Characterisation of Australian Opal

Characterisation of the thermophysical, mechnical and microstructural properties of Australian sedimentary and volcanic opals (as well as opal derived from international sources for comparison).

Development of Advanced Blended Cements

Pitchstone fines as a pozzolanic additive for the replacement of Portland cement in both hydrothermally (autoclaved) and air cured cements.

Clay brick waste as a pozzolanic additive for the replacement of Portland cement in hydrothermally (autoclaved) cured cements.

Magnesia Cements - use of reactive magnesia coupled with pozzolanic additives  for the replacement of Portland cement in both hydrothermally (autoclaved) cured cements.

Taphonomy of Bone

Characterisation of the aging mechnism of bone in a variety of environments for forensic applications.

Generic Areas of Research Interest

Application of Thermal Analysis to Materials Characterisation

Nonisothermal Kinetic Analysis Using Thermal Methods

List of Publications

2008

65. ‘Characterisation of Portland Cement Blended with Pitchstone Fines Aiding Carbon Dioxide Emission Reduction’, K. Vessalas, A. S. Ray, P. S. Thomas, P. Joyce and J. Haggman, ICAM 2008, 9th International Congress on Applied Mineralogy, Brisbane, 8th to 10th September 2008, Australian Institute of Mining and Mineralogy Publication Series No. 8, 2008, 255-258.

64. ‘The Thermophysical Properties of Australian Opal’, A. S. Smallwood, P. S. Thomas and A. S. Ray,ICAM 2008, 9th International Congress on Applied Mineralogy, Brisbane, 8th to 10th September 2008, Australian Institute of Mining and Mineralogy Publication Series No. 8, 2008, 557-560.

63. “A spectroscopic investigation of the weathering of a heritage Sydney sandstone,” K.H. Ip, B.H. Stuart, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 71 (2008) 1032–1035.

62. “Comparative Analysis of Sedimentary and Volcanic Precious Opals form Australia”, A.G. Smallwood, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, J. Aust. Ceram. Soc. 44(2) (2008), in press.

61. “Pitchstone Fines Pozzolanic Activity Assessment As Partial Portland Cement (PC) Replacements”, K. Vessalas, A. S. Ray, P. S. Thomas, R. Sri Ravindrarajah, P. Joyce, J. Haggman and Rob Humphris, J. Aust. Ceram. Soc. (2008) 44(1) 7-12.

60. “Physical and Mechanical Properties of Autoclaved Alumina-Silica Rich Industrial Waste Cement Systems Incorporating Reactive Magnesia”, B. Liu, A.S. Ray and P.S. Thomas, Concrete Forum, (2008)1(1) (June), 18-22.

59. “Nanoindentation Hardness of Banded Australian Sedimentary Opal”, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Smallwood and A.S. Ray, B.J. Briscoe and D. Parsonage, J. Phys. D (2008) , 41(7) (2008), 074028 (doi:10.1088/0022-3727/41/7/074028).

58.  “Thermal characterisation of the clay binder of heritage Sydney sandstones”, K.H. Ip, P.S. Thomas, B.H. Stuart and A.S. Ray, J. Therm. Anal. Cal., (2008) 92(1) 97-100.

57. “Thermal Characterisation of Australian Sedimentary and Volcanic Precious Opal”, A.G. Smallwood, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, J. Therm. Anal. Cal., (2008) 92(1) 91-95.

56. “TG-MS analysis of the thermal decomposition of pig bone for forensic applications”, A. Onishi, P.S. Thomas, B.H. Stuart, J.P. Guerbois and S. Forbes, J. Therm. Anal. Cal., (2008) 92(1), 87-90.

2007

55. “Autoclaved Lime-Colloidal Silica Slurries and Formation of Tobermorite”, H. Connan, A. Ray and P.S. Thomas, J. Aust. Ceram. Soc. (2007) 43(2), 150-153.

54. “Strength development in autoclaved aluminosilicate rich industrial waste-cement systems containing reactive magnesia”, B. Liu, A. Ray and P.S. Thomas, J. Aust. Ceram. Soc. (2007) 43(1), 82-87.

