ian wark research institute - home - university of south ... report 2012.pdfian wark research...

Annual Report 2012ARC Special Research Centre for Particle and Material Interfaces

Ian Wark Research Institute

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 1 Left: Mini Pilot Plant rod mill loaded with ground ore.Photography by Sam Noonan.

University of South Australia

Mawson Lakes Campus

Mawson Lakes Blvd

Mawson Lakes South Australia 5095

Australia

Contents Advisory Board Report 2

Director’s Report 3

Governance and Management 4

Staff 6

Postgraduate Students 9

Supporters and Donors 11

Research Funding 12

Research Highlights 13

Publications 25

International Collaborators 32

T +61 8 8302 3694

F +61 8 8302 3683

E [email protected]

W www.unisa.edu.au/iwri

CRICOS provider number 00121B

ARC Special Research Centre for Particle and Material InterfacesIan Wark Research Institute (The Wark™)

2 I A N W A R K R E S E A R C H I N S T I T U T E

The Advisory Board commends the eighteenth Annual Report of the Ian Wark Research Institute (The Wark™) to the Council of the University of South Australia.

The Institute’s new Director, Professor Magnus Nydén has continued the process of change commenced by the long serving founding Director, Laureate Professor John Ralston. Excellence has been the hallmark of the Institute’s activities. The top rating received for both physical chemistry and resources engineering and extractive metallurgy in the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Assessment is indicative of the standing of the Institute academically. It is important to note that such success flows to its contributions to Australian industry and society.

The Wark was recognised as a stellar performer in the Excellence in Innovation for Australia (EIA) Trial carried out by the Australian Technology Network Universities and the Group of Eight. Based on an independent evaluation of the Institute’s industry-sponsored flotation projects, a benefit exceeding $1billion over the period 1988 to 2012 was demonstrated.

Excellence in research and delivery is underpinned by excellence in staff and facilities and I am pleased to report the appointment of Professor Bart Follink to the new SA State Chair in Mineral Processing as well as the successful commencement of our activities in the new Materials and Minerals Science complex.

The Ian Wark Research Institute Medal, for the most outstanding PhD thesis, was awarded this year to Dr Moom Sinn Aw and the Norton Jackson Material Science and Engineering Medal for application of research to industry was awarded to Dr Ataollah Nosrati. Congratulations to these two outstanding young scientists.

Together with the Board and staff of the Institute, I would like to acknowledge and thank the past Chair of the Advisory Board, Dr Max Richards, whose quiet but firm advice over many years to the Institute, its Director and Advisory Board, did much to ensure its success.

Robert La Nauze FTSE, FAusIMM

Chairman

August 2013

Advisory Board Report

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 3

2012 was a year of major change at The Wark. Laureate Professor John Ralston, the founder and Director of The Wark for almost 20 years, retired and I took over his role. John’s tremendous efforts have carefully positioned this fine Institution to make a difference to society through scientific breakthroughs and I will strive to honour that legacy.

2012 was also the year where we took the first steps on a journey of evolution for The Wark. We set out a new route for collaboration by developing strategic interactions with the very best and agile research establishments, both within Australia and around the world. Guided by the principle of maximizing creativity and encouraged largely by research in biology and pharmaceutics, we are joining forces with institutes with synergistic expertise to our own – adding depth and breadth to our research.

Together, we aim to shape research for the next decade and beyond. We will look to solve important societal challenges by working at the interface between disciplines. We believe that it is at these interfaces that new research areas will be defined and the answers to some of the oldest and most important research questions will be found, for example: how can we process our minerals in more environmentally sustainable and economic ways; how can we efficiently convert between different energy forms to suit the needs of society; how can we develop new materials to improve health and prevent disease and to eliminate biofouling?

It was a year of scientific excellence for The Wark. We continued to be a major contributor to UniSA’s research in physical chemistry and in resources engineering and extractive metallurgy, both of which received ratings of 5 in the 2012 Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) assessment – indicating outstanding performance well above world standard in these areas.

I am very grateful for the warm welcome and outstanding support that I have received as I settled in to my first year as Director. I have received excellent assistance not only from everyone at The Wark but also the broader UniSA team, ranging from Human Resources to the Senior Management Group.

I sincerely thank all members of The Wark Advisory Board, led by its Chairman, Dr Rob La Nauze, for their sound advice and ongoing contributions. Their guidance through the years has been one of the foundation stones upon which The Wark has been built.

I look forward with a sense of joy, excitement and anticipation to leading the work and people that will define The Wark into the next decade and beyond. Together, we will continue to build upon our existing strengths and expand into new fields. It’s shaping up as an exhilarating journey.

Magnus Nydén

Director

August 2013

Director’s Report


Governance and Management

University of South Australia Vice-Chancellor

Director

Pro Vice-Chancellor: Information Technology,

Engineering and the Environment

Associate Director: Nanomedicine

Associate Director: Colloids and

NanostructuresAssociate Director:

Minerals

Sector Co-ordinator Bio and Polymer

Interfaces

Sector Co-ordinator Colloids and

Nanostructures

Sector Co-ordinator Mineral Processing

Executive Policy and Planning Committee

Corporate Services

Deputy Director

Scientific Services

Advisory Board

Research and Technology

Advisory Committee

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 5

Advisory Board The Advisory Board convened on two occasions during 2012. Members were:Dr Robert La Nauze (Chair) Director, Technical Strategy Advisors LtdDr Matthew Cuthbertson (Deputy Chair) Chief Executive Officer, CRC for Advanced Automotive Technology LtdDr Paul Heithersay Executive Director, Department of Primary Industries and Resources of South AustraliaDr Anita Hill Chief, Division of Process Science and Engineering, CSIRODr Peter Lilly Senior Manager, Research and Development, BHP BillitonMs Ann Nelson Deputy CEO/Director, Bioscience Infrastructure, BioInnovation SA (retired)Prof Magnus Nydén Director, Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South AustraliaProf Andrew Parfitt Pro Vice Chancellor: Division of Information Technology, Engineering & the Environment, University of

South AustraliaMr Joe Pease Chief Executive, Xstrata TechnologyDr Neville Plint Head, Research and Development, Anglo Platinum LtdProf Sakkie Pretorius Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice President: Research and Innovation, University of South AustraliaProf Leanna Read Director, BR-Angels Pty Ltd and Member, South Australian Premier’s Science and Industry Council and

the South Australian Economic Development BoardDr Ana-Paula Serond Director of Innovation, AREVAMr Antony Simpson Past Chair, Mason & Cox Pty LtdDr Natalia Streltsova Director Technology - Department of Mineral Projects Development, ValeDr David Wyatt Vice President and Head, Respiratory New Product Introduction Centre of Excellence, GlaxoSmithKline PLCMs Madelene Pierce (Executive Officer) Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia

Research and Technology Advisory CommitteeThe Research and Technology Advisory Committee convenes biennially, with the last visit undertaken from 11-15 April 2011. The visit included several days of intensive discussions with staff and postgraduate students, followed by a presentation and written report to the Advisory Board. Members were:Prof Brian Vincent (Chair) Leverhulme Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Bristol (retired), United KingdomDr Terry Blake Surface Science Kodak (retired), United KingdomProf Cyril O’Connor Director, Centre for Minerals Research, University of Cape Town, South AfricaProf Marcus Textor Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, SwitzerlandMs Madelene Pierce (Executive Officer) Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South AustraliaThe members of our Research and Technology Advisory Committee have now resigned or retired, although continuity will be retained as Prof Brian Vincent has agreed to lead one final review. The Wark extends its sincere gratitude to these scientists for their valuable input and advice over many years.

Executive Policy and Planning CommitteeThe Executive Policy and Planning Committee met on a monthly basis:Prof Magnus Nydén (Chair) DirectorProf Jonas Addai-Mensah Associate Director: MineralsProf Hans Griesser Deputy Director Mr Paul Luppino Professional Staff RepresentativeMr Philip Moore Manager: Scientific ServicesProf Thomas Nann Associate Director: Colloids and NanostructuresMs Muireann O’Loughlin Postgraduate Student RepresentativeProf Clive Prestidge Associate Director: NanomedicineDr Craig Priest Academic Staff RepresentativeMs Sandra Ray Operations ManagerProf Namita Roy Choudhury Dean: Research EducationProf Bill Skinner Academic Staff RepresentativeDr Terry Wilks Institute ManagerMs Julie Freytag (Executive Officer)


DirectorLaureate Prof John Ralston, AO FAA FTSE FRACI

BSc(Hons) MSc DipEd PhD Melbourne DIC London, UK Dr.h.c Abo Akademi, Finland (retired 16 March 2012)

Prof Magnus Nydén, BSc Umea, Sweden MSc PhD Lund, Sweden (commenced 2 April 2012)

Deputy DirectorProf Hans Griesser, DipChem SciTeachingCert

PhD ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Associate DirectorsProf Jonas Addai-Mensah, BEng(Hons) UST,

Ghana MSc TIIT, Israel PhD QueenslandProf Thomas Nann, MSc PhD Freiburg,

GermanyProf Clive Prestidge, BSc(Hons) Loughborough,

UK PhD Bristol, UK

Institute ManagerTerry Wilks, BSc(Hons) MSc PhD Newcastle, UK

Research ProfessorsNamita Roy Choudhury, BSc(Hons) BTech

MTech(Hons) Calcutta, India PhD IIT, Kharagpur, India

William Skinner, BSc Melbourne BAppSc PhD RMIT

Dayang Wang, BEng PhD Jilin University, PR China

Associate Research ProfessorsDavid Beattie, BSc(Hons) PhD Edinburgh, UKNaba Dutta, BSc(Hons) BTech Calcutta, India

PhD Kharagpur, IndiaDaniel Fornasiero, Maitre es Science Grenoble,

France PhD AdelaideRossen Sedev, MSc University of Sofia, Bulgaria

PhD Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BulgariaBenjamin Thierry, BEng INP Grenoble, France

MSc Montreal, Canada PhD McGill, Canada

Senior Research FellowsJason Connor, BAppSc(Hons) Central

Queensland PhD UniSASarah Harmer, BAppSc(Hons) PhD UniSAMihail Popescu, MSc University of Bucharest,

Romania PhD Emory University, USACatherine Whitby, BSc(Hons) UNSW PhD

MelbourneMassimiliano Zanin, BEng Trieste, Italy PhD

Cagliari, Italy

Research FellowsBryan Coad, BSc Simon Fraser, Canada PhD

British Columbia, CanadaRick Fabretto, BSc(Hons) Flinders BEd PhD UniSAPiotr Korczyk, MSc Warsaw, Poland PhD Polish

Academy of Sciences, PolandMarta Krasowska, MSc Maria Curie Sklodowska

University, Poland PhD Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Agnieszka Mierczynska-Vasilev, MSc PhD Lodz, Poland

