Advanced Silicon Chemistry in Australia: Forming Strong Links with Asia.

This paper details Australian commercial and academic silicon research. Areas of interest include silicon metal, polysiloxane polymers, copolymers, cyclics, emulsions, microemulsions, silanes, silane coupling agents, sol-gel chemistry and water-treatments, porous silicon, polysiloxane degradation, silicon hydrogel contact lenses, silanolate synthesis, siloxane interfacial polymerisation, hydrosilylation, polysiloxane electrolytes for lithium ion batteries, silanes for PBX materials, octafunctionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), POSS hybrids, sol-gel hydrogenation catalysts, silane modification of silica, sol-gel energy storage, silicate grout stabilisation, GeoPolymer concretes, aerogel insulating foams, "Phaco-Ersatz" Accommodating Gel-Intraocular Lens technologies. Strong collaborative opportunities, in silicon, with Asia, exist with organisations such as: 1) The Asian Silicon Society and 2) The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) Indonesia.

Flexible microfluidic cloth-based analytical devices using a low-cost wax patterning technique.

This paper describes the fabrication of microfluidic cloth-based analytical devices (µCADs) using a simple wax patterning method on cotton cloth for performing colorimetric bioassays. Commercial cotton cloth fabric is proposed as a new inexpensive, lightweight, and flexible platform for fabricating two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic systems. We demonstrated that the wicking property of the cotton microfluidic channel can be improved by scouring in soda ash (Na(2)CO(3)) solution which will remove the natural surface wax and expose the underlying texture of the cellulose fiber. After this treatment, we fabricated narrow hydrophilic channels with hydrophobic barriers made from patterned wax to define the 2D microfluidic devices. The designed pattern is carved on wax-impregnated paper, and subsequently transferred to attached cotton cloth by heat treatment. To further obtain 3D microfluidic devices having multiple layers of pattern, a single layer of wax patterned cloth can be folded along a predefined folding line and subsequently pressed using mechanical force. All the fabrication steps are simple and low cost since no special equipment is required. Diagnostic application of cloth-based devices is shown by the development of simple devices that wick and distribute microvolumes of simulated body fluids along the hydrophilic channels into reaction zones to react with analytical reagents. Colorimetric detection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in artificial urine is carried out by direct visual observation of bromophenol blue (BPB) colour change in the reaction zones. Finally, we show the flexibility of the novel microfluidic platform by conducting a similar reaction in a bent pinned µCAD.

Nano-scale phase transformation in Ti-implanted austenitic 301 stainless steel.

Phase-transformation behaviours were investigated for austenitic 301 stainless steel during implantation at room temperature with 300 keV Ti ions to fluences of 8 x 10(19) to approximately 3 x 10(21) ions m(-2) by means of transmission electron microscopy. The cross-sectional specimen was prepared using a focused ion beam. Plan observation of the implanted specimen showed that phase transformation from gamma-phase to alpha-phase was induced by implantation to a fluence of 3 x 10(20) Ti ions m(-2). The nucleation of the irradiation (implantation)-induced phase increased with the increase of the dose. The orientation relationship between the gamma matrix and the induced alpha martensitic phase was identified as (011)alpha//(111)gamma and [11-1]alpha//[10-1], close to the Kurdjumov-Sachs relationship. Cross-sectional observation after implantation to a fluence of 5 x 10(20) ions m(-2) showed that phase transformation mostly nucleated near the surface and occurred in the higher the concentration gradient of the implanted ion, i.e. a higher stress concentration takes place and this stress introduced by the implanted ions acts as a driving force for the transformation.