53. “Mechanical properties of hydrothermally treated alumina-silica rich industrial waste cement system – effect of magnesia addition”, B. Liu, A. Ray, P.S. Thomas, D. Klimesch and J-P. Guerbois, J. Solid Waste Technology, (2007) 33(2), 61-66.

52. “TG-MS characterisation of pig bone in an inert atmosphere”, A. Onishi, P.S. Thomas, B.H. Stuart, J.P. Guerbois, S. Forbes, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(2), 405-409

51. “Evaluation of Waste Perlite Fines in the Production of Construction Materials”, A. Ray, R. Sriravindrarajah, J-P.Guerbois, P.S. Thomas, S. Border, H.N. Ray, J. Haggman and P. Joyce, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 279-283

50. “Estimation of the Diffusion Coefficient of Water During the non-isothermal Dehydration of Australian Sedimentary Opal”, P.S. Thomas, P. Šimon, A. Smallwood, A.S. Ray, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 231-235

49. “TMA and SEM Characterisation of the Thermal Dehydration of Australian Sedimentary Opal”, P.S. Thomas, A. Smallwood, A.S. Ray, P. Šimon, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 185-188

48. “TG-MS Characterisation of the Reaction Products of Cadmium Yellow and Malachite Artist’s Pigments”, R. White, P. S. Thomas, M. R. Philips, R. Wuhrer, J.P. Guerbois, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 181-184

47. “DSC Characterisation of Chemically Reduced Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide”, B. Liu, P.S. Thomas, R. P. Williams, S. W. Donne, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 177-180

46. “A TG Analysis of the Effect of Calcination Conditions on the Properties of Reactive Magnesia”, B. Liu, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Ray, and J.P. Guerbois,  J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1) 145-149

45. “Effect of Autoclaving Temperature on Calcium silicate-based Building Products Containing Clay-brick Waste”, Hamish Connan, Abhi Ray, Paul Thomas and Jean-Pierre Guerbois, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2007) 88(1), 115-119

2006

44. “In-situ Investigation of Discolouration Processes Between Historic Oil Paint Pigments”, Rachel White, Matthew R. Phillips, Paul Thomas and Richard Wuhrer, Microchimica Acta, (2006) 155, 319-322.

43. "A SIMS Study of the Transition Metal Element Distribution Between Bands in Banded Australian Sedimentary Opal From the Lightning Ridge Locality", L.D. Brown, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Ray and K. Prince, Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie Monotshefte,  182(2) (2006) 193-199.

42. “Thermal Characterisation of autoclaved Cement Made with Alumina-Silica Rich Industrial Waste”, H. Connan, D. Klimesch, A. Ray, and P. Thomas, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., (2006) 84(2) 521-525.

2005

41. “Autoclaved OPC-quartz blends incorporating clay-brick waste - Part I: Factorial design effects on strength development”, Hamish G Connan, Danielle S Klimesch, Abhi S Ray, and Paul S Thomas, Advances in Cement Research, 17(4) (2005) 133-141.

40. "Investigation of the degradation of sandstones in Sydney’s heritage buildings", K.H. Friolo, A.S. Ray, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas, Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions: Possibilities of Numerical and Experimental Techniques Vol. 1, pp 239-244, eds C. Modena, P.B. Lourenco and P. Roca, Taylor and Francis, London (2005).

39. “Thermal Analysis of Yellow Block Sandstone in Sydney’s Heritage Buildings” K. Friolo, A.S. Ray, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(3) (2005) 559-563.

38.  “Thermal Characterisation of Portland Cement (OPC)-Magnesia (MgO) Blends” J. Lawry, A. Ray, D. Klimesch, P. Thomas, J-P. Guerbois and J. Harrison, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(3) (2005) 637-641.

37. “Thermal Characterisation of Chemically Reduced Electrolytic Manganese Dioxide”, B. Liu, P.S. Thomas, R. P. Williams, S. W. Donne, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(3) (2005) 625-629.