Craig Priest, BAppSc(Hons) PhD UniSASpomenka Simovic, BSc MSc Belgrade,

Yugoslavia PhD UniSA

Research AssociatesLorena Diéguez, Grad Dip Santiago de

Compostela, Spain MSc PhD Barcelona, SpainMikael Larsson, BSc MSc PhD Chalmers

University of Technology, SwedenXiaokong Liu, BSc PhD Jilin University, PR ChinaAtaollah Nosrati, BSc Petroleum University

of Technology, Iran MSc Tarbiat Modarres University, Iran PhD UniSA

Ravindra Potrekar, MSc Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada, India PhD National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

Melanie Ramiasa, DipIng (BChemEng MChemEng) Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Rennes, France

Shasha Rao, BAdmin China Pharmaceutical University Nanjing, PR China PhD UniSA

Celine Richard, MSc PhD Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, France

Angel Tan, BPharm(Hons) PhD UniSADanfeng Xu, BSc Northeastern, PR China MSc

Tianjin, PR China PhD UniSA

Staff

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 7

Haolan Xu, BSc Nanjing University of Technology, PR China PhD Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, PR China

Jingfang Zhou, BSc(Hons) Xiamen, PR China MSc Henan, PR China PhD UniSA

Scientific ServicesScott Abbott, BAppSc(Hons) PhD UniSAIgor Ametov, BSc PhD Moscow State, Russia

BEng AdelaideChris Bassell, BAppSc BEng UniSAJohn Denman, BTech BSc(Hons) Flinders PhD

UniSAAleksandr Kaplun, BSc Kiev State, UkrainePhilip Moore, Advanced Chem Plant

Operation Poole Tech College, UK DipOH&S Management NSC, Adelaide

Ray Newell, BSc MSc UNSW PhD UniSAKeith Quast, BAppSc MAppSc SAITAndrew Robinson, BAppSc SAIT DipOHS&W

TAFE Cert IV Workplace Training & Assessment TAFE

Zofia Swierczek, MSc AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

Daniel Weissmann, ScTechCert SAIT

Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-SA)Dipankar Chugh, BTech IIT, Guwahati, India MSc

Calgary, CanadaJeremy Deverell, BSc(Hons) PhD TasmaniaSimon Doe, BEng Nottingham, UK

DipWeldingEng TWI, UK GradCertTechComm Melbourne

Luke Parkinson, BSc Adelaide BSc(Hons) Queensland PhD UniSA

Research and Technology SupportMichael Bottroff, Cert IV Info Tech TAFE Louie Del Castillo, BSc Unciano Medical College,

PhilippinesDarren Faulkner, Fitting & Machining App, Adv

Cert Engineering TAFEStefani Griesser, BA(Hons) University of

Iowa, USA GradDipEd Monash BMedSci & AppBiotech CSU

Craig Hackney, ScTechCert SAIT BBus UniSAMarek Jasieniak, BSc(Hons) Cracow, PolandTom Macdonald, BSc(Hons) Flinders

Czeslaw Poprawski, DipMechEng TUW, Poland ScTechCert SAIT

Kevin Shanahan, BSc AdelaidePhilip Souter, Post-trade Certificate TAFE

AdministrationTeresa Duncan, Cert III Business (Admin) TAFEJulie FreytagTracy Greeneklee, Cert IV Business (Admin) TAFE

Cert IV (Info Tech) TAFE DipBusAdmin TAFELouise JenningsChristina KoutlakisPaul Luppino, AssDipAcc TAFEMadelene Pierce, BA(Hons) FlindersKathryn ProhaskaSandra Ray, GradDipMgmt MBA UniSAMaureen TerryPaul Wotley, BSc(Hons) Adelaide Adjunct Research ProfessorsDr Terry Blake (retired), Surface Science Kodak,

Harrow, United KingdomProf Laurindo de Salles Leal Filho, Mining and

Petroleum Engineering, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Dr Bart Follink, Global Research Alliance, Victoria, Australia

Dr Anita Hill, Chief, Division of Process Science and Engineering, CSIRO

Prof Roger Horn, Institute of Research Training, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia

Prof Takehiko Kitamori, Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Japan

Prof Ron Martin, Department of Chemistry, University of Western Ontario, Canada

Prof Nataliya Mishchuk, Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine

Prof Wayne Nesbitt, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, Canada

Prof Jordan Petrov, Institute of Biophysics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Prof Allan Pring, South Australian Museum, South Australia


Adjunct Research Associate ProfessorsA/Prof Bernhard Klein, Norman B Keevil Institute

of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada

A/Prof Dusan Losic, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide

Adjunct Senior Research FellowsA/Prof Ivan Kempson, Institute of Physics,

Academia Sinica, TaiwanMr George Levay, Levay & Co Environmental

Services, South AustraliaDr Hamid-Reza Manouchehri, Sandvik Mining,

Sweden Dr Ray Shaw (retired), Rio Tinto Group, Victoria,

Australia Dr Robert Sumner, BHP Billiton, South Australia

Adjunct Research FellowDr Renate Fetzer, Karlsruhe Institute of

Technology, Germany

Prof Jonas Addai-Mensah was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Doctor of Science honoris causa) from the University of Mines and Technology, Ghana. The award was presented by the Vice Chancellor, Prof Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, at the University’s Fourth Congregation, held on 28 July 2012. Photo courtesy of the University of Mines and Technology.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 9

Degrees AwardedTrent Albrecht, PhD in Applied ScienceMoom Sinn Aw, PhD in EngineeringXun Bian, PhD in Applied ScienceSusana Brito e Abreu, PhD in EngineeringHua Li, PhD in Applied ScienceJessica Lu, PhD in Applied ScienceLee San Puah, PhD in EngineeringSantanu Ray, PhD in Applied ScienceDie Daisy Yang, PhD in Applied ScienceYang Yu, PhD in Applied Science

PhD StudentsMahmoud Moussa Abd-Elsadik, BSc(Hons) MSc

Beni-Suef University, EgyptNick Absalom, BSc(Hons) FlindersEric Agorhom, BSc(Hons) University of Mines

and Technology, GhanaFurqan Ahmed, MBBS MCPS Sindh Medical

College & Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan MPhil University of Karachi, Pakistan

Yamini Akkamsetty, BPharm St Peters Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India MSc Flinders

Samuel Asare-Asher, BSc University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Nasser Awad Abdel Mogeth, BSc Sohag University, Egypt MSc Helwan University, Egypt

Bellson Awatey, BSc University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Vaskor Bala, BPharm Khulna University, Bangladesh

Rajkamal Balu, BTech Anna University, India MTech Sastra Deemed University, India

Wesley Beelders, BTech BSc(Hons) FlindersAchal Bhatt, BPharm Hemchandracharya North

Gujarat University, India Postgrad Diploma in Pharmacy Curtin MHealthServices Mgmt Griffith BMedPharmSc(Hons) UniSA

Israt Biva, BPharm MPharm University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Siobhan Bradley, BSc(Hons) Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

Chiu Ping Chan, BSc(Hons) UniSAJoseph Chan, BSc(Hons) FlindersAidan Cousins, BSc BEd(Hons) UniSAIliana Delcheva, BSc MSc University of Sofia,

Bulgaria

Terry Dermis, BSc(Hons) UniSAMelissa Dewi, BChemEng Curtin, Sarawak

Campus, MalaysiaYusuf Ferdosi, BSc(Hons) Aligarh Muslim

University, India MSc University of Allahabad, India MPhil Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, Bangladesh

Shadrack Fosu, BSc University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Catherine Fung BEng (Chemical) Adelaide BSc (Hons) UniSA

Colin Hall, BAppSc(Hons) UniSAWendy Harrington-Esposito, BSc(Hons) UniSATracey Ho, BSc(Hons) Flinders Lachlan Hyde, BSc(Hons) Flinders Li Jiang, BSc Ludong, PR China MSc Tianjin

University, PR ChinaPaul Joyce, BEng AdelaideYogesh Kalegowda, BSc MSc Kuvempu

University, IndiaShahab Kashani Rahimi, BEng Amirkabir

University of Technology, Iran MSc University of Manchester, UK

Jessica Kinal, BEng(Hons) CurtinMohammad Kor, BEng MMingEng Shahrood

University of Technology, IranJim Lem, BEng MPhil PNG University of

Technology, Papua New GuineaTianqing Liu, BSc Wuhan University, PR China

MPharmSc TasmaniaAijing Ma, BEng Taiyuan University of Science

and Technology, PR China MEng Tianjin University, PR China

Jennifer MacCarthy, BSc University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Tom Macdonald, BTech (Forensic & Analytical Chemistry) BSc (Hons) Flinders

Hadi Madani, BChemEng Semnan University, Iran MChemEng Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

Yatin Mange, BSc Mangalore University, India MSc National Institute of Technology Karnataka India

Regis Mejard, MEng Ecole Centrale de Lille, France MSc Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France

Postgraduate Students


Thomas Michl, BChem MSc ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Muireann O’Loughlin, BSc(Hons) National University of Ireland, Galway

Clement Owusu, BSc(Hons) University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Andrea Paul, MSc/Dipl.Geol. University of Cologne, Germany

Ishmael Quaicoe, BSc(Hons) University of Mines and Technology, Ghana

Melanie Ramiasa, Dip Ing (BChemEng MChemEng) Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Rennes, France

Bilquis Romana, BPharm(Hons) MPharmTech University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh

Yunyu Shi, BChemEng East China University of Science and Technology, PR China MChemEng Adelaide

Maria Sinche Gonzalez, BEng San Agustin National University, Peru MMinRes Madrid Polytechnic University, Spain

Ge Su, BSc MSc Fudan University, PR ChinaBogale Tadesse, BEd Bahir Dar University,

Ethiopia MSc Addis Ababa University, EthiopiaDuy Tran, BEng(Hons) Nong Lam University,

VietnamMy Yung Truong, BEng AdelaideValentin Vancea, DipEng Transilvania University

of Brasov, RomaniaZhantao Wang, BEng MEng Northwest A&F

University, PR ChinaJasmin Whittaker, BEng AdelaideMarnie Winter, BLabMed(Hons) UniSALimin Wu, BSc Langfang Normal University, PR

China MSc Soochow University, PR ChinaJie Xu, BEng Wuhan University of Technology,

PR China MEng Chinese Academy of Science, PR China

Yi Yang, BBioEng MBioEng Central South University, PR China

Rokhsana Yasmin, BPharm University of Dhaka, Bangladesh BSc(Hons) UniSA

Li Yu, BSc Anqing Teachers College, PR China MSc Donghua University, PR China

Thilagavathi Yuvaraj, BEng Anna University, India MBioTech Flinders

Dr Gujie Qian, recipient of the 2011 Ian Wark Research Institute Medal. The Medal was presented to Gujie on 16 November 2012 by Dr Rob La Nauze, Chairman, Advisory Board.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 11

A/Prof Bruce Jackson and Dr Ataollah Nosrati, the winner of The Norton Jackson Material Science and Engineering Medal. The medal was presented at the UniSA Scholarships and Grants Ceremony on 20 June, 2012.

