Part IV Project Management System

The University of Auckland

Projects for 2023

Allocation: Category: Supervisor: Project Type:

#1: W addition to carbide composites as a solid solution strengthening agent

Allocated

Metallic Ni is the most commonly used metallic binder for carbide composites other than WC. The fcc structure of Ni offers high ductility to the metallic binder, but poor mechanical strength and wear resistance. In order to improve the wear resistance of the Ni binder, this work will aim to add metallic tungsten to the Ni+carbide composite powders prior to ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#2: WC-17Co + Carbon/(Ni+graphite) addition

Allocated

Carbide composites are routinely sprayed as wear resistant coatings, BUT they always lose some carbon during the coating process. Loss of carbon leads to a multitude of negative consequences – formation of sub-stoichiometric carbide phases which have poorer wear characteristics, embrittlement of the metallic binder and loss of ductility etc. The feedstock powder compositions have been defined by traditional sintered ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#3: SiC addition to carbide composites as a solid solution strengthening agent

Allocated

This project combines the theme above – carbon addition to overcome carbon loss during spraying, as well as strengthening of the metallic matrix, either through SiC whisker reinforcement or Si solid solution strengthening. SiC whiskers (at two concentrations) will be added to two different carbide composite powders (Cr3C2-NiCr and WC-NiCr) and sprayed using HVOF and plasma spraying. The resulting ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#4: How much carbon can concrete really absorb from the environment?

Allocated

This is a cross departmental project with Dr Enrique del Rey Castillo (Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental) - one pair from C&M and one from C&E. Concrete production is a top carbon polluter in the world, which inevitable has lead to companies and organisations around the world to investigate various ways to reduce that pollution. One of ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#5: Correlating Temperature Rise with Greenhouse Gases

Allocated

The earth is experiencing a warming period (approx 0.6oC in the past 80 years), and greenhouse gases play a primary role in maintaining and controlling this temperature. It is understood that warming considerably impacts the environment in various areas, including sea levels, coral reefs, weather events, hypoxic zones, and even population migration. Historical data based on ice core sampling clearly ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#6: Physical and rheological characteristics of phase change materials over multi-thermal cycles

Allocated

Introduction: Upon reading the current literature, there are different types of phase change materials (PCM), each with a detailed database of physical, rheological, and thermal characteristics when the PCM is fresh and not impregnated in other materials. In reality, the PCM undergoes multi-thermal cycles and is usually impregnated in other materials such as graphite. To this end, the literature is ... Read more

Energy

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#7: Producing Paraffinic Products From Recycled Plastics

Allocated

Introduction: Currently, in NZ, 190 MT of plastics are being incinerated or sent to landfills each year. The recycling method of pyrolysis involves the thermal degradation of polymers in an inert atmosphere to produce oil and wax products which could be used as potential latent heat storage materials. A problem encountered in the previous research on the applications of these ... Read more

Energy

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#8: Image analysis for fruit drying process quality control

Allocated

Fresh fruit is perishable and difficult to preserve because of its high moisture content. Drying is one of the oldest, most effective, and most used processing technologies, which could reduce the moisture content to extend the shelf life by inhibiting microbial growth and reducing the rate of deteriorative reactions. Drying is an energy-consuming process, especially for hot air drying, which ... Read more

Food Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#9: Cr effect on biomineralization of struvite by bacillus pumilus

Allocated

Bacterial mineralization of struvite from wastewaters is one of the promising approaches to recover phosphorus. Bio-struvite method provide the chance to recover organic phosphorus which can’t be recycled by chemical precipitation, moreover the recovered struvite can be reused as a highly efficient slow-release fertilizer. Therefore, the microbial mineralization of struvite has recently been regarded as a promising strategy to overcome ... Read more

Water

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#10: Identifying requirements for an articular cartilage replacement candidate through computational modelling

Allocated

Articular cartilage (AC) is the soft tissue covering the end of long bones such as knee and hip joints. It offers load-bearing and lubricating characteristics attributed to its poroelastic structure and the load sharing between fluid and solid phases of the tissue. However, AC is vulnerable to Osteoarthritis (OA), a progressive disease that affects the structure-function of the tissue, ultimately ... Read more

Health & Well-being

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#11: Development of a Power Conditioning System for Green Hydrogen Production

Allocated

This is a cross-departmental project with ECES with two pre-allocated students. The other supervisor from ECES is Seho Kim, and the student is Thea Larsen. There is a growing demand in the green energy environment for energy storage systems, and one potential solution is PEM hydrogen electrolysis cells. Currently, this technology is quite novel and requires further research into both ... Read more

Energy

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#12: Understand how O2 bubbles affect green hydrogen production energy efficiency

Allocated

Global climate change prompts an urgent transition to sustainable “green” energy. Water electrolysis is a promising technology for “green” H2 production using electricity generated from renewable energy. However, maintaining the efficiency of green H2 production on a large scale (MW/GW) has been recognised as a challenge, especially under variable and high current densities in the electrolysis process. An electrolytic ... Read more