36. “The Effect of Lead Pigments on the Drying of Cold pressed linsead oil by DSC”, R.E. White, P.S. Thomas, M.R. Phillips and R. Wuhrer, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(1) (2005) 237-239.

35. “Accelerated Thermooxidative Aging Tests and Their Extrapolation to Lower Temperatures”, P. Šimon, Z. Cibulková, P. Thomas , J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(2) (2005) 381-385.

34. “A Psuedo-Isothermal Kinetic Analysis of the Recrystallisation of Nickel Sulphide measured by Non-Isothermal DSC”, P. Thomas and P. Šimon , J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 80(1) (2005) 77-80.

2004

33. “The effect of sampling conditions on the thermal decomposition of electrolytic manganese dioxide”, B. Liu, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Ray and R.P. Williams, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 76(1) (2004) 115-122.

32. “FTIR evaluation of autoclaved cellulose fibre pulps used in cement-based building materials”, Barry Liu, Paul S. Thomas, Danielle S. Klimesch, Abhi Ray, Advances in Cement Research, 16(4) (2004) 131-136.

31. “Elemental Analysis of Australian Amorphous Opals by Laser-Ablation ICPMS”, L.D. Brown, A.S. Ray and P.S. Thomas, Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie Monotshefte, 2004(9) (2004) 411-424.

30. "Degradation of historic sandstone buildings of Sydney", K.H. Friolo, A.S. Ray, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas,  Proceedings of the 7th Australasian Masonry Conference, pp 420-427, ed. M. Masia, University of Newcastle, Callaghan (2004).

2003

29. “29Si and 27Al NMR Study of Amorphous and Paracrystalline Opals from Australia”, L.D. Brown, A.S. Ray and P.S. Thomas, J. Noncrystalline Solids, 332 (2003) 242-248.

28. “The effect of Thermal History on the Morphology of Nickel sulphide”, P.S. Thomas, P. Simon and A.S. Ray, J. Thermal Anal., 72(3) (2003) 801-809.

27. “Characterisation of the Oxidation products of pyrite by Thermogravimetric and Evolved Gas Analysis”, P.S. Thomas, D. Hirschausen, R.E. White, J.P. Guerbois and A.S. Ray, J. Thermal Anal., 72(3) (2003) 769-776.

26. “An Incremental Integral Isoconversional Method: Determination of Activation Parameters”, P. Šimon, P.S. Thomas, J. Okuliar and A.S. Ray, J. Thermal Anal., 72 (2003) 867-874.

25. “DSC Characterisation of Compression Moulded PEEK-PTFE Plaques”, P.S. Thomas and B.H. Stuart, J. Thermal Anal., 72 (2003) 675-679.

2002

24. “Thermal Characteristics of Australian Sedimentary Opals”, L.D. Brown, A.S. Ray, P.S. Thomas and J.P. Guerbois, J. Thermal Anal., 68 (2002) 31-36.

2001

23. “A Two Stage Kinetic Model for the - Phase Recrystallisation in Nickel Sulphide”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Ray and P. Simon, J. Thermal Anal., 64 (2001) 201-210.

22. “An FTIR Study of the Thermal Degradation of Poly(vinyl alcohol)”, P.S. Thomas, J.P. Guerbois, G.F. Russell and B.J. Briscoe, J. Thermal Anal., 64 (2001) 501-508.

21. “Not All Polymers Last For Ever: Conserving Plastics in Museums”, P.S. Thomas and B.H. Stuart, Chemistry in Australia, 68(1) (2001) p8-10.

20. “Crystallisation of Nickel Sulphide by Non-Isothermal DSC”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas, A.S. Ray and P. Simon, in the Monograph Series of International Conferences on Coordination Chemistry Held Periodically at Smolenice in Slovakia, Volume 5: "Challenges for Coordination Chemistry in the New Century", Ed M Melnik and A Sirota, (2001) pp 397-402.

2000

19. “Processing Initiated Failure of Toughened Glass Panels”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, Chemistry in Australia, 67(6) (2000) p12-14.