The Wark receives generous donations from individuals and organisations through The Wark Fund and the Norton Jackson Medal Fund. We thank all donors for their continuing interest and practical support by investing in our future.

The Wark FundEstablished in 2008, this fund helps to underpin the activities of The Wark. Donated funds may be used to support postgraduate scholarships, postdoctoral fellowships, the acquisition of major equipment, academic research or other special projects.

We acknowledge the following individuals who made donations to The Wark Fund during 2012:• Dr Max Richards AM FTSE • Mr Ilia Stamatopoulos.

Thank you also to those who wish to remain anonymous. For further information on The Wark Fund, please visit www.unisa.edu.au/giving/fundingpriorities/Wark.asp

The Norton Jackson Medal Fund Established in 2010, The Norton Jackson Material Science and Engineering Medal is a fitting tribute to a man who made a distinguished contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the mining industry. This medal recognises the achievements of graduates of The Wark and is awarded annually to the PhD graduate or graduand who has demonstrated the most potential or real application of research in industry.

We acknowledge the following individuals who made donations to The Norton Jackson Medal Fund during 2012:• Mr Bruce Ashton• Ms Sheila Bailey• Ms Erica Batt• Ms Helen Black• Mr Peter Cameron• Mrs Barbara Coppock• Mr Barrie Coppock• Mr Geoff Dunlop• Ms Jan Gillies• Mr Trevor Ireland• Ms Isobel Jackson• Ms Ruth Kinsman• Dr David Klingberg AO• Prof Mervyn Lewis FASSA• Prof Rob Lewis• Ms Colleen Mann• Ms Yvonne Martin-Clark• Mrs Zoe McFawn• Mrs Mary McLeod• Mrs Erica Micklem• Mrs Cora Nankivell• Dr Peter Noblet AM• Mr Tom Pearce• Mrs Trudy Pearce• Dr Ken Pidgeon• Dr Leanna Read• Mr Robert Scott• Mr David Senior• Prof Kyoko Sheridan• Mrs Junette Smith• Dr Peter Sydenham• Ms Barbara Thomas• Ms Desiree Utting• Mrs Merilyn Webb• Dr Kevin Wills

The following organisations also made generous donations:• Centrex Metals Limited• University of South Australia.

Thank you also to those who wish to remain anonymous. For further information on the Norton Jackson Medal Fund, please visit www.unisa.edu.au/giving/fundingpriorities/nortonjackson.asp

Supporters and Donors


Research Funding

University of South Australia

30.1%

Federal/State Government

36.6%

Industry 33.3%

Funding Division - 2012

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Operating Revenue for the Period 2003 - 2012

Funding Division – 2012

Operating Revenue for the Period 2003 – 2012

Federal/State Government 36.6%

University of South Australia 30.1%

Industry 33.3%

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 13

Research Highlights

Assessing the Effect of Ore Variability on Plant OperationMoore, P, Newell, R, Quast, K and Zanin, M

The commercial viability of any greenfields project is based on the evaluation of representative samples obtained from core sample drilling campaigns at strategic locations throughout the ore body. Preliminary bench scale flotation studies may involve the testing of one or more samples or master composites representing particular periods in the life of the mine. The initial circuit design may be based on the evaluation of one or more samples, however it is possible that variations in the ore body may require optimisation of the circuit, reagent scheme, dosage rates, addition points etc to account for changes in ore composition. Furthermore, as each new part of the ore body is reached during mining operations the plant metallurgist will need to know how to adjust the process conditions to achieve optimum recovery and grade.

The Wark’s Mini Pilot Flotation Plant (MPP) was used to investigate the effect of ore variability on samples from a supergene-enriched and partially oxidised porphyry copper deposit at the pre-feasibility stage of a mining project. A total of eight samples, representing the entire life of the mine, were investigated. In this case, froth flotation was employed to physically separate ore from gangue as mining of ore amenable to heap leaching was almost complete. Samples obtained from exploration drilling campaigns were limited due to the remote location of the mine site, making conventional pilot scale flotation plant operation on multiple flowsheet configurations impossible, hence the use of the MPP.

The MPP operated by The Wark is unique in Australia due to its extremely small scale that provides a degree of control and flexibility in operation that is impossible to achieve with conventional pilot plants. The chemical and physical conditions in flotation that affect optimal mineral separations on a continuous basis were monitored and closely controlled. Using samples of approximately 200 kg per test option at a feed rate of only 5 kg/hour, the plant was operated in continuous mode with roughing, regrinding, cleaning and column flotation options evaluated in various flowsheet configurations. Each flowsheet configuration tested on a conventional pilot scale plant consumes 10 to 20 times the amount of sample required for MPP operation. Fast analysis of generated products was included in the test program through X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) which provided essential operating data within 2 hours. QEMSCAN™ analysis was used to determine the nature of valuable mineral losses and impurities.

Test data obtained from the MPP correlated well with bench scale test results and limited Pilot Plant information. Optimised flowsheet configurations for producing the copper concentrate were recommended based on test data obtained from each of the eight samples. Financial modelling of mine economics was therefore possible providing a sound basis upon which to move to the feasibility stage of the project, while minimising the risk of very expensive errors in full-scale processing plant design.

Clement Owusu, PhD student, discharging ground mineral slurry from the Mini Pilot Plant rod mill.


Delivery of Antibacterial Drugs from Plasma Polymer CoatingsJasieniak, M, Mon, H and Griesser, HJ

As part of The Wark’s involvement in the Wound Management Innovation CRC, we have investigated the possibility of releasing antibacterial drugs from plasma polymer coatings. A key advantage of plasma polymers is that they can be coated onto virtually any substrate with excellent adhesion and coating uniformity. Moreover, we have a database of a range of plasma polymers with a wide range of properties, such as from hydrophilic to hydrophobic character, which enables us to select an appropriate plasma polymer matrix for loading with drugs that may not be sufficiently soluble in the material of the existing wound care product.

These plasma polymers, with incorporated bioactive molecules, seem promising for application as added high-value coatings onto existing wound care products in order to induce desired biological activity and thereby generate novel products for specific health care needs. To date, we have concentrated on loading plasma polymers with antibacterial molecules so as to combat infections that compromise wound healing. The antibiotic levofloxacin, for example, is highly active at low concentrations and therefore amenable to such applications, where we need to load sufficient amounts into a thin coating (<200 nm).

Our data shows that levofloxacin released from two different plasma polymer coatings can stop the formation of bacterial biofilm on the sample surface over a period of several days. Work is now extending this to the release of antibiotics that can break up an existing biofilm and thus eradicate existing wound infections.

Photomicrographs of bacterial colonisation (Staphylococcus epidermidis) onto a control heptylamine plasma polymer surface (above) and a heptylamine plasma polymer coating loaded with levofloxacin (below). On the control surface the bacteria have formed a layer comprising thousands of live bacteria, as evidenced by the green staining, whereas the other sample does not show any adhered bacteria. Scale bar = 100 µm.

100 µm.

Developing a Better Thermodynamic Picture to Describe Phase Transfer of NanoparticlesSu, G and Wang, D (The Wark); Stocco, A, Chanana, M and Cernoch, P (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany); Binks, BP (University of Hull, UK)

Prof Dayang Wang and his team demonstrated that gold nanoparticles (NPs) coated with stimuli-responsive polymer brushes (red phase in Figure below) readily transfer from oil to salty water across the planar interfaces when the environmental temperature is reduced below 5°C, while they transfer from salty water to oil when the environmental temperature returns to room temperature. The water-to-oil particle transfer after warming is dictated by the ionic strength response of the polymer brushes anchored on the NPs, while the temperature onset for the oil-to-water NP transfer after cooling is weakly correlated with the transition temperature of the polymer brushes in either of the bulk phases. The transfer mechanism disparity for the two directions during NP crossing of oil/water interfaces should provide a better thermodynamic picture to describe phase transfer.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 15

0102030405060708090

100

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Particle distance (mm)

Cont

act a

ngle

(o )

AdvancingReceding

Contact angle variation across a single particle of methylated quartz (ToF-SIMS image; bar: 10µm). Modified after Brito e Abreu, S & Skinner, W, Langmuir, 28, 7360−7367, 2012.

Determination of Hydrophobicity and Surface Coverage Using ToF-SIMS: A New Tool for Separation ProcessesBrito E Abreu, S & Skinner, W, ‘Determination of contact angles, silane coverage, and hydrophobicity heterogeneity of methylated quartz surfaces using ToF-SIMS’, Langmuir, 28, (19), 7360-7367, 2012

This study reports a direct correlation between the surface property hydrophobicity and the surface chemistry of methylated quartz surfaces, as measured by the highly surface sensitive technique, Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Based on key secondary ion signals, the water advancing and receding contact angles of a surface can be inferred on the micron scale, ie microscopic hydrophobicity. This unique method provides information about the variation of hydrophobicity across heterogeneous or patterned surfaces, extended or particulate surfaces, as well as the distribution of hydrophobicity in large ensembles of particles. Moreover, due to the imaging capability of this technique, maps of hydrophobicity (advancing or receding contact angles) can also be determined from ToF-SIMS images.

The hydrophobicity of particle surfaces is particularly relevant to industrial processes involving solid-liquid separations such as froth flotation and flocculation. For instance, using the ToF-SIMS method, the hydrophobicity across a single particle can be interrogated (figure above), showing that it can vary considerably along a particle surface. This observation highlights the complexity of the wetting and de-wetting processes across a surface, such as with particle-bubble interactions encountered in froth flotation mineral processing. Additionally, the surface coverage of the methylation species was inferred directly from the ToF-SIMS measurement. The universality of this approach enables studies to be performed on a variety of adsorbate-substrate systems providing unique information, not otherwise possible with currently available techniques.


