Professor Leone Spiccia

Professor Leone Spiccia and his group work in the School of Chemistry at Monash University. They are engaged in research at the interface between chemistry and geoscience, materials science/nanotechnology, physics, medicine and biotechnology.

“Early on we realised that the properties of molecules could be exploited in various multi-disciplinary fields, and we set out to explore various applications of these molecules.”

Their work is critical in the emerging field of nanotechnology, for the benefit of public health and for economic advantages in industry. Close collaboration with local and international researchers has been fundamental in maintaining their position at the forefront of this technology.

In the first project, the group is working on the development of dye sensitised solar cells which are multi-layered. These devices have been built on a nanostructured semiconducting metal oxide layer. The work is supported financially by the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence programme (Australian Centre for Electromaterials Science) and the Victorian State Government through the ETIS (Energy Technology Innovation Strategy) programme.

Internationally, Professor Spiccia has collaborated closely with Michael Gratzel from l’Ecole Politechnique Federale de Lausanne who invented the devices. At home, he has co-operated with Dr Udo Bach and Professors Alan Bond and Yi-Bing Cheng from Monash University, and also with colleagues at the University of Wollongong.

In another energy-related project, Professor Spiccia is focused on water-splitting. The group is attempting to develop a nanostructured device which uses sunlight to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen. “Our ultimate aim is to produce hydrogen, as an economically viable, renewable alternative to fossil fuels.” In this project the group is collaborating with Dr Gerry Swiegers from CSIRO and Professor G. Charles Dismukes from Princeton University.

Professor Spiccia is also exploring the development of functionalised nanostructured oxide particles which strongly absorb dyes and can be applied as ink-jet printing media. Here, he works within the Smart Print CRC (The Cooperative Research Centre for Functional Communication Surfaces) at Monash, with Professor Peter Junk, Associate Professor Phil Andrews and colleagues at CSIRO.

Medical imaging and therapeutics is another field of study for Professor Spiccia’s group. They are aiming to develop agents which can be used to diagnose and treat diseases, such as particular types of cancer. This is achieved by attaching imaging agents to magnetic metal oxide nanoparticles to target biomolecules associated with a particular disease. “We are also using small nanosized biological mimics called peptide nucleic acids to target particular biomolecules with the idea of developing biosensors.” They are making use of these molecules in the treatment of neuromuscular diseases and in the eradication of human and animal parasites.

This project involves collaboration with Dr Bim Graham at Monash’s Victorian College of Pharmacy,  Professor David Reutens at Monash’s Department of Medicine, Associate Professor Robert Kapsa at St Vincent’s Hospital and Professor Robin Gasser in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne. Internationally, there is a close alliance with Dr Holger Stephan of the Institut fürRadiopharmazie, FZ Dresden-Rossendorf.

In his wider interests Professor Spiccia is researching transition metal complexes as mimics for metallo-enzymes and their use in therapeutic agents. He is investigating the effect of amino-glycoside antibiotics on ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules associated with viruses such as HIV and is developing the use of imaging and therapeutic agents for diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Above: Schematic of 3D solar-cell being developed.

Selected Publications

Nazeeruddin K., Péchy P., Renouard T., Zakeeruddin S.M., Humphry-Baker R., Liska P., Cevey L., Costa E., Shklover V.,  Spiccia L., Deacon G.B., Bignozzi c. A. & Grätzel M. (2001)Engineering of efficient panchromatic sensitisers for nanocrystalline TiO₂ based solar cells.   J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 1613 – 1624.

Cerneaux S.A.,  Zakeeruddin S.M., Pringle J.M., Cheng Y.-B., Grätzel M. & Spiccia L. (2007)Novel nano-structured silica-based electrolytes containing quaternary ammonium iodide moieties  Adv. Funct. Mater.  17, 3200-3206.

Gasser G.,  Tjioe L.,  Graham B.,  Belousoff M.J.,  Juran S.,  Walther M.,  Künstler J.-U.,  Bergmann R.,  Stephan H. &  Spiccia L. (2008)Synthesis, copper(II) complexation, ⁶⁴Cu-Labeling, and bioconjugation of a new bis(2-pyridylmethyl) derivative of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane Bioconjugate Chem. 19, 719-730.

Patents

T. Christensen, M. T. W. Hearn, L. Spiccia, W. Jiang, J. N. Mooney, B. Graham, PCT International Application 2003, WO 03042249; Peptide purification by means of hard metal ion affinity chromatography. M. T. W. Hearn, L. Spiccia, R. Daly, U. Kreher, PCT International Application 2005, WO20051270700.

Water Oxidation Catalysts. R. Brimblecombe, L. Spiccia, G. C. Dismukes, G. F. Swiegers, PCT International Application AU2008/000407.