18. “The Characterisation of Plastic Used in a Gabo Sculpture”, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas, Polymer Testing, 19 (2000) 953-957.

17. “Characterisation of Surface Modified Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Fibres by Inverse Gas Chromatography”, Matthew J. Partlett and Paul S. Thomas, Polymer International, 49 (2000) 495-500, .

16. “Micro-Raman Characterisation of Nickel Sulfide Inclusions in Toughened Glass”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, Mat. Res. Bul., 35(7) (2000) 1123-1128, .

1999

15. “a-b Phase Retransformation Kinetics in Nickel Sulphide”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, J. Thermal Anal., 56 (1999) 429-435, .

1998

14. “Raman Spectra of Nickel (II) Sulphide”, D.W. Bishop, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray Mat. Res. Bul., 33(9) (1998) 1303-1306.

1997

13. “Characterisation of Australian Opals by Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy”, A.G. Smallwood, P.S. Thomas and A.S. Ray, Spectrochimica Acta, 53A (1997) 2341-2345.

12. “A Fourier transform Raman Study of Water Sorption by Poly(vinyl alcohol)”, P.S. Thomas and B.H. Stuart, Spectrochimica Acta, 53A (1997) 2275-2278.

1996

11. “The Dependence of  the Friction Process on the Molecular Structure and Architecture of  Thin Poly(n-alkyl methacrylate) Films”, P.S. Thomas, International Tribology, 29(8) (1996) 631-637.

1995

10. “Xylene Swelling of Polycarbonate Studied Using Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy”, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas, Spectrochimica Acta, 51 (1995) 2133-2137.

9. “Structure-Property Relationships in Thin Solid Poly(methyl methacrylate) Boundary Films”, B.J. Briscoe and P.S. Thomas, Tribology Transactions, 38(2) (1995) 382-387.

8. “Brittle-Ductile Transitions in High Density Polyethylene Films”, B.J. Briscoe and P.S. Thomas, Tribology Series, 30 (1995) 153, “Lubricants and Lubrication”, Ed. D. Dowson, C.M. Taylor, T.H.C. Childs and G. Dalmaz.

1994

7. “Friction Energy Dissipation in Organic Films”, B.J. Briscoe and P.S. Thomas, Tribology Series, 26 (1994) 193, “Dissipation Processes in Tribology”, Ed. D. Dowson, C.M. Taylor, T.H.C. Childs, M. Godet and G. Dalmaz.

6. “A Study of the Glass Transition Temperatures of Polymer Films by Inverse Gas Chromatography”, P.S. Thomas and D.R. Williams, American Chemical Society Symposium Proceedings: Division of Polymer Materials: Science and Engineering, 70 (1994) 416-418.

1993

5. “Solvent Induced Morphological Changes to Polycarbonate", B.J. Briscoe, B.H. Stuart and P.S. Thomas, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, "Polymer/Inorganic Interfaces”, 304 (1993) 185.

4. “The Characterisation of Coated Polymeric Fibres by Inverse Gas Chromatography”, P.S. Thomas and D.R. Williams, Proceedings of the 16th Meeting of the Adhesion Society, 21-25 February 1993, 120-2.

1992

3. “Microscopic Origins of the Interface Friction of Organic Films: the Potential of Vibrational Spectroscopy”, B.J. Briscoe, P.S. Thomas and D.R. Williams, Wear 153 (1992) 263-275.

2. “The Strain Rate Dependence of the Interface Shear Strength of Poly(methyl methacrylate) Films”, B.J. Briscoe, P.S. Thomas and D.R. Williams), Tribology Series 25 (1992) 453, "Thin Films in Tribology", Ed. D. Dowson, C.M. Taylor, T.H.C. Childs, M. Godet and G. Dalmaz.

1991

1. “A Comparison of  Thermal- and  Solvent-Induced Relaxation of Poly(ether ether ketone) Using Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy”, B.J. Briscoe, B.H. Stuart, P.S. Thomas and D.R. Williams, Spectrochimica Acta 47A(9/10) (1991) 1299.