Few-atom Noble-metal Quantum Clusters: Lonely Molecular Metals with More Colourful Personality Dutta, NK, Roy Choudhury, N, Balu, R, Elvin, C (CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences) and Hill, A (CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering) Recent research conducted at The Wark under an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant has revealed the spectacularly colourful life of sub-nano noble metal clusters, which are completely different from dazzling bulk metals and astute nanoparticles (NPs). NPs (1-100 nm) have attracted great interest recently due to their unique properties and functions; however, creation of metallic quantum clusters (size <1nm) - that bridge the properties of isolated atoms to nanoparticles - remain elusive. We have successfully created water-soluble and highly fluorescent, few-atom noble-metal quantum clusters (NMQC) in condensed phase using green chemistry, with gentler water as solvent and kinder protein-polymer as both the reductant and the structure-directing agent while tempering the tendency of NMQC to aggregate. These NMQCs are excitable by UV and/or visible light and affect light-matter interaction in a wonderfully different way resulting in fluorescence with intense long-lasting colours (Figure A). The display of colour is tuneable through size quantisation with the smallest NMQC fluorescing in the blue and green (Figure B). The origin of the emissive characteristics of NMQC is not fully realized yet but is certainly different from semiconductor nanoparticles.

Generally, noble metals exhibit high conductivity and beautiful surface lustre in bulk, which is related to the presence of delocalized free electrons. When the particle sizes are within threshold limits smaller than the electron mean free path (~50nm for Au) but higher than Fermi wavelength of an electron, the NP surfaces exhibit collective oscillations of free electrons under light excitation. Consequently, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics are displayed by such NPs. According to Quantum mechanics, when the size of the NPs approaches the Fermi wavelength, (the associated de Broglie wavelength of electrons near the Fermi energy, <<2nm) the continuous density of states (DOS) characteristic of metals splits into distinct energy levels and reveals discrete excitation and strong fluorescence. We have experimentally demonstrated that the evolution from discrete intra-band transitions of the free electrons to the plasmon of large NPs in the condensed phase occurs at ~2nm for Au. The fundamental question remains as to how the electronic structures of NMQCs change with size. The facile synthesis of NMQC in condensed phase has the potential to offer the opportunity to develop a new generation of catalysts, biocompatible fluorophores as biological labels and enables the creation of QD-LEDs of almost any colour on the CIE colour space.

Optical property of fluorescent NMQC: (A) Excitation-emission 3D contour plots of Ag QC(B) Digital images of NMQC solutions under appropriate excitations.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 17

New Theoretical Model for Evaluating Polydispersity in NMR Diffusion ExperimentsRoding, M, Bernin, D, Jonasson, J, Sarkka, A, Topgaard, D, Rudemo, M & Nyden, M, ‘The gamma distribution model for pulsed-field gradient NMR studies of molecular-weight distributions of polymers’, Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 222, 105-111, 2012

For many years NMR spectroscopists have fought to obtain high quality data for correctly assessing the polymer molecular weight distribution from their distribution in diffusion coefficients in solution. The problem is complicated by cumbersome computational efforts as well as problems with spectral overlap between different species. In this work, we propose a new theoretical model for evaluating polydispersity in NMR diffusion experiments. The model is based on a gamma distribution of self-diffusion coefficients instead of the ‘standard’ log-normal distribution function. The gamma function, like the log-normal distribution function, incorporates explicitly a physically plausible model for polydispersity and the main advantage with our model is that upon integration it results in a closed form equation enabling very fast and accurate fitting procedures. In fact, it compares to the single exponential model in terms of computational speed. The paper discusses the performance of the gamma function in comparison with several other commonly used methods and it is suggested that the gamma distribution model should be used in many experimental situations. One such important situation occurs when dealing with multi-component systems in which the gamma function outperforms all the other methods tested.

Novel Antibacterial Coatings of Polymers that Mimic Antimicrobial PeptidesGriesser, S, Jasieniak, M, Vasilev K (Mawson Institute, UniSA) and Griesser, HJ

This research investigates the possibility of using synthetic polymers as antibacterial coatings to stop the formation of infectious bacterial biofilms on wound care products and implants. It forms part of The Wark’s involvement in the Wound Management Innovation CRC. Here our focus is on synthetic polymers that mimic antimicrobial peptides, which are part of the body’s natural defence system but are subject to proteolytic degradation. Synthetic polymers tethered to the surface of biomedical devices, on the other hand, would be immune to proteolysis and hence should be able to provide long-term protection against bacterial colonization.

In this project, we utilise synthetic polymers supplied by our collaborators Profs S Gellman and K Masters and Dr R Liu at the University of Wisconsin, USA. They have previously shown that their polymers are active against bacteria in solution, are non-toxic, and are cell growth promoting. Our research addresses the question whether their antimicrobial polymers would still display antibacterial activity after covalent surface immobilisation onto solid biomaterials surfaces, since activity might be compromised by either steric hindrance, the loss of protonable amine groups interacting with bacterial membranes or a need to enter bacterial cytoplasm.

We have established several strategies for immobilising these polymers, and the resultant coatings have been characterised by XPS and


ToF-SIMS. Bacterial testing gave excellent results with one synthetic peptide surface providing a fully antibacterial biomaterial. Reductions of bacteria were found after 5 and 24 hours and in the presence of proteins which could block activity. The antibacterial surfaces were also found to be active after storage and remain fully covalently bound. These synthetic peptides also improved cell colonization and proliferation. A wound assay has shown improved healing while blocking bacterial colonization of the wound area. Animal trials are currently underway.

Plasma Surface Modification at the Micro-scalePriest, C and Griesser, HJ (The Wark), Szili, EJ, Al-Bataineh, SA, Ruschitzka, P, Desmet, G, Voelcker, NH, Harding, FJ, Steele, DA and Short, RD (Mawson Institute, UniSA)

A highly successful collaboration between the Mawson Institute and The Wark is pressing against the limits of microplasma technology. The Premier’s Science and Research Fund project, led by Prof Rob Short (Mawson Institute), has developed plasma technologies capable of solvent-free, high-speed and precision surface patterning at the microscale.

Surface modification of materials with microscale features through plasma treatment or deposition is of high value, and is considered one of the great challenges in plasma-based materials processing. A 7 x 7 microcavity plasma array device (each cavity was 250 µm in diameter and separated by 500 µm) was used to demonstrate the capability of these devices for localised, non-contact surface treatment/polymer deposition. The device can be reused multiple times for plasma treatment and polymerisation.[1] The ‘maskless’ microplasma patterning of surfaces can be used in the fabrication of arrays for protein and cell-based assays.[2] The advantage of this micropatterning approach is that it can be easily integrated into current manufacturing practices and the resultant micropatterned surfaces used with existing life sciences techniques and instrumentation.

[1] Plasma Processes & Polymers, 9, 638-646, 2012[2] RSC Advances, 2, 12007-12010, 2012

(a) Photograph of the microcavity plasma array device; (b) optical micrograph of part of the array; and (c) the microplasma array ignited at 1 kVpeak–peak and 10 kHz in heliumat 760 Torr. Scale bar = 250 µm.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 19

Pre-concentration and Agglomeration in the Heap Leaching of Nickel Laterites Addai-Mensah, J, Skinner, W, Fornasiero, D and Ralston, J

A three-year, collaborative research project funded through the CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship Cluster program and co-investment by the participating universities was completed this year. The $6.4M project aimed at designing pre-processing techniques and assessing their impact on downstream hydrometallurgical leaching systems’ performance on complex, low grade Australian Nickel (Ni) laterite ores through controlled heap leaching. The Cluster parties comprised 17 researchers from the Universities of South Australia, Queensland, Melbourne and British Columbia (Canada), in collaboration with the CSIRO through the Advanced Processing Technology (APT) Theme. The research covered four complementary themes: (i) Ore Mineralogy and Processing Options, (ii) Ore Beneficiation for Upgrade, (iii) Agglomeration to Enhance Heap Leaching and (iv) Leaching Behaviour. It provided several, important scientific and technologically important outcomes relating to three mineralogically and chemically different Australian Ni laterite ores, generically classified and named “Goethitic” (G), “Siliceous Goethite” (SG) and “Saprolitic” (SAP):

Comprehensive ore characterization and several investigations including physical separation, flotation and stirred milling for ore upgrade, agglomeration and column leaching were undertaken. The key scientific highlights which emerged include the development of greater knowledge and improved understanding of complex, low grade ores in the following areas: (i) diagnostic characterization and appropriate tools development, (ii) selective milling and classification method for beneficiation, (iii) interfacial science and engineering approach to mineral ores’ agglomeration for enhanced Ni and cobalt heap leaching, where heap geotechnical stability and hydrology are pivotal and (iv) ore mineralogy/chemistry-dependent agglomerate attributes and leaching behaviour relationships for optimum processability.

Typical laterite deposit structure comprising the three ore types and their mineralogical summary.

Solvent Extraction on a ChipPriest, C, Zhou, J, Klink, S, Sedev, R & Ralston, J, ‘Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions and complexes from leach solutions containing nanoparticles’, Chemical Engineering and Technology, 35, (7), 1312-1319, 2012

Solvent extraction is often hindered by the presence of particles and surfactants that increase the stability of emulsion phases, preventing full recovery of the organic phase and the valuable metal species. Wark researchers have shown that bypassing the formation of a particle-stabilized crud using a stream-based microfluidic extraction approach has great potential for handling challenging industry-relevant systems. Metal ions and complexes can be extracted from various metal leach solutions at high efficiencies and extraction rates within the confinement of a microchannel and in the presence of silica nanoparticles.

Solvent extraction processing time-scales are limited by diffusion (a few seconds) or reaction kinetics depending on the system, rather than bulk processing constraints such as the rate of droplet coalescence. Major progress with respect to the fundamentals of flow stability and realising avenues towards high-throughput has been achieved. This research has been patented and is the subject of further research and commercialisation activities at UniSA in cooperation with ITEK Ventures.


The initial investment in such a full-scale installation of WRMs is very high and operating costs have to be entirely negligible to make it commercially competitive. The marine environment is highly aggressive and harshly corrosive; therefore one of the most significant challenges and serious problems faced by such WRM structures is the rapid deterioration of carbon steel surfaces.

To address the need for environmentally friendly, high performance corrosion protection of the metal surfaces, a collaborative project on corrosion - led by The Wark with the participation of Wave Rider Energy Ltd - has been funded under the ARC Linkage Program. To combat corrosion in such an aggressive and corrosive environment, a multilayered nanostructured hybrid self-healing coating is being developed to ensure protection using multiple mechanisms and warrant protection of the structure until their complete overhaul is needed (up to 30 years and more). A combination of accelerated tests in the simulated laboratory environments and prolonged ‘in situ’ exposure of representative samples (Figure B, samples prepared by UniSA) on the structure provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore and develop new information, in-depth understanding, realistic correlation and highly efficient protective systems. It is worthwhile mentioning that the annual corrosion costs of a developed country range approximately 1–5% of the gross national product. The total annual estimated direct cost of corrosion in the USA alone is a staggering $276 billion (http://www.nace.org/home.aspx).

Wave energy conversion module (A) and (B) in situ placement of representative samples for evaluation. Photo courtesy of Wave Rider Energy Pty Ltd.

