CAMD
researchers win new award
CAMD
researchers (Dr Richard Evans, Professor Tom Davis, Dr Lachlan
Yee and Dr Georgina Such) together with the Stimuli Responsive
Polymer Additives Team, of CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies,
worked as part of a multi-disciplinary project, with the CRC for
Polymers, to develop methods to control photochromic dye switching
speeds in polymers. Photochromic dyes are compounds that can be
thought of as molecular switches. They can exist in an "on" or
"off" state. Due to this rare ability, they are used to modulate,
or switch, properties such as the colour, conductivity, refractive
index, fluorescence or adhesion of polymers. By modifying the
dye used, the photochromic dye switching speeds in polymers can
be controlled, achieving fast colour change. This was previously
unprecedented in the field. This new technology will potentially
generate a number of new products and will be marketable in niche
markets such as ophthalmics and data storage. This world-class
research has attracted market attention and the first of their
five publications appeared in Nature Materials and 3 patent families
have already been generated.
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