No contributions by others Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects No animal or human subjects were involved in this research vii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the Australian Government for providing me with the opportunity to complete this study through the Research Training program and providing financial support through Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative This thesis could not be completed without the supervision provided by Associate Professor Kamel Hooman and Dr Zhiqiang Guan, who provided guidance and support throughout the development of the thesis for which I am grateful. I appreciate the critical reviews at each milestone provided by the review committee of which Dr David Gildfind was the chair. I would also like to thank other staff and students at the QGECE, Prof Hal Gurgenci, Xiaoxiao Li, Yubiao Sun, Jianyong Wang, Peixin Dong, and Yuchen Dai for the inputs and discussions surrounding our various research topics. A special thanks to Dr Yuanshen Lu and Dr Iman Ashtiani Abdi for their assistance and input at various stages of the thesis especially during the setup phase of the experiments with the help of our technical staff Mr. Berto Di Pasquale.