Doctor Adriyan Milev

• Biography
• Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Awards and Recognition
• Selected Publications
• Contact Details

Biography

PhD, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (2003).

Postdoctoral Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional Nanomaterials (2003 –2006).

Manager of the Advanced Materials characterization research facilities in the School of Natural Sciences at University of Western Sydney (2006- continuing).

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Main areas of interest: Nanotechnology, materials chemistry and physical chemistry.

Preparation, intercalation, exfoliation and thermal properties of various lamellar materials (phosphonates, silicates, graphitic carbons and phthalocyanines). My research focus is on fundamental understanding of the carbon nanotube catalytic nucleation and growth mechanisms, preparation and characterisation of other nano-carbons, methods for lamellar phosphate production, solid-state kinetics and nano-toxicology. Also I am interested in the application of carbon-contaning nanocomposites as electric energy storage devices.

Contributed to lectures on Nanotechnology, Physical Chemistry 3 and on Advanced Analytical techniques.

Co-supervised to completion one MSc, and four Hons students. Since 2009/2010 I supervise or co-supervise three post-doctoral fellows, six PhD students and one Hons student.

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Grants / Current Projects

Since 2006, I have been a CI on several grant applications and have obtained ~$2.0 M in ARC, UWS and CSIRO research and infrastructure grants:

ARC LIEF (UWS-led) Kannangara, Milev, et al, LE0989986 (2009, total $415K)

ARC LIEF (UNSW-led): Amal, Milev et al, LE0775548 (2007, $180K);

ARC LIEF (UWS-led): Kannangara, Milev et al, LE0668100 (2006, $360K)

ARC LINKAGE: Kannangara, Milev et al, LP0454245 (2004-06, $160K)

CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship, Tran, Milev et al, (2009-10, $215K)

UWS Int. Res. Grants: Five grants (total ~ $110K)

UWS Large Grant: Kannangara, Milev et al, (2004-07, $210K)

UWS Research Infrastructure Grant, Williams, Milev et al, (2008, $330K)

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Awards and Recognition

Future Materials Award, Excellence in Materials Innovation in Biotechnology and Life Sciences, 2006. A new generation synthetic bone graft material with enhanced bioactivity and strength called BioAlmog. This material is produced by methodology developed during my PhD work at UTS. Its patent rights are held by a UTS spin-off company (Nanocoatings Pty Ltd).

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Selected Publications

Career output of more than 55 publications. Output in last five years includes 1 book chapters, 1 major review paper, 17 journal papers and 7 refereed conference papers.

Ten Best Publications:

Milev, A. S.; Tran, N. H.’ Kannangara, G.S.K.; Wilson, M. A. “Unoccupied electronic structure of ball-milled graphite” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (accepted, 19 February 2010).

First report on the formation of in-plane triple bonded carbons (sp) and inter-plane single-bonded (sp3) carbons in nano-graphite upon impact pressures in the GPa range. The new three-dimensional nanographite demonstrates new electronic states at 284.1 eV just above the Fermi level (~ 284.0 eV). These modulate the conductivity of nanographite.

N. H. Tran, M. A. Wilson, A. S. Milev, J. R. Bartlett, R. N. Lamb, D. Martin, and G. S. K. Kannangara, "Photoemission and absorption spectroscopy of carbon nanotube interfacial interaction," Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 145, 23-41 (2009).

A comprehensive review on the modification of the electronic structure of carbon nanotubes upon covalent or non-covalent functionalisation investigated by X-ray spectroscopy by X-ray photoelectron emission and X-ray absorption techniques.

A. S. Milev, N. Tran, G. S. K. Kannangara, M. A. Wilson, and I. Avramov, "Polymorphic Transformation of Iron-Phthalocyanine and the Effect on Carbon Nanotube Synthesis," J. Phys. Chem. C 112 (14), 5339-5347 (2008).

Investigation on the pyrolysis of different polymorphs of a lamellar organomatallic compound is reported. A direct link between the polymorph type and diameters and defect of the carbon nanotube product is established.

A. Milev, M. Wilson, G. S. K. Kannangara, and N. Tran, "X-ray diffraction line profile analysis of nanocrystalline graphite," Mat. Chem. Phys. 111 (2-3), 346-350 (2008).

A Fourier analysis of fitted Voigt functions to multiple X-ray reflections is reported. This allows for determination of the size and strain Fourier coefficients from weak diffraction lines characteristic of nanocrystalline materials. The analysis gives information about crystallite sizes, crystallise size distributions and is sensitive to the strain fields due to lattice defects and dislocations.

N. H. Tran, M. A. Wilson, A. S. Milev, G. R. Dennis, A. L. McCutcheon, G. S. K. Kannangara, and R. N. Lamb, "Structural-Chemical Evolution within Exfoliated Clays," Langmuir 22 (15), 6696-6700 (2006).

An investigation on the structural and chemical changes of clay particles during dispersion of in polyacrylic acid. Intercalation primarily involves reactions of the acid with the clay surface, while exfoliation involves stronger reactions with the lattice of the lamellar silicate.

A. Milev, N. Tran, G. S. K. Kannangara, and M. Wilson, "Influence of bond defects on coiling of graphite," Sci. Tech. Adv. Mater 7 (8), 834-838 (2006).

Role of the in-plane bond defects in particular the formation of sp3 bonded carbons and the sp2/sp3 ratio on the coiling up of graphite is reported and discussed. The presence of defects increases the free energy of the system, which in part is relieved by formation of tubular structures.

A. S. Milev, Alan McCutcheon, G. S. K. Kannangara, M. A. Wilson, and Thilanga Y. Bandara, "Precursor Decomposition and Nucleation Kinetics during Platelike Apatite Synthesis," J. Phys. Chem. B 109 (36), 17304-17310 (2005).

The transition from lamellar phosphonate-to-lamellar phosphate is investigated by various spectroscopic and diffraction techniques while a multi-curve nonlinear regression method followed by solution of system of differential equations was used to identify the optimal conversion sequence, temperatures and times.

A. S. Milev, G. S. K. Kannangara, and M. A. Wilson, "Template-Directed Synthesis of Hydroxyapatite from a Lamellar Phosphonate Precursor," Langmuir 20 (5), 1888-1894 (2004).

The type of acetate-phosphonate complexes formed in solution, the self-assembly process of Ca2+ acetyl 2-hydroxyethyl phosphonate salts and the formation of solid lamellar phosphonates are discussed in details.

A. S. Milev, G. S. K. Kannangara, and M. A. Wilson, "Strain and Microcrystallite Size in Synthetic Lamellar Apatite," J. Phys. Chem. B 108 (34), 13015-13021 (2004).

Effects of Ca2+/P ratios, role of anionic substitutions in the lamellar phosphate along different crystallographic axis, and the development of lattice strains due to vacancies in the lamellar phosphate structre are discussed.

A. S. Milev, G. S. K. Kannangara, Besim Ben-Nissan, and M. A. Wilson, "Temperature Effects on a Hydroxyapatite Precursor Solution," J. Phys. Chem. B 108 (18), 5516-5521 (2004).

First report on the synthesis of the acetyl 2-hydroxyethyl phosphonate salt. The ligand forms a complex with Ca2+ and thus effectively locks up phosphorus and Ca2+ together. This minimises phosphorus loss during thermal treatment up to 900 oC. The mechanism for the formation of acetyl 2-hydroxyethyl phosphonate is discussed.

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