Smart Anti-corrosive Coating for Wave Energy Module to Harvest the Ocean’s Power Roy Choudhury, N and Dutta, NK (Industry Partner: Wave Rider Energy Pty Ltd)

Marine renewable energy is inexhaustible and efficient harnessing of this resource will enable us to extract an environmentally friendly source of power in perpetuity. The economically exploitable resource could be as high as 2000 TWh per year. In Australia, the best wave energy resources are located off the coastline along the southern margin. However, the ‘ocean is no peaceful farmland’ and development of stable, affordable and environmentally-sensitive energy systems is challenging. Rising to the challenge and to make marine renewables a reality, Wave Rider Energy Pty Ltd - a South Australian enterprise, is currently developing a unique wave energy conversion module (Wave Rider), to convert the ocean’s kinetic energy into electrical energy. This has the potential to initiate a new industry in Australia and aid Australia’s efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy.

A significant amount of resources and research in various structural and environmental aspects is critical for the design to be fully optimized for full-scale installations. With this goal in mind, Wave Rider Energy Pty Ltd launched the first prototype of the Wave-Rider module (WRM), in November 2011. This 330-tonne floating structure of carbon-steel buoyed by seven pontoons (Figure A) when anchored to the sea-bed using an appropriate mooring device, should keep the whole mechanism always at the face of the waves and able to convert wave energy to electrical energy.

B A

http://www

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 21

To Merge or Not To MergeKrasowska, M, Popescu, M, Ralston, J, Kuznicki, N (University of Alberta, Canada) and Sellapperumage, P

This was the question that apparently seemed to confuse oil drops near an electrolyte-oil interface, as students Natalie Kuznicki (visiting PhD student) and Pasindu Sellapperumage (internship student) and researchers Marta Krasowska, Mihail Popescu and John Ralston discovered.

In general, when a drop of liquid encounters another drop, or bulk, of the same type of liquid, it will either stay stable near it, if stabilizing surface interactions are at work, or merge to form a larger entity, a process known as coalescence. Yet, the toluene, heptane, or heptol (toluene-heptane mixture) studied by Natalie during her three month visit at The Wark in 2012, funded in co-operation by Prof

John Ralston from The Wark and Prof Zhenghe Xu from the University of Alberta, exhibited a strikingly different behaviour. They underwent what is known as ‘partial-coalescence’, ie a coalescence event that ended somewhere along the way with only part of the drop being incorporated by the bulk phase and the rest being left behind as a ‘daughter’ drop (see Figure 1 and movies at DOI: 10.1039/c3m27772k). Even more surprising, this spontaneous process proceeded in few steps (a cascade) and ended with small drops that either stayed forever near the interface (if surrounded by water or weak electrolyte) – see Figure 2 – or underwent a full coalescence if the immersing liquid was a strong (1 molar) electrolyte. From these observations, the researchers have been able to infer an electrically charged state of the oils-electrolyte interface and to deduct bounds on the surface potential of these interfaces. The findings have been recently published as; N Kuznicki et al, Soft Matter, 9, 4516-4523 (2013).

Figure 1: A typical cascade partial coalescence of a n-heptane droplet at a water-n-heptane interface. Two such partial coalescence events are captured in the frames at t ≅ 0.66 ms and t ≅ 95.38 ms. Note that the origin of time is set arbitrarily, t = 0 being close to the occurrence of the first partial coalescence event.

Figure 2: The sequence of drops undergoing partial-coalescence events, up to the stable drop, at n-heptane - water interface.Mother’ n-heptane droplet and ‘daughter’ n-heptane droplets left after each partial coalescence cycle. The lifetime of an unstable droplet is less than a second, the lifetime of a stable droplet is over an hour.


ToF-SIMS Shines New Light on Adsorbed Protein StructureKempson, I, Hwu, Y & Prestidge, C, ‘Probing protein association with nano- and micro-scale structures with ToF-SIMS’, Proteins at Interfaces III State of the Art - Volume 1120, American Chemical Society, USA, 709-729, (9780841227965), (T Horbett, JL Brash & W Norde, Ed(s)), 2012

Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) is extensively used at The Wark to study proteins at interfaces. The mass spectrometry and sub-micron resolution imaging capabilities of ToF-SIMS is leading to new insight into protein interactions with interfaces in highly heterogeneous structures, assemblies, mixtures and patterned arrays. This area has been the subject of a chapter by Ivan Kempson and Clive Prestidge and collaborators from the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, entitled ‘Probing protein association with nano- and micro-scale structures with ToF-SIMS’ and published by invitation in the American Chemical Society book Proteins at Interfaces III.

In one case study, the highly sensitive mass fragmentation patterns of the protein human serum albumin (HSA), coupled with careful spectral analysis and interpretation has indicated protein orientation, bonding and structural changes associated with denaturation. The ability to measure trace levels of denatured proteins in blood plasma samples has the

potential to be used as a bio-diagnostic tool. Furthermore, this capability can provide new information for the biotechnology industries that are focused on manufacturing therapeutic proteins and where de-natured proteins cause processing and shelf life challenges, and potential toxicological issues if inadvertently dosed to humans.

Other studies have characterized surface functionalization, and molecular and protein adsorption on nanostructures which relate to bio-sensing technologies. These data indicate binding ligands and are useful in determining molecular orientation and roles of functional groups.

A ToF-SIMS primary ion beam probes molecular-scale information at the absolute surface of a sample. Emission of ions extracted be electric fields detects atoms (including isotopes), molecular and protein fragments; yielding information on nano-structure surface functionalization (top right), semi-quantitative measurement of misfolded proteins and evolution of molecular ‘capping’ of nanoparticles (bottom right).

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 23

Wark Research Makes Medicine Easier to SwallowTan, A, Martin, A, Nguyen, T-H, Boyd, BJ & Prestidge, C, ‘Hybrid nanomaterials that mimic the food effect: Controlling enzymatic digestion for enhanced oral drug absorption’, Angewandte Chemie, 51, (22), 5475-5479, 2012

Wark researcher, Dr Angel Tan, received a prestigious award for innovative research that could change the way we take medication.

Dr Tan travelled to Canada in July to receive the 2012 Controlled Release Society (CRS) Oral Drug Delivery Best Paper Award. Her paper, titled ‘Nanostructured microparticles that mimic the food effect for enhancing oral drug absorption’, was chosen due to its groundbreaking content and outstanding quality.

Published in the highly regarded chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, the paper discusses nanotechnology that Dr Tan and her supervisor Prof Clive Prestidge and their team are developing, which uses a new oral drug delivery system to ensure drugs are more efficiently absorbed into the body.

Dr Tan received her award in Quebec, Canada, at the CRS Annual Meeting on 18 July and followed it up with a period in Denmark to undertake collaborative work with the University of Copenhagen, travelling on travel fellowships from the University of South Australia and the Australian Nanotechnology Network.

The travel fellowships will enhance the capability of nanomedicine research at The Wark by integrating the world-class pharmaceutical skills of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, a major global centre of excellence for medicine and biotechnology.

Controlling the food effect using specific nanostructured networks: SiO2-lipid hybrid microparticles with specific nanostructured interiors (matrix/ core-shell; spherical/non-spherical) were generated from submicron emulsion templates based on mesoporous and non-porous silica nanoparticles. These functional lipid-based nanomaterials can be used to mimic the pharmaceutical food effect and enhance drug absorption by controlling the enzymatic digestion of lipid colloids.

Dr Angel Tan


We Made it Onto the (Back) Cover of Soft Matter!Whitby, C, Lotte, L & Lang, C, ‘Structure of concentrated oil-in-water Pickering emulsions’, Soft Matter, 8, (30), 3784-3789, 2012

Dr Catherine Whitby’s team was invited to submit images for the back cover of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Soft Matter. The journal editors decided to highlight our publication describing the internal structure of concentrated Pickering emulsions. Concentrated emulsions like mayonnaise, emulsion explosives and moisturizer creams consist of emulsion drops packed closely together into a dense suspension. They behave like elastic solids, rather than liquids. We enhanced these features by coating the drops with nanoparticle shells.

Despite their practical importance, there are few reliable methods for visualising the internal structure of dense emulsions. They are opaque materials and diluting the emulsions to help visualise them can dramatically alter their structure. We overcame this problem by staining our emulsions with fluorescent dyes. We probed the insides of our emulsions using the advanced microscopy instruments at Adelaide Microscopy (which is part of the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Facility). We constructed a map of how the drop shapes change as they are packed closer and closer together. Our findings helped us to identify the factors that can destabilise the emulsions and cause them to break down.

Dr Catherine Whitby.

Unravelling Soil Water Repellency Whitby, C, Bian, X & Sedev, R, ‘Spontaneous liquid marble formation on packed porous beds’, Soft Matter, 8, 11336-11342, 2012

The simplest and most widely used tests of soil wetting are the water drop penetration time and the molarity of ethanol drop tests. They involve measuring the time taken for a water drop to infiltrate into soil and the ethanol concentration needed to reduce that time to less than 10s. Field scientists rarely mention that soil particles climb up the drop sides and form a skin around the drop before it disappears.

A/Prof Rossen Sedev and Dr Catherine Whitby worked together to identify what causes soil particles to climb up water drops and the effects on soil test outcomes. Until now, investigations of particle coating of drop surfaces involved letting water drops fall onto powder beds. Effects of the droplet impact, like splashing, masked particle coating behaviour. By minimising the kinetic energy of the impact, we instead manipulated drop behaviour on soil beds and showed how the particle skins interfere with liquid infiltration.

Our research was published in the leading material science journal, Soft Matter. These findings have implications for Western Australian farmers fighting to overcome the effects of poorly wetting soils. More than 5 million hectares of soil in Australia is water repellent. Waxy compounds in sandy soils prevent water infiltration and dramatically reduce land productivity.

