Spinifex grass
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Recent papers in Spinifex grass
The authors are team members of a transdisciplinary research project which has evaluated traditional Aboriginal knowledge and uses of spinifex grass, funded under the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme. Spinifex is a... more
The authors are team members of a transdisciplinary research project which has evaluated traditional Aboriginal knowledge and uses of spinifex grass, funded under the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects scheme. Spinifex is a collective term for 69 species in the genus Triodia which are widespread throughout semiarid Australia. The project built upon the ancient Aboriginal knowledge of spinifex as well as upon biomimetic theory, drawing from nature to find new technical solutions.
This chapter provides a report on some of the project team’s findings with particular emphasis on the ethical application of the ethnographic knowledge to the broader problem framework.
The ancient Aboriginal knowledge of spinifex (or aywerte) is embedded in myths or sacred histories which in the context of our study region are from the upper Georgina River Basin of Central Australia. The chapter explores the contemporary revitalization of this knowledge in collaborative research partnership between a group of traditional tribal owners, (the Indjalandji, Wakaya, Bularnu, and Alyawarr peoples) and a team of scientific researchers from the University of Queensland.
This chapter provides a report on some of the project team’s findings with particular emphasis on the ethical application of the ethnographic knowledge to the broader problem framework.
The ancient Aboriginal knowledge of spinifex (or aywerte) is embedded in myths or sacred histories which in the context of our study region are from the upper Georgina River Basin of Central Australia. The chapter explores the contemporary revitalization of this knowledge in collaborative research partnership between a group of traditional tribal owners, (the Indjalandji, Wakaya, Bularnu, and Alyawarr peoples) and a team of scientific researchers from the University of Queensland.
During the last two decades, work surrounding the preparation of a vast array of cellulose nanomaterials from both wood and non-wood based sources has steadily intensified. This study reports on the isolation of high aspect ratio... more
During the last two decades, work surrounding the preparation of a vast array of cellulose nanomaterials from both wood and non-wood based sources has steadily intensified. This study reports on the isolation of high aspect ratio nanocellulose from an arid grass source commonly called ''spinifex'', Triodia pungens, via an optimised sulfuric acid hydrolysis protocol. The unique attributes of T. pungens have enabled pulping and bleaching under milder conditions than used in typically reported protocols, followed by relatively easy deconstruction into nanofibres with an unprecedentedly high aspect ratio. Hydrolysis of bleached T. pungens under these optimised processing conditions has yielded nanocellulose with a very high aspect ratio of 144 (average dimensions of 3.45 ± 1 nm 9 497 ± 106 nm), a crystallinity of 73% and a production yield of 42%. Based on the spectroscopic and X-ray scattering analyses, an unusually high content of hemicellulose (42%) is correlated with both the ease of deconstruction and the retention of nanocellulose length. This high hemicellulose content also appears to give rise to a lower transverse stiffness than previously-reported values for wood sources.
- by Paul Memmott and +1
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- Nanocellulose, Spinifex, Nanofibre, Spinifex grass