Our research
Towards Zero Waste - Reconfigurable Systems
Towards Zero Waste
Biological systems are incredibly efficient at recycling. In fact if we used the world’s resources as efficiently as our bodies treat the nutrients in the food we eat, our planet would be in a far better state.
Using nature as an inspiration for next-generation sustainable materials, our researchers are working to create self-regulating, self-repairing systems and develop new materials that are recyclable or reconfigurable.
Building on our highly interdisciplinary track-record in soft materials, we will reimagine the use and reuse of materials themselves - from taonga 3D printed from traditional Māori materials, to creating a form of artificial cells that self-regulate and reconfigure for different functions.
If we used the world’s resources as efficiently as our bodies treat the nutrients in the food we eat, our planet would be in a far better state.
Our vision of how the sustainable materials we use in the future will be underpinned by supramolecular building blocks that assemble and reconfigure on demand.
RS Project 1 - Fabricate stimuli-responsive colloids and demonstrate dynamics
Project Leader:
Lead Principal Investigators:
Jadranka Travas-Sejdic, Catherine Whitby, Geoff Willmott.
In this project we’ll make different kinds of emulsions and particles, including reconfigurable ‘Pickering’ emulsions (which are dispersions of unmixable liquids stabilised by solid particles) and solid ‘patchy’ particles that reversibly assemble (e.g into 3D porous matrices) in response to stimulus. Inspired by biological cell-signaling, we aim to develop stimuli-responsive colloid systems that are able to perform important chemical reactions in a controlled, sustainable and efficient way.
RS Project 2 - Self-assembling high value devices through biomimicry
Project Leader:
Lead Principal Investigators:
Jenny Malmström, Laura Domigan, Duncan McGillivray, Volker Nock.
We’ll design and prototype protein-based smart materials that can perform energy harvesting. We will explore non-classical properties of protein structures, such as magnetism, charge storage/conductivity and piezoelectricity (the coupling between the electrical and the mechanical state of the material). We will also develop techniques to guide the self-assembly of 3D protein carrier/cargo scaffolds on a surface (building on methods developed for organised 2D films) as well as the guided assembly of bioinspired materials based on electro- and chemotactic zoospores (using existing fungal lab-on-a-chip platforms in combination with advanced microscopy, optical tweezers, nanoaspiration and electrode systems). We’ll make useful nanostructured protein monolayers that are amphipathic (i.e. have both a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic end and therefore act as natural surfactants).
RS Project 3 - Harness Māori customary knowledge to produce new high value materials from nature
Project Leader:
Lead Principal Investigators:
PhD Scholarships available in Reconfigurable Systems
See here for the full list of PhD Scholarships available in Reconfigurable Systems funded by the MacDiarmid Institute and how to apply.
In the news
Annual Report
Materials science in the new energy sector
June 11, 2020
In May, the Government hosted the Just Transition summit in Taranaki on preparing for a low emissions economy,
Annual Report
An integrated research commercialisation approach
June 11, 2020
Our efforts towards supporting emerging science entrepreneurs links students, experienced researchers, industry and investors across the country.
Read more about An integrated research commercialisation approach
Annual Report
How can materials science offer a greener future for our planet? - Annual Report 2019
May 28, 2020
In 2019, we focused our annual regional showcase on 'NZ Innovation for Sustainability.'
Annual Report
New Associate Investigators 2019 - Annual Report 2019
May 28, 2020
An overview of the research interests of each of our nine new Associate Investigators.
Read more about New Associate Investigators 2019 - Annual Report 2019
Annual Report
Patents and Spinouts 2019 - Annual Report 2019
May 27, 2020
This article from our 2019 Annual Report provides information about the MacDiarmid Institute's latest inventions, patents and spinouts.
Read more about Patents and Spinouts 2019 - Annual Report 2019
Videos
Nature of Science - Bill Williams
March 21, 2019
Professor Bill Williams of the MacDiarmid Institute and Massey University talks about his job as a scientist and why he loves it.
Working with biophysics and soft materials, Bill describes himself as an experimental scientist who looks at how we perceive the world and works to find ways to test these perceptions. Bill is a scientist because he is fascinated by the world around him and wants to continue to figure out how the world works.
Geoff Wilmott - attracting and repelling water
March 21, 2019
From fog harvesters to self-cleaning surfaces, Dr Geoff Wilmott of the MacDiarmid Institute and the University of Auckland is looking at how water is both repelled by and attracted to surfaces with a range of possible applications.
SAVVY Express: Science Media Centre - MacDiarmid Institute
Bill Williams - the machinery of DNA
March 21, 2019
Professor Bill Williams of the MacDiarmid Institute and Massey University explores how better understanding biological problems from a physical point of view can help us come up with better treatments.
SAVVY Express: Science Media Centre - MacDiarmid Institute
MacDiarmid Institute alumna Dr Rebecca Hawke: researching new solar cells
February 25, 2019
Physicist and MacDiarmid Institute alumna Dr Rebecca Hawke talks about solar cells and where science has taken her around the world.
This video includes captions.
1. Where in the world would you study science?
2. What are 5 items you can see around you that materials scientists worked on?
Read more MacDiarmid Institute alumna Dr Rebecca Hawke: researching new solar cells
2017 Lecture Series: Women in nanoscience
February 16, 2019
In the 2017 MacDiarmid Institute Regional Lecture Series: Women in nanoscience, three female MacDiarmid Institute nanoscientists tell their personal stories of life in science. Professors Penny Brothers and Cather Simpson, and Dr Michelle Dickinson (aka Nanogirl) give their own perspectives on what it is like being a woman in the physical sciences (physics, chemistry or engineering).
Podcasts
Jenny Malmström on RNZ
May 9, 2019
Associate Investigator Jenny Malmström talks to RNZ about stem cells, implants and materials science.
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