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 25

Publications

B - Book Chapters

Griesser, H, Hall, H, Jenkins, T, Griesser, SS & Vasilev, K, ‘Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory intelligent surfaces’, Intelligent Surfaces in Biotechnology, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, USA, 183-241, (978-0-470-53650-6), (H Michelle Grandin, Marcus Textor, Ed(s)), 2012

Kempson, I, Hwu, Y & Prestidge, C, ‘Probing protein association with nano- and micro-scale structures with ToF-SIMS’, Proteins at Interfaces III State of the Art - Volume 1120, American Chemical Society, USA, 709-729, (9780841227965), (T Horbett, JL Brash & W Norde, Ed(s)), 2012

Thierry, B, Ma, D & Winnik, F, ‘The design of polysaccharide multilayers for medical applications’, Multilayer Thin Films: Sequential Assembly of Nanocomposite Materials, Second Edition, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 637-658, (978-3527316489), (Gero Decher and Joseph B Schlenoff, Ed(s)), 2012

C1 - Refereed Journal Articles

Agorhom, AE, Skinner, W & Zanin, M, ‘Upgrading of low-grade gold ore samples for improved particle characterisation using Micro-CT and SEM/EDX’, Advanced Powder Technology, 23, 498-508, 2012

Avendano Juarez, J & Whitby, C, ‘Oil-in-water Pickering emulsion destabilisation at low particle concentrations’, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 368, 319-325, 2012

Aw, MS, Addai-Mensah, J & Losic, D, ‘A multi-drug delivery system with sequential release using titania nanotube arrays’, Chemical Communications, 48, (27), 3348-3350, 2012

Aw, MS, Addai-Mensah, J & Losic, D, ‘Polymer micelles for delayed release of therapeutics from drug-releasing surfaces with nanotubular structures’, Macromolecular Bioscience, 12, (8), 1048-1052, 2012

Baek, H, Lee, C, Park, J, Kim, Y, Koo, B, Shin, H, Wang, D & Cho, J, ‘Layer-by-layer assembled enzyme multilayers with adjustable memory performance and low power consumption via molecular-level control’, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22, (11), 4645-4651, 2012

Bailey, MR, Denman, JA, King, B & Donne, SW, ‘Role of titanium dioxide in enhancing the performance of the alkaline manganese dioxide cathode’, Electrochemical Society Journal, 159, (2), 158-165, 2012

Banerjee, C, Hughes, DL, Bochmann, M & Nann, T, ‘InP nanowires from surfactant-free thermolysis of single molecule precursors’, Dalton Transactions, 41, (24), 7244-7248, 2012

Baraban, L, Tasinkevych, M, Popescu, M, Sanchez, S, Dietrich, S & Schmidt, O, ‘Transport of cargo by catalytic Janus micro-motors’, Soft Matter, 8, (1), 48-52, 2012

Beattie, D, Beaussart, A, Mierczynska-Vasilev, A, Harmer-Bassell, S, Thierry, B, Puskar, L & Tobin, M, ‘Synchrotron FTIR microscopy of Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers and polyelectrolyte multilayers at the solid-solid interface’, Langmuir, 28, (3), 1683-1688, 2012

Beaussart, A, Parkinson, LA, Mierczynska-Vasilev, A & Beattie, D, ‘Adsorption of modified dextrins on molybdenite: AFM imaging, contact angle, and flotation studies’, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 368, (1), 608-615, 2012

Beaussart, A, Petrone, L, Mierczynska-Vasilev, A, McQuillan, AJ & Beattie, D, ‘In situ ATR FTIR study of dextrin adsorption on anatase TiO2’, Langmuir, 28, (9), 4233-4240, 2012

Brito E Abreu, S & Skinner, W, ‘Determination of contact angles, silane coverage, and hydrophobicity heterogeneity of methylated quartz surfaces using ToF-SIMS’, Langmuir, 28, (19), 7360-7367, 2012

Buckley, A, Denman, JA & Hope, GA, ‘The adsorption of n-octanohydroxamate collector on Cu and Fe oxide minerals investigated by static secondary ion mass spectrometry’, Minerals, 2, 493-515, 2012

Chan, J, Chan, H-K, Prestidge, C, Denman, JA, Young, P & Traini, D, ‘A novel dry powder inhalable formulation incorporating three first-line anti-tubercular antibiotics’, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 83, (2), 285-292, 2012

Charron, G, Huhn, D, Perrier, A, Cordier, L, Pickett, C, Nann, T & Parak, WJ, ‘On the use of pH titration to quantitatively characterize colloidal nanoparticles’, Langmuir, 28, (43), 15141-15149, 2012

Charron, G, Stuchinskaya, T, Edwards, DR, Russell, D & Nann, T, ‘Insights into the mechanism of quantum dot-sensitized singlet oxygen production for photodynamic therapy’, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C: Nanomaterials and Interfaces, 116, (16), 9334-9342, 2012


Chen, R, Willcox, M, Cole, N, Ho, K, Rasul, R, Denman, JA & Kumar, N, ‘Characterization of chemoselective surface attachment of the cationic peptide melimine and its effects on antimicrobial activity’, Acta Biomaterialia, 8, (12), 4371-4379, 2012

Chipfunhu, D, Zanin, M & Grano, S, ‘Flotation behaviour of fine particles with respect to contact angle’, Chemical Engineering Research & Design, 90, (1), 26-32, 2012

Coad, B, Lu, Y & Meagher, L, ‘A substrate-independent method for surface grafting polymer layers by atom transfer radical polymerization: Reduction of protein adsorption’, Acta Biomaterialia, 8, (2), 608-618, 2012

Coad, B, Lu, Y, Glattauer, V & Meagher, L, ‘Substrate-independent method for growing and modulating the density of polymer brushes from surfaces by ATRP’, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 4, (5), 2811-2823, 2012

Coad, B, Scholz, T, Vasilev, K, Hayball, J, Short, R & Griesser, H, ‘Functionality of proteins bound to plasma polymer surfaces’, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 4, (5), 2455-2463, 2012

Coad, B, Vasilev, K, Diener, K, Hayball, J, Short, R & Griesser, H, ‘Immobilized streptavidin gradients as bioconjugation platforms’, Langmuir, 28, (5), 2710-2717, 2012

Corbi Garcia, P & Whitby, C, ‘Laponite-stabilised oil-in-water emulsions: Viscoelasticity and thixotropy’, Soft Matter, 8, 1609-1615, 2012

Dong, Y-D, Larson, I, Barnes, TJ, Prestidge, C, Allen, SD, Chen, X, Roberts, CJ & Boyd, BJ, ‘Understanding the interfacial properties of nanostructured liquid crystalline materials for surface-specific delivery applications’, Langmuir, 28, (37), 13485-13495, 2012

Fabretto, M, Evans, D, Mueller, M, Zuber, K, Hojati-Talemi, P, Short, R, Wallace, GG & Murphy, P, ‘Polymeric material with metal-like conductivity for next generation organic electronic devices’, Chemistry of Materials, 24, (20), 3998-4003, 2012

Farrokhpay, S & Zanin, M, ‘An investigation into the effect of water quality on froth stability’, Advanced Powder Technology, 23, (4), 493-497, 2012

Farrokhpay, S, ‘Rheology of titania pigment slurry’, Applied Rheology: Fliessverhalten steuern, 22, (5), 55285-1-55285-6, 2012

Farrokhpay, S, Morris, G & Britcher, L, ‘Stability of sodium polyphosphate dispersants in mineral processing applications’, Minerals Engineering, 39, 39-44, 2012

Fong, W-K, Hanley, T, Thierry, B, Kirby, N, Waddington, LJ & Boyd, BJ, ‘Controlling the nanostructure of gold nanorod-lyotropic liquid-crystalline hybrid materials using near-infrared laser irradiation’, Langmuir, 28, (40), 14450-14460, 2012

Gao, Y, Choudhury, N & Dutta, N, ‘Effects of neutralization on the structure and properties of an ionomer’, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 124, (4), 2908-2918, 2012

Gawlitza, K, Wu, C, Georgieva, R, Wang, D, Ansorge-Schumacher, M & von Klitzing, R, ‘Immobilization of lipase B within micron-sized poly-N-isopropylacrylamide hydrogel particles by solvent exchange’, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 14, (27), 9594-9600, 2012

Ghouchi Eskandar, N, Simovic, S & Prestidge, C, ‘Solid-state nanoparticle coated emulsions for encapsulation and improving the chemical stability of all-trans-retinol’, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 423, (2), 384-391, 2012

Gulati, K, Aw, MS & Losic, D, ‘Nanoengineered drug-releasing Ti wires as an alternative for local delivery of chemotherapeutics in the brain’, International Journal of Nanomedicine, 7, 2069-2076, 2012

Gulati, K, Ramakrishnan, S, Aw, MS, Atkins, G, Findlay, DM & Losic, D, ‘Biocompatible polymer coating of titania nanotube arrays for improved drug elution and osteoblast adhesion’, Acta Biomaterialia, 8, (1), 449-456, 2012

Hall, CJ, Murphy, P & Griesser, H, ‘Hydroxyl radical etching improves adhesion of plasma-deposited a-SiOxCyHz films on poly(methylmethacrylate)’, Plasma Processes and Polymers, 9, (4), 398-405, 2012

Jarvis, KL, Barnes, TJ & Prestidge, C, ‘Surface chemistry of porous silicon and implications for drug encapsulation and delivery applications’, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 175, 25-38, 2012

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 27

Kalegowda, Y & Harmer-Bassell, S, ‘Chemometric and multivariate statistical analysis of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry spectra from complex Cu-Fe sulfides’, Analytical Chemistry, 84, (6), 2754-2760, 2012

Keating, D, Winter, MA, Hemsley, K, MacKenzie, K, Teo, E, Hopwood, JJ, Brooks, D & Parkinson-Lawrence, E, ‘Exocytosis is impaired in mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA mouse chromaffin cells’, Neuroscience, 227, (27), 110-118, 2012

Kempson, I & Skinner, W, ‘A comparison of washing methods for hair mineral analysis: Internal versus external effects’, Biological Trace Element Research, 150, (1-3), 10-14, 2012

Kempson, I, Chien, C-C, Chung, C-Y, Hwu, Y, Paterson, D, de Jonge, M & Howard, D, ‘Fate of intravenously administered gold nanoparticles in hair follicles: follicular delivery, pharmacokinetic interpretation, and excretion’, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 1, (6), 736-741, 2012

Krasowska, M, Popescu, M & Ralston, J, ‘Hydrodynamics in nanoscale confinement: SFA and colloid probe AFM liquid drainage experiments’, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 392, (1), 1-12, 2012

Kumar, S, Lee, W & Szili, E, ‘Electrolysis-assisted sonication for removal of proteinaceous contamination from surgical grade stainless steel’, Journal of Hospital Infection, 81, (1), 41-49, 2012

Kumeria, T & Losic, D, ‘Controlling interferometric properties of nanoporous anodic aluminium oxide’, Nanoscale Research Letters, 7, 1-10, 2012

Kumeria, T, Kurkuri, M, Diener, K, Parkinson, L & Losic, D, ‘Label-free reflectometric interference microchip biosensor based on nanoporous alumina for detection of circulating tumour cells’, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 35, (1), 167-173, 2012

Lauw, Y, Horne, M, Rodopoulos, T, Lockett, V, Akgun, B, Hamilton, W & Nelson, A, ‘Structure of [C 4mpyr][NTf 2] room-temperature ionic liquid at charged gold interfaces’, Langmuir, 28, (19), 7374-7381, 2012

