The declining functionality associated with membranes ageing includes changes in physical parameters, such as, thickness, roughness and density of defects, but also in chemical structure. All these factors impact synergistically on the major performance indicators: permeability and salt rejection. In this study, three types of commercially available RO membranes were statically exposed to hypochlorite solutions and analysed by Fourier transform infrared

The development and characterisation of electrochemically generated hydrogen bubbles for gas evolution kinetics and force spectroscopy are described. Bubbles have been grown at the platinised tip of a commercially available atomic force microscopy (AFM) needle probe (exposed electrode radius rb300 nm) and monitored by CCD camera. Results showconsistent bubble growth in galvanostatic conditions. The utility of the bubble probes in AFM force spectroscopy

Electrochemically active biofilms rely on microorganisms capable of extracellular electron transfer. Such biofilms are involved in the dissimilatory reduction of metal oxides in natural environments as well as electricity driving and driven processes at the electrodes of microbial bioelectrochemical systems. In this work we present the application of confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) as a noninvasive, label-free, and in vivo characterization method

Micro-devices using mechanical means to target skin for improved drug and vaccine delivery have great promise for improved clinical healthcare. Fully realizing this promise requires a greater understanding of key micro-biomechanical properties for each of the different skin layers – that are both the mechanical barriers and biological targets of these devices. Here, we performed atomic force microscopy indentation on a micro-nano scale to quantify

As strategies for manipulating cellular behaviour in vitro and in vivo become more sophisticated, synthetic biomaterial substrates capable of reproducing critical biochemical and biophysical properties (or cues) of tissue micro-environments will be required. Cytoskeletal tension has been shown to be highly deterministic of cell fate decisions, yet few synthetic biomaterials are capable of modulating cytoskeletal tension of adhered cells through variations

The application of aerobic sludge granules in wastewater treatment could increase the intensity of wastewater treatment processes because of their greater density and size relative to conventional sludge flocs. It has been suggested that granules are distinguished from flocs by gel forming exopolysaccharides. In this study, evidence is presented linking a specific exopolysaccharide component with granule extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) gelation.

The Group of Eight (Go8) has opened applications for its 2010 European Fellowships. As a member of this scheme, The University of Queensland is offering one Fellowship for 2010 to an early career researcher from Europe. The Fellowships are open to citizens of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Croatia. The purpose of the scheme is to facilitate further research collaboration between Australia

In this paper we report a method for biomaterial surface modification that utilizes the self-assembly of block copolymers of poly(styrene-block-ethylene oxide) (PS–PEO) to generate micro-phase separated surfaces with varying density PEO domains. These PS–PEO self-assembled surfaces showed a significant reduction in protein adsorption compared to control polystyrene surfaces. The adhesion of NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells was shown to be significantly

The interaction between hydrophobic surfaces in aqueous solutions is particularly important because it is encountered in many industrial processes. Even though advances in surface science have been tremendous, the nature of the hydrophobic interaction remains one of the greatest challenges. In this work an atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to measure the normal and lateral interactions between a silica bead and a smooth silica substrate hydrophobised