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A Spinifex-based Nanomaterials Platform for Climate-ready Crops and Mine-Site Restoration (2024-2025)

Abstract

The University of Queensland¿s (UQ) Advanced Spinifex Biofutures Materials Centre was established by the Indigenous-led company Bulugudu Ltd and UQ¿s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) and aims to translate and commercialise high-value nanotechnology products made from Australian desert plants into innovative biotechnologies. In 2021, the team used patented nanomaterials extracted from native spinifex grass to develop an agri-ecological biotechnology platform named the B-Tech. The platform nano-doses plants with actives (microbes and chemicals) via very precise dosing from an encapsulation matrix. The B-Tech platform is game-changing, as it makes previously unfeasible actives cost-effective, easy to deliver and safe for the user, thus commercially viable, by reducing dosages up to 10,000-fold. This project will develop the B-Tech for crop resilience to climatic extremes and enhanced post-mining restoration outcomes, thus addressing NRF priorities of value-adding to agriculture and the resources sectors. Over a 12-month timeframe, the project will (1) Develop a Beta prototype to accelerate the B-Tech from TRL 3 (current state) to TRL 5; (2) Develop a market strategy to commercialise the B-Tech; (3) Generate results to submit a patent application. Additionally, the NRF priority of 'enabling capability' is addressed by providing a pathway to grow Indigenous manufacturing capabilities in remote Australia, adding cultural, social and economic value.

Experts

Dr Jitka Kochanek

Research Fellow
Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
Jitka Kochanek
Jitka Kochanek

Dr Claire Cote

Affiliate of Leading for High Reliability Centre
Leading for High Reliability Centre
Sustainable Minerals Institute
Centre Director of Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry
Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry
Sustainable Minerals Institute
Professorial Research Fellow and Centre Director
Sustainable Minerals Institute
Claire Cote
Claire Cote