The future of copper production
Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed a new approach to copper production. It is widely applicable and suited to around 70% of all copper reserves. Processing the copper ore onsite avoids the CO2 emissions and other costs of transporting the ore for smelting – instead this is carried out at the mine site to produce a higher value copper intermediate product.
The technology is based on an electrowinning approach but runs at higher efficiency with lower energy usage compared to traditional electrowinning. The power required for the electrowinning can be provided by onsite renewable energy generation.
The technology provides the following value to its users:
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- Reduced OPEX: Significant energy savings versus conventional electrowinning as more than half the energy for Cu EW is associated with oxidation of water.
- CAPEX savings: Simpler hydrometallurgy process flowsheet (Leach-SX-EW) versus (Slurry EW) and no need for high temperature copper smelter/converter.
- Clear separations of Cu, Co and Au allowing for efficient recovery of all three metals of interest.
- Low environmental footprint (Low CO2 if renewable electricity, no smelter gas, largely benign solids residue, opportunities for water recycling).
Controlled release nano-termiticide formulation
Chemical treatment is used extensively to protect buildings from termite infestation. Current termiticide formulations have faced several limitations that influence their termiticidal efficacy, for example limited soil penetration capacity and limited (<15 years) lifetimes. Therefore there is a need for a long-life chemical barrier technology that can better penetrate soil, and which possesses the ability to become active only after a period of weeks following application to ensure termites escape the building prior to activation.
Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed a nano-formulation technology that has the potential to solve the application and synthesis problems described. The technology utilises a cheap, commercially available precursor material that avoids the need for expensive surfactants or chemical reactions. The nano-formulation technology has a high loading capacity of active ingredient in its nano-dispersed form (ie no aggregation/formation of large crystals is observed). The technology can be used to precisely control the release rate and can enhance the soil penetration of the active ingredient.
Key Features
- Scalable, cheap and facile synthesis of nano-termiticide formulations
- High loading capacity of active ingredients without aggregation/crystallisation
- Applicable to different active ingredients, eg bifenthrin, fipronil
- Precisely controllable release rate and enhanced soil penetration.
Quantum Link Verification
With the upsurge of data storage migration to public cloud environments the need to ensure data confidentiality and integrity becomes increasingly critical. Fibre optic, encryption and post-quantum encryption are various approaches to data protection but these have limitations.
Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed an approach to verify the physical security of fibre optic cabling using quantum technology. The cable can be continuously monitored and, if compromised, data transmission halted.
Quantum Link Verification relies on well-documented, tested and verified scientific concepts and can be demonstrated using off-the-shelf hardware. The next step is a lab-based demonstration to show the proof of concept for integration within classical communication networks.
In the longer term, the technology can be applied to emerging communications links, for example free space optical links using LEO satellite networks.
Key features:
- Verify fibre optic communications links using ‘unspoofable’ quantum technology
- Backwards compatible with fibre infrastructure
- Uses commercial off-the-shelf components.
Removal of radioactive contamination in mining
Radioactive elements are widespread in a range of mineral deposits and while some mineral processing operations can concentrate these in the ore concentrate and/or the tailings it is problematic for occupational health and safety, regulatory compliance and optimum long-term storage options.
Based on their understanding of the mineralogy, researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have developed a two-step leaching process to remove radionuclide contamination from a range of ores, ore concentrates and tailings. Both stages in the UQ process require only mild conditions with no harsh high temperature or pressure processing steps.
The technology is expected to be applicable across a wide range of ores, including phosphates, coal, copper, bauxite, phosphate rock, and ores containing tin, tantalum, lithium, niobium, rare earths and gold deposits.
Key features
- Reduced radionuclide contamination in a wide range of complex ore bodies and tailings, including those containing lithium, rare earth elements and copper
- Improved prospects for obtaining mining approvals and export permits
- The University of Queensland process is low cost and effective when compared to competing processes.
Perovskite composite material with improved optical properties and stability
The optoelectronic properties of metal halide perovskite (MHP) semiconductors make them attractive for use as active materials in photovoltaics, LEDs, ionizing radiation detection and photocatalysis. However the practical application of MHPs faces significant barriers. Researchers at The University of Queensland have developed a new class of MHP composites. The precursors can be made from relatively cheap materials, using a scalable mechanochemical process. Similarly, the composite material is fabricated via nearly solvent-free and scalable processing steps.
