David Reilly, who leads the centre's quantum nanoscience laboratory, said quantum physics was leading to new technologies that would "change the world".

One impact would be much-improved sensing technologies applicable to scanning for diseases in the body and for minerals in the ground.

"I think it's going to touch every area of society," Professor Reilly said.

"I think it's going to change: how we extract energy; it's going to have profound effects on how we sustain the environment; medicine; health; and certainly computing, communications, security and defence.

"It's hard to imagine if you change the laws [underpinning] all of the technologies we have today, that you won't develop an entire new suite of technologies.

"For sure, the most exciting will be the least anticipated."

Houses with inbuilt batteries

In Professor Maschmeyer's field of battery technology, British renewable company Armstrong Energy has committed $11 million to Gelion, whose new battery will be ideal for storing solar-generated electricity in homes and commercial buildings.


The idea is to build houses with batteries inherently included as part of their structure, ready to take advantage of rapidly improving solar energy technology and also to serve as a buffer for the grid, enabling an ever greater share of renewables to be connected, while grid stability is maintained," Professor Maschmeyer said.

While Gelion's battery is not lighter than present day lithium ion batteries, its lower size, lower cost and increased fire resistance makes if suitable for building applications.

In a nanotechnology breakthrough, Professor Maschmeyer has applied a layer of nano gel to the electrodes of a zinc bromine battery (which is already commonly used) to create the new, better-performing battery.

However, he said the battery was still at an early stage. "We have proved the in-principle breakthrough," he said.

His technology will also last for many more cycles of charging and discharging than currently used batteries, and it is also capable of discharging quickly when required to give a high-power output.

Professor Maschmeyer said zinc was 39 times cheaper than lithium, which gave the Gelion battery its cost advantage.