Energy

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#13: Sustainable recovery of lipids from New Zealand green-lipped mussel using green solvents

Allocated

New Zealand’s green-lipped mussels (NZGLM), Perna canaliculus, are bivalve mollusc species that are endemic to the region and are exported to 77 countries, with the mussel export markets totalling over 336 million NZD in 2020. Due to their unique marine environment, NZGLM contain a variety of lipids such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), non-methylene-interrupted (NMI)-FA, plasmalogen, phytosterols, and furan ... Read more

Food Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#14: Extraction of high-added value compounds from Undaria Pinnatifida using green solvents

Allocated

Undaria Pinnatifida is an invasive species of seaweed that has colonised large stretches of the New Zealand coastlines. Although the benefits of seaweed species are well recognised, their ability to quickly establish and outcompete native marine species can significantly impact the local biodiversity. In an effort to stabilise the marine ecosystem from the rapid reproduction of undaria in New Zealand, ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#15: Efficiency of a H2 PEM Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power System

Allocated

A typical low-temperature PEM fuel cell is around 55% electrically efficient. 45% ~ 60% of the energy generated in the fuel cell is wasted as heat. A combined power and heat (CPH, also called cogeneration) system of a fuel cell can elevate the overall energy efficiency to 60 % ~90% depending on the type of fuel cell and the heat ... Read more

Energy

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#16: Application of CAT Scan Technology to Cleaning-In-Place

Allocated

Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) describes a process with the purpose of removal of deposit layers, or ‘soil’, from the internal surfaces of process equipment such as pipes, vessels, filters and related fittings, without dismantling, and with the use of a combination of chemicals, heat and water. CIP is an important industrial process, especially in food process plants, which could entail hundreds of ... Read more

Energy Food Water

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#17: Characterisation of mechanical properties of composite hydrogels for cardiac tissue engineering

Allocated

This project aims to contribute to the development of a three-dimensional in vitro model of cardiac scar tissue to study the interactions between three cell types in heart tissue: cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts, and cardiac neurons. Scar tissue usually exhibits a much higher stiffness than healthy tissue. To model a scar within the tissue, we will use gelatine methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels, ... Read more

Health & Well-being Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#18: Electrospinning of chitosan fibres using green deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for piezoelectric applications

Allocated

Fossil fuels continue to be the main source of energy production worldwide, although they are not renewable and cause severe environmental pollution and global warming challenges. Hence, clean and renewable energy resources are in demand to replace the tradition fossil fuels. Piezoelectric materials are considered as one of the most promising solutions by harvesting mechanical energy from sustainable environmental resources ... Read more

Energy Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#19: High performance electrode materials for aqueous metal-air batteries

Allocated

Electrical energy storage is a rapid developing field with significant impact in decarbonising our energy sector. Current energy storage technologies are mainly relied on Li-ion batteries (LIBs), which are facing severe challenges in safety, energy density and price. Aqueous metal-air batteries use oxygen from the air as one of the battery’s main reactants. They have attracted much attentions for next ... Read more

Energy Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#20: Advanced Alloy Anode for Magnesium Rechargeable Batteries

Allocated

Rechargeable batteries play a critical role in transmitting and distributing electrical energy. Commercial Li-ion battery (LIB) based on intercalation chemistry are approaching its performance limits in terms of energy density 100-265Wh/kg. LIBs are also facing severe challenges in safety, energy density and price. Magnesium rechargeable battery (MRB) is one of the most promising post-lithium ion battery system due to its ... Read more

Energy Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#21: Preparation of bacteria into a non-soluble immobilized matrix

Allocated

Brief: Vertus is exploring a new type of reactor design to generate energy from waste material. This will involved immobilizing their proprietry pressure-selected consortium in a suitable matrix for application in their reactor. This project will explore the potential to generate such an immobilized matrix ensuring the viability of the bacteria and to allow easy application into the reactor. Scope: ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#22: Design and optimization of reactor packing materials

Allocated

Brief: Vertus is exploring a trickling bed reactor design for its bio-methanation develeopment. The packing should maximise the contact between the biocatalysts, gases and liquid phases to ensure high waste-to-energy efficiency. This project aims to explore the boundary and to optimize a new type of packing material for the specialized reactor. Scope: This project will potentially involve CAD designs, 3D ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#23: Bringing mechanical testing of sheep lumbar spine segments to the next level with a kinematic measurement system

Allocated

Low back pain impacts hugely on the quality of life, and the related socio-economic and medical costs are known to be very high. To better understand possible causes of low back pain, many researchers mechanically test lumbar spine segments consisting of only one intervertebral disc and its two adjacent vertebrae. So far, our mechanical spine testing has also been confined ... Read more

Health & Well-being

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#24: Digital modelling of industrial plants for demand flexibility operation

