Our principal research focus has been to address the major global challenges of clean and sustainable energy and water supply, and to advance innovative and equitable health care.
To successfully meet these challenges, the centre brings together expertise from chemistry, biology, engineering, and pharmacy. Several groups work and collaborate within the centre, led by senior researchers Professor Lianzhou Wang (clean energy) and Professor Gordon Xu (health care). During 2012 Lianzhou Wang - Professor of Chemical Engineering and AIBN affiliated group leader - took over leadership of the centre from founding director Professor Max Lu.
A major component of research at the nanomaterials centre investigates new nanomaterials for clean energy generation, storage and applications.
Separating molecules accounts for a large share of industrial energy use, and membranes are among the lowest-energy ways to do it. Centre research covers metal–organic framework glasses, gas separation membranes, and framework-based membranes for water purification.
Health care is an application area in which functional nanomaterials show great promise. Centre research spans engineered nanocarriers for drug, gene and immunotherapy delivery, nanoparticle probes for medical imaging and early diagnosis, and printable soft materials for devices that interface with living tissue.