Facilities | Institute for Frontier Materials

The Institute for Frontier Materials has a wide range of highly specialised, state-of-the-art equipment and facilities that are designed to advance world-class research.

We have the ability to perform research at the atomic and molecular scale, while also offering unique scale-up capabilities to perform pilot studies with the added benefit of access to ManuFutures (Deakin’s Innovation hub) that fuses Deakin’s innovative and industry focused research strategies with industry capabilities.

Deakin Advanced Characterisation Facility

The Deakin Advanced Characterisation Facility is an open-access facility located and administered within the Institute for Frontier Materials. The Deakin ACF represents a unified platform of advanced characterisation capabilities and expertise, which includes the Electron Microscopy, X-ray and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facilities.

Its mission is to provide advanced characterisation training, service, teaching and support, as well as collaborative research programs within Deakin, with public research organisations, and with industry.

The Deakin ACF is also a Linked laboratory of Microscopy Australia, which is Australia’s open access microscopy facility, part of the family of national research infrastructure supported by the federal government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy.

For more information, contact:

Deakin Advanced Characterisation Facility
A/Prof Ross Marceau

Electron Microscope Facility

Our state-of-the-art electron microscopy facilities allow researchers to see and measure things at the micro, nano and atomic scales.

Our Instruments and Capabilities:

Scanning electron microscopy:
JEOL JSM 7800F
Zeiss Supra55VP
Leo 1530
Transmission electron microscopy:
JEOL JEM 2100 (Conventional LaB₆ TEM)
JEOL JEM 2100F (Field emission gun TEM)
Focussed ion beam microscopy:
FEI Quanta 3D
Atom probe tomography:
Cameca LEAP 5000 XR

For more information, contact:

Electron Microscopy Facility
Dr Andrew Sullivan

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus is equipped with a versatile range of state-of-the-art instrumentation for the detailed characterisation of molecules and materials.

Our NMR Capabilities:

High-resolution liquid-state NMR
Multinuclear solid-state NMR
Various specialised probes including static, variable temperature and magic angle spinning
Pulsed field gradients for diffusion measurements
3D micro-imaging (MRI) system

For more information, contact:

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility
Materials applications: A/Prof Luke O’Dell
Chemistry applications: Dr Elizabeth Ankers

X-ray Facility

InSitX is an exciting new joint program between Deakin and CSIRO for the development of new in-situ and operando X-ray experiments to realise material design and discovery. With newly installed equipment that is currently being commissioned, InSitX is a world-first X‐ray facility having near synchrotron capabilities that will provide unprecedented capacity to explore the structures of metals and fibres outside of a synchrotron. The facility has also been designed to interface with the Australian Synchrotron by enabling ‘off‐line’ development of complex x‐ray experiments prior to accessing limited synchrotron beam time.

Our Instruments and Capabilities:

Small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS-WAXS)
X-ray diffraction
Micro-computed tomography

For more information, contact:

In-situ X-ray analysis (InSitX)
A/Prof Peter Lynch

Advanced Fibre/Composite Facility

Fibres and Textiles

IFM has world-class facilities for fibre and textile research, ranging from atomic-scale characterisation facilities to industry-scale prototyping facilities in collaboration with CSIRO.

For more information, contact: Dr Emma Prime

Carbon Nexus

Carbon Nexus is a purpose-built research facility designed to accommodate the diverse needs of industry.

Located in Geelong, Australia, we have a unique suite of equipment available to researchers and industry.

Carbon Nexus incorporates world-first open access infrastructure designed to manufacture carbon fibres, textile pre-forms and composites for developing new technologies, processes and products.

Our composites capabilities include advanced material characterisation techniques and composites manufacturing processes.

For more information, visit Carbon Nexus or contact: Professor Russell Varley

ANFF-Deakin Hub - Fibre Production and Characterisation

The Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) at the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), hosts a suite of tools facilitating the entire textile construction process at both the lab and pilot scale focusing on advanced functional materials and materials for a sustainable circular economy. This includes fibre micro and nano-fibre fabrication including wet-, dry-jet- melt-, and electro-spinning. As well as short staple yarn spinning and textile construction including ring spinning, weaving, and knitting.