Liu, B & Wang, D, ‘High-throughput transformation of colloidal polymer spheres to discs simply via magnetic stirring of their dispersions’, Langmuir, 28, (15), 6436-6440, 2012

Liu, L, Robinson, D & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Population balance based modelling of nickel laterite agglomeration behaviour’, Powder Technology, 223, 92-97, 2012

Liu, TM & Thierry, B, ‘A solution to the PEG dilemma: Efficient bioconjugation of large gold nanoparticles for biodiagnostic applications using mixed layers’, Langmuir, 28, (44), 15634-15642, 2012

Liu, X, Xu, H, Xia, H & Wang, D, ‘Rapid seeded growth of monodisperse, quasi-spherical, citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles via H2O2 reduction’, Langmuir, 28, (38), 13720-13726, 2012

Mawatari, K, Kubota, S, Xu, Y, Priest, C, Sedev, R, Ralston, J & Kitamori, T, ‘Femtoliter droplet handling in nanofluidic channels: A laplace nanovalve’, Analytical Chemistry, 84, (24), 10812-10816, 2012

Menzies, D, Jasieniak, M, Griesser, H, Forsythe, JS, Johnson, G, McFarland, G & Muir, B, ‘A ToF-SIMS and XPS study of protein adsorption and cell attachment across PEG-like plasma polymer films with lateral compositional gradients’, Surface Science, 606, 1798-1807, 2012

Mierczynska-Vasilev, A, Michelmore, A, Tripathi, A, Goreham, RV, Sedev, R & Vasilev, K, ‘PH-tunable gradients of wettability and surface potential’, Soft Matter, 8, (32), 8399-8404, 2012

Mishchuk, N, Ralston, J & Fornasiero, D, ‘The analytical model of nanoparticle recovery by microflotation’, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 179-182, 114-122, 2012

Muganda, S, Zanin, M & Grano, S, ‘Benchmarking the flotation performance of ores’, Minerals Engineering, 26, (1), 70-79, 2012

Niecikowska, A, Krasowska, M, Ralston, J & Malysa, K, ‘Role of surface charge and hydrophobicity in the three-phase contact formation and wetting film stability under dynamic conditions’, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C: Nanomaterials and Interfaces, 116, (4), 3071-3078, 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Drum agglomeration behavior of nickel laterite ore: Effect of process variables’, Hydrometallurgy, 125-126, 90-99, 2012


Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Skinner, W, ‘Gelation of aqueous clay mineral dispersions leaching at low pH: Effect of mineral/pulp composition and temperature’, Powder Technology, 223, 98-104, 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Skinner, W, ‘Muscovite clay mineral particle interactions in aqueous media’, Powder Technology, 219, 228-238, 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Skinner, W, ‘Rheological behavior of muscovite clay slurries: Effect of water quality and solution speciation’, International Journal of Mineral Processing, 102-103, (25), 89-98, 2012

Nosrati, A, Skinner, W, Robinson, D & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Microstructure analysis of Ni laterite agglomerates for enhanced heap leaching’, Powder Technology, 232, 106-112, 2012

Ojeda, R, Alves de Lima, O, Zanin, M & Leal Filho, LD, ‘Air dispersion parameters in mechanical flotation cells of industrial Brazilian plants’, Revista da Escola de Minas, 65, (2), 271-277, 2012

Pazokifard, S, Mirabedini, S, Esfandeh, M & Farrokhpay, S, ‘Fluoroalkylsilane treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles in difference pH values: Characterization and mechanism’, Advanced Powder Technology, 23, (4), 428-436, 2012

Popescu, M, ‘Chemically active colloidal particles as carriers: Cargo-controlled motion’, Chemistry Letters, 41, 1151-1153, 2012

Popescu, M, Oshanin, G, Dietrich, S & Cazabat, A-M, ‘Precursor films in wetting phenomena’, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 24, 1-30, 2012

Priest, C, Forsberg, PS, Sedev, R & Ralston, J, ‘Structure-induced spreading of liquid in micropillar arrays’, Microsystem Technologies: Micro and nanosystems information storage and processing systems, 18, (2), 167-173, 2012

Priest, C, Ralston, J & Sedev, R, ‘Electrowetting of ionic liquids on teflon AF1600 in ambient hexadecane’, Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 26, (12-17), 2047-2067, 2012

Priest, C, Sedev, R & Ralston, J, ‘A quantitative experimental study of wetting hysteresis on discrete and continuous chemical heterogeneities’, Colloid and Polymer Science, 291, 271-277, 2012

Priest, C, Zhou, J, Klink, S, Sedev, R & Ralston, J, ‘Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions and complexes from leach solutions containing nanoparticles’, Chemical Engineering and Technology, 35, (7), 1312-1319, 2012

Quast, K, ‘Effect of 25% goethite on the hydrophobicity and oleate flotation of hematite’, International Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing (online), 1, (2), 31-37, 2012

Quast, K, ‘Effects of pretreatments on the zeta potential characteristics of a hematite ore’, International Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing (print), 1, (2), 47-55, 2012

Quast, K, ‘Influence of 25% goethite on the surface chemistry of hematite’, International Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing (print), 1, (2), 62-68, 2012

Quast, K, ‘Some surface characteristics of six hematite ores from the Middleback Range area, South Australia’, International Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing (print), 1, (2), 73-83, 2012

Ramiasa, M, Ralston, J, Fetzer, R & Sedev, R, ‘Nanoroughness impact on liquid - liquid displacement’, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C: Nanomaterials and Interfaces, 116, (20), 10934-10943, 2012

Ridings, C, Lockett, V & Andersson, G, ‘Comparing the charge distribution along the surface normal in the [C 6mim]+ ionic liquid with different anions’, Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 413, 149-153, 2012

Roding, M, Bernin, D, Jonasson, J, Sarkka, A, Topgaard, D, Rudemo, M & Nyden, M, ‘The gamma distribution model for pulsed-field gradient NMR studies of molecular-weight distributions of polymers’, Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 222, 105-111, 2012

Simovic, S, Barnes, T, Tan, A & Prestidge, C, ‘Assembling nanoparticle coatings to improve the drug delivery performance of lipid based colloids’, Nanoscale, 4, (4), 1220-1230, 2012

Stocco, A, Chanana, M, Su, G, Cernoch, P, Binks, BP & Wang, D, ‘Bidirectional nanoparticle crossing of oil-water interfaces induced by different stimuli: Insight into phase transfer’, Angewandte Chemie, 51, (38), 9647-9651, 2012

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 29

Tan, A & Prestidge, C, ‘Nanostructured silica-lipid hybrid microparticles: A supersaturating carrier for water- and lipid-resistant compounds’, Chemistry Letters, 41, 1334-1336, 2012

Tan, A, Martin, A, Nguyen, T-H, Boyd, BJ & Prestidge, C, ‘Hybrid nanomaterials that mimic the food effect: Controlling enzymatic digestion for enhanced oral drug absorption’, Angewandte Chemie, 51, (22), 5475-5479, 2012

Thierry, B & Griesser, H, ‘Dense PEG layers for efficient immunotargeting of nanoparticles to cancer cells’, Journal of Materials Chemistry, 22, (18), 8810-8819, 2012

Walsh, R, Howard, SC, Nelson, A, Skinner, W, Liu, G & Craig, VJ, ‘Model surfaces produced by atomic layer deposition’, Chemistry Letters, 41, (10), 1247-1249, 2012

Walsh, R, Nelson, AJ, Skinner, W, Parsons, D & Craig, VJ, ‘Direct measurement of van der waals and diffuse double-layer forces between titanium dioxide surfaces produced by atomic layer deposition’, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C: Nanomaterials and Interfaces, 116, (14), 7838-7847, 2012

Wan, Y, Liu, Y, Allen, PB, Asghar, W, Mahmood, AM, Tan, J, Duhon, H, Kim, Y, Ellington, AD & Iqbal, SM, ‘Capture, isolation and release of cancer cells with aptamer-functionalized glass bead array’, Lab On a Chip, 12, (22), 4693-4701, 2012

Wang, LS, Zheng, Q, Zhang, Q, Xu, H, Tong, J, Zhu, C & Wan, Y, ‘Detection of single tumor cell resistance with aptamer biochip’, Oncology Letters, 4, (5), 935-940, 2012

Whitby, C, Bian, X & Sedev, R, ‘Spontaneous liquid marble formation on packed porous beds’, Soft Matter, 8, 11336-11342, 2012

Whitby, C, Fornasiero, D, Ralston, J, Liggieri, L & Ravera, F, ‘Properties of fatty amine-silica nanoparticle interfacial layers at the hexane-water interface’, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C: Nanomaterials and Interfaces, 116, (4), 3050-3058, 2012

Whitby, C, Lim, L, Ghouchi Eskandar, N, Simovic, S & Prestidge, C, ‘Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) as a particulate emulsifier’, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 375, (1), 142-147, 2012

Whitby, C, Lotte, L & Lang, C, ‘Structure of concentrated oil-in-water Pickering emulsions’, Soft Matter, 8, (30), 3784-3789, 2012

Xu, D, Ametov, I & Grano, S, ‘Quantifying rheological and fine particle attachment contributions to coarse particle recovery in flotation’, Minerals Engineering, 39, 89-98, 2012

Xu, H, Liu, X, Su, G, Zhang, B & Wang, D, ‘Electrostatic repulsion-controlled formation of polydopamine-gold Janus particles’, Langmuir, 28, (36), 13060-13065, 2012

Yu, Y, Addai-Mensah, J & Losic, D, ‘Functionalized diatom silica microparticles for removal of mercury ions’, Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 13, (1), 1-11, 2012

Yu, Y, Kant, K, Shapter, J, Addai-Mensah, J & Losic, D, ‘Gold nanotube membranes have catalytic properties’, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 153, (1), 131-136, 2012

Zhang, B, Zhao, W & Wang, D, ‘Shape-controlled self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles’, Chemical Science (print), 3, (7), 2252-2256, 2012

E1 - Refereed Conference Papers

Addai-Mensah, J, Nosrati, A, Quaicoe, I, Franks, G, Lian, L & Robinson, DJ, ‘Recent investigations of nickel laterite agglomeration for enhanced heap leaching’, Innovative processing for sustainable growth, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 3360-3376, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012, (BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Agorhom, AE, Swierczek, ZK, Skinner, W & Zanin, M, ‘Combined QXRD-QEMSCAN mineralogical analysis of a porphyry copper-gold ore for the optimization of the flotation strategy’, Proceedings of XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress - IMPC2012, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 99-111, New Delhi, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, (IMPC, Ed(s)), 2012

Farrokhpay, S & Manouchehri, H-R, ‘Flotation characteristics of a complex copper ore: A comparison between wet and dry grinding’, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012 Proceedings, Technowrites Pvt. Ltd, 1371-1377, New Delhi, India, IMPC 2012, (BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012


