Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026
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A Modular Microfluidic Technology for Systematic Studies of Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals
Published on: May 10, 2018
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Autonomous microfluidic experimentation for exploring reaction inference and synthesizing double perovskite
Junbin Li1, Fernando Delgado-Licona1, Zhenyang Liu2
1Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Nature Communications
|May 4, 2026
Summary
PoLARIS, a microfluidic self-driving lab, accelerates the discovery of complex nanocrystals. It enables autonomous synthesis, optimization, and mechanistic studies for multi-element materials like double perovskites.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Self-driving laboratories accelerate materials discovery through automation and machine learning.
- Autonomous discovery of complex materials with coupled reaction pathways remains challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce PoLARIS, a microfluidic self-driving laboratory for efficient synthesis and mechanistic studies of multi-element nanocrystals.
- Demonstrate autonomous optimization of metal halide double perovskite nanoplatelets.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a modular microfluidic reactor architecture with closed-loop experiment selection.
- Employed continuous-flow synthesis for multi-element nanoplatelet production.
- Integrated dynamic flow experimentation for mechanistic inference.
Main Results:
- Achieved rapid, data-driven optimization of up to six-element metal halide double perovskite nanoplatelets.
- Successfully navigated high-dimensional synthesis parameter spaces.
- Enabled mechanistic inference of precursor reactivity and reaction pathways.
Conclusions:
- Established microfluidic self-driving laboratories as a generalizable approach for complex colloidal materials.
- PoLARIS offers a scalable pathway for autonomous discovery in multi-element and high-entropy nanocrystals.
