High-Throughput Energy Materials Discovery

The effects of global warming are calling for a rapid transition from fossil to renewable energy sources. New materials for energy generation and storage are required to enable this transition. In this presentation we will introduce a new research tool which introduces elements of automation and artificial intelligence to the field of materials discovery. The new research platform will be hosted at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication and is part of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics. The main purpose of this installation is to accelerate the development of novel printable photovoltaic materials such as lead halide perovskites and their lead-free analogues, it is however also applicable towards the discovery of energy materials more broadly. It entails three integrated robotic sections. The first allows to formulate inks from liquid and solid chemical precursors, the second section allows to produce thin films from these inks via solution processing techniques and the third section hosts a number of characterization tools to determine the optical, electronic and structural properties of these films. The entire system operates under inert gas atmosphere with a clock speed of 5 minutes and the ability to operate autonomously for 24 hours.