and an IR floating-zone image furnace for the synthesis of cm-scale single crystals of high melting-point (up to 2200 ºC) oxides, nitrides and intermetallics.
We operate two X-ray powder diffractometers with in situcapabilities (80 ≤ T ≤ 2100 K under controlled atmospheres), two Quantum Designs Physical Properties Measurement Systems with a full set of probes (thermal measurements, magnetometry, electro-transport, dilatometry) with a furnace and a dilution insert capable of reaching milli-Kelvin temperatures and a high-precision impedance spectrometer for ionic conductivity measurements.
The School of Chemistry also has single crystal X-ray, vibrational spectroscopy, NMR, electron microscopy and high-performance computing facilities of which we make regular use.
Our lab houses a complete facility for lithium-ion battery research, built around a 4-port glovebox and includes all equipment necessary for materials synthesis, coin/pouch cell construction, post-synthesis modification and electrochemical cycling. In 2017 we acquired Australia’s only transmission electron microscopy liquid electrochemistry cell, for in operando studies of batteries and other functional materials systems.
At ANSTO we have access to a wide range of physical property characterisation facilities in the Institute for Materials Engineering. Most importantly, we make extensive use of the neutron scattering facilities at the OPAL research reactor, notably: the single-crystal quasi-Laue diffractometer Koala; the powder diffractometers Wombat and Echidna; and the inelastic scattering instruments Taipan, Sika and Pelican.
The ready availability of these world class facilities in Sydney, along with the X-ray scattering facilities at the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne, allows us to pursue almost any problem in modern materials science.
Where necessary we travel to overseas neutron and synchrotron facilities to use more specialised instruments. We make regular trips (usually several times a year) to the ILL in France, ISIS in the UK, and the APS in the USA.
Our magnetic materials research focuses on strongly correlated electron systems, a “hot topic” in condensed matter physics. Recent highlights include new mechanisms for magnetically driven negative thermal expansion, pressure-driven electron transfer, and a novel quantum spin-liquid state.
Professor Chris Ling, Professor Brendan Kennedy, Professor Maxim Avdeev (ARC DP230100558)
This project aims to discover new magnetic materials that are competitive for advanced technology applications, free of the rare earth metals that currently dominate the high-performance end of the market. Global demand for non-renewable rare earth metals is rapidly approaching a critical point and alternatives are needed. The project will use data-mining algorithms augmented by quantum calculations to find the most promising candidates among tens of thousands of reported but untested materials, so that synthesis and characterisation resources can be directed to the right places. After iterative cycling to optimise the chemical composition and structure, the best materials will be prepared for fabrication into technologically useful forms.
Our energy materials research focuses on ionic conducting solids. We were among the first to show that ab initio calculations and neutron scattering could be combined to probe their structure and dynamics, a breakthrough that has opened up rational design pathways to next-generation fuel-cell materials. Our battery materials research has received particular attention for unravelling their complex magnetic states, knowledge of which is crucial for reliable calculations of their electrochemical properties.
Professor Chris Ling, Professor Neeraj Sharma, Professor Maxim Avdeev (ARC DP200100959)
The “all-solid-state” rechargeable battery is a Holy Grail of energy materials research. The safety and performance benefits of eliminating the flammable organic liquid electrolytes used in conventional lithium-ion batteries have long been recognised, but a practical implementation remains elusive. This project aims to insert protective inorganic layers at the interfaces between battery components, which is where all-solid-state batteries break down. The design should be compatible with efficient and scalable solid-state fabrication methods already used in the electronics industry, smoothing the path from laboratory-scale to prototype to bulk production and, ultimately, commercial devices.
Professor Chris Ling, Professor Brendan Kennedy, Professor Thomas Maschmeyer (ARC DP190101862)
The aim of this project is to make new photocatalysts that use the energy from solar photons to split water into oxygen and hydrogen - i.e., to produce perfectly clean and renewable fuel from sunlight. We are using a "bottom-up" nanoscale self-assembly approach, in which compounds with different chemical and electronic properties – but compatible crystal structures in at least one dimension - fit together in a single synthetic step to form a well-ordered composite. By making composites of compounds whose band gaps (crucial to capturing light) and surfaces (crucial to evolving hydrogen and oxygen gas) complement each other, we aim to deliver higher performing materials at a lower cost than can be achieved by conventional top-down modification.
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