High-Throughput Synthesis of Nano-Structured Metal Oxides Using Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) and UV-Vis

Metal oxides, like ZnO, are known for their wide band gap which enables these to be utilized in a variety of optical (like LEDs and lasers) and electronics (like transistors and transparent conductors) applications. These functional properties are in turn dependent on the nanostructures of these oxides. The various ways to tune the nanostructure include changing temperature, solvents, precursors, concentrations and many other parameters. In conventional thermochemical synthesis for these nanostructures, it requires numerous manually carried out experiments to optimize the synthesis parameters to get the desired structure. Moreover, these flask-based processes also offer limited flexibility in integrating in-situ characterization techniques making it difficult to monitor morphological pathways towards the final structure. It is possible to overcome these challenges by utilizing material acceleration platforms like Jubilee or microfluidic synthesis coupled with in-line characterization techniques like small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) and UV-Vis spectroscopy along with an optimization algorithm. The workflow enables autonomous scanning through the vast parameter space while utilizing minimal resources. Furthermore, the workflow is capable of simultaneously optimizing the optical as well as morphological characteristics.