Western Australia is at the centre of the world's effort to decarbonise. The three key ingredients for a lithium-ion battery are found in WA. The majority of the world's lithium, significant nickel is currently mined and graphite is expected to be mined in the next decade. Additionally, Net-Zero Australia expects three of the five big solar farms to be built in Western Australia if we are to achieve net zero by 2050 (see figure on left Source: net-zero australia). 

Western Australia also exports much of the iron and nickel ore that is converted into steel using coal generating significant scope three emissions. The processing of minerals in Western Australia using renewable energy to export green refined products is critical for the world to decarbonise. There is a significant investment in WA into the production of green electricity and hydrogen critical to decarbonise the chemical and minerals sector. 

Carbon materials are at the heart of the green transition with graphite being used in lithium-ion batteries, porous carbons in hydrogen storage and glassy carbons in fuel cells and metal refining. 

We need to stop burning carbon to carbon dioxide and start putting it into green technology to accelerate the green transition.

Dr Nigel Marks moved to Curtin in 2008 to develop a program in nuclear materials simulation for carbon materials. In 2009 Irene joined Curtin University working on the simulation of thermal conductivity in carbon materials. They were encouraged to join Curtin by Prof. Julian Gale and Prof. Andrew Rohl who started the Computational Materials and Minerals group in Curtin in 2007 to develop computer simulation software for materials using the GULP software. This was the start of the Curtin Carbon Group that arose in physics. 

In 2009, 80 million dollars of funding was provided by the government to build the largest supercomputer in Australia at Curtin University. In 2014 this was renamed the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, in honour of the prominent Australian radio astronomer, Joseph Pawsey. The supercomputer has progressively been built up with over $90 million dollars of funding. Recently, a new cluster Setonix (latin for quokka) has been installed being the largest research cluster in Australia and the 4th greenest in the world. This is due to power coming from 120 kW of PV and geothermal cooling using an underground aquafer (Source: Pawsey history green). This tool makes Curtin University a hub for computational physics and chemistry in Australia.

Dr Mark Robinson joined in 2010 to develop some of the first software in the group Nanocap. In 2015, the experimental work within the group developed with the design and development of a custom magnetron sputtering system with Dr Mark Tucker and the purchase of a graphite tube furnace more recently. Dr Carla de Tomas also joined the group at this stage and developed some of the largest models for carbon in the world using the new Pawsey supercomputer. The website www.carbonpotentials.org allows many of these models to be viewed in the web browser. 

In 2021, Dr Jacob Martin came to Curtin funded by a Forrest Fellowship focused on carbon materials for energy storage and started as a lecturer in 2024. In 2023, Dr Andrea Rassell received a Forrest Creative Fellowship to work in the Hub for Immersive Visualisation for eResearch (HIVE) and the Curtin Carbon group to develop creative work at the nanoscale. 

There is significant industrial interaction with researchers at Curtin University. We are involved in the Future Energy Export Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and the Future Battery Industries CRC with industry. In 2023, Curtin was successful in securing Trailblazer funding from the federal government for resources technology & critical minerals with $200 million of funding from industry and the federal government. In 2024, the company RapidGraphite was founded to commercialise work on graphite formation with Trailblazer support.

Curtin University is based on the lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. The indigenous Noongar people and other aboriginal nations were some of the first carbon scientists. Here are some science highlights and links to learn more;

Materials Science: Charcoal was used as an additive to adhesive resins prepared from the Spinifex plant. This was used to glue tools and weapons together. There is a record in 1865 of aboriginal people in Murchison River Mouth Western Australia with the charcoal critical for securing a flint to a wooden throwing stick. This throwing stick is a non-returning boomerang used for hunting. These resins are high molecular weight phenolic resin and the addition of charcoal with heat likely crosslinked the resin into a strong adhesive in a similar manner to a heat set epoxy resin (Source: EXARC PNAS Mat. Chem. & Phys.) 

Medicine: Charcoal was used to aid with heartburn and digestion. It was also used when poisonous substances were consumed. The charcoal would be able to absorb the poison. Charcoal was also used for cleaning the teeth when chewed. (Source: Australian Geographic)

Environment: Smoldering fires were used by aboriginal people to control bushfires. These smoldering fires leave behind charcoal that significantly improves the soil. Biochar is often used to distinguish these charcoals from the soil. Indigenous groups near Bourke and Arnhem Land had a tradition of making biochar (Source: ABC News).

Art: Charcoal was manufactured for pigments and used in artwork. The oldest rock art in the world was found in Arnhem land in the northern territory. Carbon dating of the charcoal suggested the art is ~28k years old. Alternative dating techniques suggest the Aboriginal people arrived >65k years ago. (Source: Heritage Science, J.of Archaeological Science). 

In Western Australia, it is common to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land at the beginning of events/lectures. Alternatively, an elder can provide a welcome to country and a smoking ceremony. The video to the left shows the welcome to country from Prof. Simon Forrest. 

Further details and courses can be found at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University. There is also an excellent course on Noongar language and culture available online from the centre as a free and open course on EdX.