Allocated

Climate change is a pressing issue faced by modern society, with decarbonisation a necessary initiative in transitioning to a more sustainable future. Decarbonisation of the industrial sector can be achieved through demand flexibility, where plant operation is controlled relative to electricity market spot prices. This allows for the use of cheaper power as well as providing wider benefits to the ... Read more

Energy Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#25: fabricating aerogels/ xerogels based on colloidal silica from geothermal plants

Allocated

Aerogels are remarkable materials that are useful for many applications across several technology platforms. They are lightweight super insulating materials with low thermal conductivity. Aerogels are produced by extracting the liquid component of a gel through a suitable drying method. If robust and practical aerogels can be manufactured with these nano scale raw materials, they will have exciting potential due ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#26: Development of Roman-inspired, lime-based concrete for the creation of sustainable and durable memorial stones

Allocated

Sponsored, Cross- Dept project with Civil & Environmental Engineering Sponsored by an innovative Maori owned producer of memorial headstones from sustainable NZ materials, this project will look at the creation of lime based concrete formulations that lead to improved sustainable headstones. It is known that if not properly placed and compacted, concrete will not achieve its potential strength and ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#27: Resource recovery from wastewater treatment: Valorisation of biosolid sludge to biochar

Allocated

Biochar is the organic solid char product from biomass thermal treatment in an oxygen-free atmosphere. It has many potential uses, including as an adsorbent for pollutant removal, soil amendment, fertilisation, and green infrastructure. Biochar can be generated from a variety of different feedstocks, including wastewater treatment sludge. The aim of this project is to evaluate pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonisation technologies for ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#28: Investigating bacterial population dynamics in anaerobic chain-elongation bioprocesses for upcycling winery waste

Allocated

The demand for New Zealand wine has been growing steadily, increasing the need for sustainable disposal of winery waste. Our research focuses on developing a new bioprocess that repurposes the winery waste as the feedstock for chemical production. This new bioprocess relies on specific anaerobic chain-elongating bacteria in an open microbiome to produce medium-chain organic acids, such as caproic acid ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#29: Enzymatic and chemical treatments for efficient lignocellulose bioconversion

Allocated

The increasing global demand for NZ wine has led to a steady increase in winery waste. We will develop a reliable anaerobic chain elongation bioprocess for valorising winery waste to create new income and avoid the adverse ecological impact of accumulated waste for the industry. Anaerobic chain elongation relies on anaerobic bacteria to convert simple organics (e.g., acetic acid) to ... Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#30: Core-Rim WC composites

Allocated

There is a major driving force to replace Co as the metallic binder for WC carbide composites due to environmental, ethical and economic factors. One of the principle benefits of Co as a binder for WC is that it “wets” the WC surface very well, ensuring a strong carbide-binder bond for load transfer, which improves the mechanical and wear resistance ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#31: WC+Cr3C2+Ni + Carbon/(Ni+graphite) addition

Allocated

Carbide composites are routinely sprayed as wear resistant coatings, BUT they always lose some carbon during the coating process. Loss of carbon leads to a multitude of negative consequences – formation of sub-stoichiometric carbide phases which have poorer wear characteristics, embrittlement of the metallic binder and loss of ductility etc. The feedstock powder compositions have been defined by traditional sintered ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#32: “Self-Healing” Intelligent Anticorrosion Coatings

Allocated

Corrosion is a serious degradation form of materials. Worldwide it costs ~4% of GDP, wasting a large amount of precious resources and energy, and contaminating our environment. Surface coatings/ paints is the most popular and cost-effective technique to protect materials from corrosion. However, coatings/paints are subject to various chemical and mechanical damage. New Zealand is a marine country, and ... Read more

Innovative Processes Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#33: Nanocellulose-based membrane for zinc ion batteries

Allocated

This project aims to develop a separator (membrane) for zinc ion batteries. The membrane is based on nanocellulose derived from seaweeds and provided by SCION. Students will investigate the functionalization and modification of nanocellulose and how the modified nanocellulose can be integrated into common electrolytes. Students will undertake the materials synthesis and characterisation, as well as the electrochemical performance of ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#34: Smart Tension Indicator

Allocated

Cross department project cosupervised by Xun Xu (main supervisor), Meng Wai Woo (co-supervisor), G Charles Clifton (co-supervisor) Read more

Innovative Processes

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#35: 3 D Ohmic food printing

Allocated

To explore a new type of Mhmic 3-D food printing for bread dough and functional starches. Read more

Food

Chemical & Materials Engineering

#36: Innovative metal oxide-carbon electrodes for supercapacitors

Allocated

This is a project supervised by Prof. Wei Gao and Dr. Shanghai Wei. Supercapacitors are a type of high-capacity, high-power energy storage device that can store and release electrical energy much more quickly than batteries. They are also referred to as electrochemical capacitors as they store energy in the electric field between two electrodes. The materials used for the electrodes, ... Read more

Novel Materials

Chemical & Materials Engineering