Research within the ARC Research Hub for Future Fibres is divided into three Programs:

Program 1: Short Fibres and Nanofibres

This program focuses on development of the emerging short fibre and nanofibre industry. Short fibres and nanofibres have very high surface to volume ratio and have found application in diverse areas including high performance filtration, energy generation and storage devices, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Research will include expansion of the range of polymer systems which can be processed, and enabling scale-up of manufacturing platforms. It will also focus on specific applications of these fibres, including as textile treatments and biomedical applications.

Case study – Program 1
L-R: A/Prof Alessandra Sutti, Dr Murray Height (HeiQ), Dr Marzieh Parhizkar, Dr Nathan Thompson, Dr Amol Patil, Dominic Renggli, Dr Abhijeet Bapat, Keiran Pringle, Martina Di Venere, Dr David Rubin de Celis Leal, Dr Rongliang He, Dr Weiwei Cong, Dr Surya Subianto, Dr Charanpreet Singh

Industrial Partners:

  • HeiQ Pty Ltd
  • Xefco Pty Ltd
  • Cytomatrix Pty Ltd

Chief Investigators:

  • Professor Tong Lin
  • Professor Joselito Razal
  • Professor Luke Henderson
  • Associate Professor Jingliang Li
  • Associate Professor Alessandra Sutti
  • Associate Professor Nolene Byrne

Research Fellows:

  • Dr Marzieh Parhizkar
  • Dr Surya Subianto
  • Dr Amol Patil
  • Dr Nathan Thompson
  • Dr Julie Sharp

PhD student:

  • Dominic Renggli – Stabilisation of natural polymer derived (short) fibres for use in aqueous formulations

Program 2: Carbon fibre composites

This program focuses on advanced development of high performance carbon fibre reinforced composite materials. These materials, with the combination of high strength and light weight, are playing critical roles in advanced aerospace, renewable energy and civil engineering structures.

Case study – Program 2
L-R: Dr Sima Kashi, Prof Russell Varley, Dr Ashley Denmead (Carbon Revolution), A/Prof Minoo Naebe, Saman Ghadi, Dr Salwan Al-Assafi (Quickstep), Dale Atwell, Dr Sahar Naghashian

Industrial Partners:

  • Carbon Revolution Pty Ltd
  • Quickstep Automotive Pty Ltd

Chief Investigators:

  • Professor Russell Varley
  • Professor Bronwyn Fox
  • Professor Joselito Razal
  • Professor Luke Henderson
  • Associate Professor Minoo Naebe
  • Associate Professor Nolene Byrne
  • Dr Mandy de Souza

Research Fellows/Engineers:

  • Mr Dale Atwell
  • Dr Sima Kashi
  • Dr Sahar Nagashian
  • Mr Paul Andrews

PhD students:

  • Saman Ghadi – Understanding residual stress in composites and its impact upon durability
  • Jaehoon Choi – Composite structural batteries

Program 3: High value-added applications

This program focuses on high value-added applications for fibres; development of a complete prosthetic device for damaged eardrum reconstruction, and development of comfortable and abrasion resistant protective apparel (completed in 2020).

Case study – Program 3
L-R: Prof Luke Henderson, Dr Ben Allardyce, Dr Jingyu Chen, A/Prof Rodney Dilley (Ear Science Institute Australia), Prof Xungai Wang, Dr Sajjad Shafei, A/Prof Jingliang Li, Dr Filippo Valente (Ear Science Institute Australia, Dr Rangam Rajkhowa

Industrial Partners:

  • Ear Science Institute Australia Inc.
  • Draggin Jeans Pty Ltd (until 2020)

Chief Investigators:

  • Associate Professor Rangam Rajkhowa
  • Dr Christopher Hurren
  • Professor Luke Henderson
  • Professor Joselito Razal
  • Associate Professor Nolene Byrne

Research Fellow:

  • Dr Ben Allardyce

PhD Students:

  • Beini Zeng – Development of an up-cycling process for denim waste using ionic liquids (completed)
  • Mina Bayattork – Creating biomimetic fibrous silk scaffolds from hydrogels by controlling ice formation
  • Ken Aldren Usman – Novel resin-free high performance multi-functional materials
  • Yijun Qian – Utilization of two dimensional nanocomposites as membranes for gas separation, water purification and nanogenerators