Farrokhpay, S & Zanin, M, ‘Synergic effect of collector and frother on froth stability and flotation recovery - An industrial case’, AUSIMM Mill Operators’ Conference 2012, AusIMM - The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 145-150, Tasmania, 11th Mill Operators Conference 2012, (C Lockyer, K McShane & O Tet Fong, Ed(s)), 2012

Kosior, D, Zawala, J, Krasowska, M & Malysa, K, ‘On the mechanism of the action of frothers in the colliding bubble attachment to hydrophobic surfaces of different roughness’, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012 Proceedings, Technowrites Pvt. Ltd, 03206-03215, New Delhi, India, IMPC 2012, (BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Lem, JP, Triffett, B, Swierczek, ZK, Skinner, W & Zanin, M, ‘Uranium - copper mineralogical characterization of flotation concentrate using QEM-SCAN’, Proceedings of XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress - IMPC2012, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 02845-02856, New Delhi, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, (IMPC, Ed(s)), 2012

Maccarthy, J, Nosrati, A, Skinner, W & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Electrokinetic and rheological behaviour of aqueous chlorite dispersions: Effect of pH and solid loading’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-9, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMECA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Maccarthy, J, Nosrati, A, Skinner, W & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Influence of ore mineralogy and chemistry on particle interactions and acid leaching behaviour of single oxide and clay minerals’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering - CHEMECA 2012, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-10, Wellington, New Zealand, 40th Australasian Chemical Engineering Conference, 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Ng, L, Fung, C, Connor, J, Ngothai, Y, Druskovich, D & Sedev, R, ‘Reactive wetting in corrosion: A mild steel example’, Corrosion and Prevention 2012: Corrosion Management for a Sustainable World: Transport, Energy, Mining, Life Extension and Modelling, Australasian Corrosion Association Inc, 073-1-073-12, Melbourne, Corrosion and Prevention, (Ian Godson, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Agglomeration behaviour of siliceous goethite nickel laterite: Effect of binder formulation and feed particle size’, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012 Proceedings, Technowrites Pvt. Ltd, 3893-3905, New Delhi, India, IMPC 2012, (B. K. Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Effect of post-agglomeration drying conditions on nickel laterite agglomerates’ strength and stability’, Quality of Life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-11, Wellington New Zealand, CHEMCA 2012, (Gary Raymano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Understanding nickel laterite agglomerate properties for enhanced heap leaching’, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012 Proceedings, Technowrites Pvt. Ltd, 3906-3920, New Delhi, India, IMPC 2012, (BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Maccarthy, J, Skinner, W & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Leaching behaviour and particle interactions in uranium laterite dispersions: Effect of ore mineralogy and temperature’, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC) 2012 Proceedings, Technowrites Pvt. Ltd, 3882-3892, New Delhi, India, IMPC 2012, (BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Quaicoe, I, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Improving nickel laterite agglomerate strength for enhanced heap leaching’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-10, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMCA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Nosrati, A, Quaicoe, I, Addai-Mensah, J & Skinner, W, ‘Influence of binder formulation on batch agglomeration behaviour and granule properties of lateritic ores’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-10, Wellington, CHEMCA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Owusu, C, Zanin, M, Fornasiero, D & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Estimating the electrochemical reactivity of iron sulphide mineral and its impact on flotation pulp chemistry’, Chemeca 2012, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-9, Wellington, New Zealand, Chemeca 2012, (Engineers Australia, Ed(s)), 2012

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 31

Perndt, A, Connor, J, Sedev, R & Ngothai, Y, ‘A comparative study on the removal of methyl isobutyl carbinol from froth flotation circuits by chemical treatment’, Quality of Life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-9, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMCA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Priest, C, Zhou, J, Sedev, R & Ralston, J, ‘Liquid-liquid microfluidic extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions’, Microfluidics 2012, Societe Hydrotechnique de France, 1-8, Heidelberg, Germany, 3rd European Conference on Microfluidics 2012, (Michael Schluter, Ed(s)), 2012

Quaicoe, I, Nosrati, A, Skinner, W & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Agglomeration of lateritic ores: Effect of feed ore chemical and mineralogical composition’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-11, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMECA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Quaicoe, I, Nosrati, A, Skinner, W & Addai-Mensah, J, ‘Effect of quartz particle size and drum volume loading on batch agglomeration mechanism and kinetics’, Quality of life through Chemical Engineering, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-11, Welligton, New Zealand, CHEMECA 2012, (Gary Romano and Clive Davies, Ed(s)), 2012

Sinche Gonzalez, M, Zanin, M & Fornasiero, D, ‘Effect of organics in water on the flotation of copper and molybdenum sulphide minerals’, Procemin 2012, GECAMIN Ltd, 268-276, Santiago, Chile, 9th International Conference on Mineral Processing, (A Doll, W Kracht & R Kuyvenhoven, Ed(s)), 2012

Swierczek, ZK, Quast, K, Addai-Mensah, J, Connor, J, Robinson, D & Li, J, ‘Challenges in the mineralogical characterisation of low-grade nickel laterites’, Proceedings of XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress Conference 2012, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 5352-5364, New Dehli, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, (Pradip and BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Tong, L, Klein, B, Zanin, M, Skinner, W & Robinson, D, ‘Stirred milling of siliceous goethitic nickel laterite - Batch grinding study’, Proceedings of XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress - IMPC2012, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 5486-5494, New Dehli, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, (IMPC, Ed(s)), 2012

Xu, D, Hilder, T, Quast, K, Skinner, W, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Column leaching behaviour of nickel laterite agglomerates’, Proceedings of XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, IMPC 2012 - International Mineral Processing Congress, 5883-5891, New Delhi, India, XXVI International Mineral Processing Congress, (Pradip and BK Mishra, Ed(s)), 2012

Xu, D, Lian, L, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Effect of single pellet properties on its strength and leaching performance for three types of nickel laterites ores’, Proceedings of CHEMECA 2012: Mineral Processing and Particle Technology, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-9, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMECA 2012, (Gary Romano, Ed(s)), 2012

Xu, D, Lian, L, Addai-Mensah, J & Robinson, D, ‘Mechanical strength of nickel laterite pellets and their stability under soaking and leaching conditions’, Proceedings of CHEMECA 2012: Mineral Processing and Particle Technology, Engineers Australia Pty Ltd, 1-9, Wellington, New Zealand, CHEMECA 2012, (Gary Romano, Ed(s)), 2012

Zanin, M, Skinner, W, Rowland, L & Lawson, V, ‘Improving Cu/Ni Selectivity at the Vale Bessemer Matte flotation circuit’, Procemin 2012, GECAMIN Ltd, 258-267, Santiago, Chile, 9th International Conference on Mineral Processing, (A Doll, W Kracht & R Kuyvenhoven, Ed(s)), 2012

International Collaborators

United Kingdom Tonejet Corporation Pty LtdUniversity of Bristol University of EdinburghUniversity of Liverpool

France AREVA NCCEA-CNRS, ParisÉcole

Polytechnique, Paris

ERAMET, Paris

Spain University of Vigo

Ghana University of Mines and

Technology

USA Cytec Industries

IncorporatedEriez Magnetics Freeport McMoRan

Mining CompanyHarvard UniversityMontana State

University

DenmarkUniversity of Copenhagen

Brazil University of Sao PauloVale

Chile BHP Billiton Ltd

CanadaCOREM McGill UniversitySimon Fraser University Teck Ltd University of AlbertaUniversity of British

ColumbiaUniversity of Western

Ontario Vale

Ghana University of Mines and

Technology

AUSTRALIA

South Australia Amcor Glass – AustralasiaBHP Billiton Ltd Bio Innovation SA Cancer Council SACeridia Pty LtdDepartment of Further Education,

Employment, Science & TechnologyEcosol Pty Ltd Flinders UniversityHospira Adelaide Pty LtdInstitute of Medical and Veterinary

ScienceITEK Pty LtdLevay & Co Environmental ServicesOZ Minerals LtdQueen Elizabeth HospitalRoyal Adelaide HospitalSA Forensic Science / Australian Federal

PoliceSA PathologySouth Australian MuseumUniversity of AdelaideWave Rider Energy Pty Ltd

ACT Australia-India Strategic Research FundAustralian National UniversityAustralian Research Council CSIRO Flagship Collaboration FundNational Collaborative Research

Infrastructure Strategy/Education Investment Fund

National Health and Medical Research Council

Victoria AMIRA International LtdAustralian Synchrotron Company LtdCSIRO Materials Science and

Engineering Deakin UniversityGlobal Research AllianceMonash UniversityOrica International Pty LtdUniversity of Melbourne

New South Wales Mathys Orthopaedics Pty LtdSouthern Cross UniversityUniversity of NewcastleUniversity of New South Wales

Western Australia CSIRO MineralsMagotteaux Australia Pty Ltd Newcrest Resources Inc

Queensland Australian Coal Association Research

ProgramAustralian Prostate Cancer Research

CentreCSIRO Livestock IndustriesIvanhoe AustraliaNano-Nouvelle Pty LtdQueensland University of TechnologyWound Management Innovation CRCXstrata Copper LtdXstrata TechnologyXstrata Zinc Australia

South Africa Anglo Platinum (Rustenberg Platinum Mines Ltd)University of Cape Town

Switzerland École Polytechnique Fédérale

de Lausanne ETH Zurich RMS FoundationSwiss National Science

FoundationUniversity of Geneva

FinlandOutotec

UkraineInstitute of Colloid and

Water Chemistry

SloveniaUniversity of Ljubljana Vietnam

National Laboratory for Nanotechnology

SwedenAkzoNobel Surface Chemistry Chalmers University of

TechnologyLulea University of Technology Lund UniversitySandvik MiningUniversity of Gothenburg

India Indian Institute of

Science, Bangalore

Taiwan Academia Sinica

Japan Kyoto UniversityNagoya City UniversityUniversity of Tokyo

Germany Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials ResearchMax Planck Institute for Colloids and InterfacesMax Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-OrganizationMax Planck Institute for Intelligent SystemsMax Planck Institute for Polymer Research

PR China CAS National Centre for Nanoscience

and TechnologyFudan UniversityHarbin Institute of TechnologyHenan UniversityInstitute of Process Engineering,

Chinese Academy of SciencesShandong UniversityShanghai Jiao Tong UniversitySoochow UniversitySoutheast UniversityTianjin University

Poland Polish Academy of Science,

KrakowPolish Academy of Science,

WarsawTechnical University of Lodz

New Zealand MacDiarmid InstituteUniversity of Otago

ian wark research institute - home - university of south ... report 2012.pdfian wark research...

Documents