Key benefits:
- Composite produced using scalable and cost-effective solid-state processing techniques
- Orders of magnitude brighter photoluminescence of composite compared to pure metal halide perovskite
- 10,000 h underwater stability and over two years’ storage stability in air.
High strength, high conductivity, copper alloy
In recent times copper has been utilised in medical applications such as anti-viral surface coatings and components to reduce the virus residence time in hospitals and clinics. However, pure copper is extremely soft and malleable, which limits its application. Researchers at The University of Queensland have designed an invention that integrates pure copper powder with nanoparticles via ultrasonic vibration and mechanical mixing to reduce the surface reflectance and enable facile fabrication of 3D printed parts.
The fabricated components exhibit over three times higher strength and 100% increase in ductility, while retaining 95% of the thermal and electrical conductivity when benchmarked against pure copper powder. The performance improvement can be attributed to uniform dispersion of nanoparticles. This additive enables homogeneous melting of copper, affording better control over the fabrication process.
Key features
- Achieving high strength and high ductility without a compromise in electrical and thermal properties
- High density Cu parts using standard fibre lasers.
High strength, high ductility, titanium alloy
An invention from researchers at The University of Queensland has overcome an industry challenge of producing titanium (Ti) alloys with high strength and high ductility. Alloys can be produced in-situ with an additive manufacturing (AM) approach and overcomes the problem of uniformly blending the various powders during preparation of the AM feedstock, thus creating high quality parts.
Key features
- High strength and ductility without compromising either of the mechanical properties
- Significant reduction of anisotropy
- Simple bucket chemistry-based modification.
Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) test alternative
Sleep disorders affect a large percentage of the population and are an under-recognised problem. In addition to long term risks of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), the immediate daytime consequences are neuropsychological impairments such as excessive daytime sleepiness, loss of attention, and impairment of memory and executive functions. Despite the importance of neuropsychological measures, currently there is still a lack of efficient and objective tools to measure them in clinical practice.
Researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have developed technology for measuring neuropsychological impairments using electroencephalography (EEG) and other data acquired during standard sleep diagnostic tests. The techniques are ideally suited for implementation in the home or work environment using simple hardware.
This technology is also applicable to a broader population (outside of a sleep apnea patient population), such as professionals that require high neuropsychological performance for their job – typically jet pilots, truck drivers, surgeons and athletes. This technology will be able to assess whether their job performance will be affected by their previous night’s sleep.
SnoreSounds/Sleep Apnea Assessment
Sleep disorders affect a large percentage of the population and are an under-recognised problem. The most common sleep disorder is Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome (OSA), which is characterised by the repetitive upper airway collapse during sleep. Researchers at The University of Queensland (UQ) have developed an elegant approach that uses a mobile phone platform to screen OSA patients. This presents a more user-friendly alternative to the current sleep laboratory method for diagnosis, using polysomnography, a test that involves monitoring the heart, lung and brain activity as well as arm and leg movements and blood oxygen levels.
Snoring is one of the earliest symptoms of OSA. Patients with sleep apnea often report years of snoring prior to the onset of OSA-related symptoms. However, although almost all OSA patients snore, not all snorers have OSA.
UQ researchers have also developed sleep classification techniques to account for inter-subject variability (age, gender etc). In addition, they have shown the impact of serious co-morbidities, such as cardiac disease, COPD and mental health conditions, on the measurement of sleep conditions and have developed appropriate approaches for how to account for them.
Efficient production of cyclic proteins
Researchers at The University of Queensland have made several important breakthroughs in the production of cNDs and can produce them at yields that are several-fold higher than reported methods, using a workflow that is scalable and cost-effective.
Membrane proteins have long presented a challenge to biochemical and functional studies. In the absence of a bilayer environment, individual proteins and critical macromolecular complexes may be insoluble and may display altered or absent activities. Nanodisc technology provide important advantages for the isolation, purification, structural resolution and functional characterisation of membrane proteins.
Nanodiscs consist of a membrane scaffold protein (MSP) that wraps around a patch of lipids, making a disc shaped lipid-protein complex. The most advanced nanodisc design is based on covalently circularised nanodiscs (cNDs).
Key features
- Scalable and efficient production of circularised proteins
- Easy purification
- Minimal reagents required
- 10x higher yield or 10x reduction in reaction volume, 30% reduction in production time compared to traditional methods.