ANFF network is an open access facility. It is open to new partnerships – its facility and engineers can be accessed via a joint research program or service agreement.

For more information regarding the ANFF Network and other facilities:

National – https://www.anff.org.au/

Victoria – https://nanomelbourne.com/

Contact

Prof. Joselito Razal – ANFF-Vic Collaboration Committee Member

Dr Dylan Hegh – ANFF-Deakin-Hub Facilities Manager

Advanced Metals Manufacture Facility

Our suite of equipment to develop lighter and stronger metal alloys includes:

MELD facility – a breakthrough additive manufacturing technology. For more information contact: Associate Professor Daniel Fabijanic
3D roll forming facility – a $1.5 million facility for low volume part manufacture and prototyping. For more information contact: Dr Matthias Weiss

BatTRI-Hub and Energy Storage Facility

BatTRI-Hub

BatTRI-Hub is a prototyping facility that was designed to demonstrate new energy storage technologies at a practical prototype level. With these capabilities we aim to (i) support IFM research outcomes, (ii) translate our research excellence into industry engagement, and (iii) provide expertise and solutions to new and existing industry partners.

BatTRI-Hub is an open access facility. We welcome new partnerships by providing access to our facility and its team of engineers, either through joint research programs or service agreements.

For more information, visit BatTRI-Hub or contact: Dr. Timothy Khoo or Mojtaba Eftekharnia

Infrastructure Testing Facility

IFM leads the Australian Centre for Infrastructure Durability (ACID), which provides an integrated, national platform for industry across the key sectors of oil and gas, mining, transport and structures, defence and aerospace, and water and desalination to connect with leading researchers.

For more information, visit ACID or contact: A/Professor Will Gates

In the area of corrosion prevention, our facilities include the National Facility for Pipeline Coating Assessment, which provides NATA accredited independent commercial testing for coating manufacturers, suppliers, applicators and pipeline industry end users:

pre-qualification testing and trials on pipeline coating
assessment of pipeline coatings and corrosion inhibitors.

For more information, contact: Professor Mike Yongjun Tan

Nanomaterial Manufacture Facility

IFM has a large range of facilities for nanomaterials synthesis and processing, including sputtering system (PVD), plasma-enhanced CVD reactors, fluid-bed reactors, hydrothermal/solvothermal vessel, different types of ball milling systems, anodization system, advanced plasma system, and solid-state reactors (various types of tube and muffle furnaces). In addition, a prototype battery electrode production line, including RHK-furnace with simulator (Noritake, Japan), PQ-N20 ball-mill (Planetary), and thermal spray dryer (B-290, Switzerland) is available to produce large quantity electrode materials for industry scale application.

These facilities are designed to help us create new nanomaterials which will play a role in developing new technologies, such as: i) large scale energy storage, ii) energy saving technologies; iii) efficient heat dissipation technologies; and iv) technologies for environmental protection. These type of technologies will revolutionise industries in energy, aerospace, automobile and electronics.

For more information, contact: Professor Ian (Ying) Chen

Advanced Chemical Synthesis Facility

A fundamental discipline that underwrites a large portion of IFM’s research efforts is that of chemistry. This encompasses the synthesis of new molecules and materials, surface chemical manipulations, polymer processing, and decoration of nanomaterials and membranes.

IFM houses laboratories at our Geelong and Burwood Campuses where these chemistries are routinely conducted. These facilities include standard basic requirements for chemical handling and manipulation such as fumehoods, rotary evaporators and hot plate stirrers. As well, we have many other task specific chemical manipulation apparatus such as potentiostats and batch reactors.

These facilities are essential, both for fabricating new materials at the cutting edge and also to modify materials to impart extraordinary functionality.

These activities include: synthesis of novel molecules; surface modification of metals, carbon fibres, and biopolymers; processing new polymeric materials for high value added applications; battery electrolytes; corrosion suppressing additives, and more. These facilities are essential to the development of new technologies and underpin their fundamental understanding for high impact and translatable research.

For more information, contact:

IFM Enquiries
+61 3 5247 9255
Email IFM