Driving by artificial intelligence automated laboratory at synchrotron radiation source for accelerated development of novel advanced materials and their on-the-fly characterization

From 05.10.2021 till 31.12.2023
Grant holder: Alexander Soldatov
Responsible: Aram Bugaev, Alexander Guda, Mikhail Soldatov

This project proposes the development of a breakthrough innovative solution that has no world analogues, the essence of which is the introduction of microfluidics and artificial intelligence technologies for the accelerated development of functional nanomaterials. Reducing the cycle time for creating new materials is an urgent task of paramount importance for the high-tech sector of the Russian economy. At the same time, in the course of this project, the problem of a significant increase in the efficiency of complex experiments on synchrotron radiation sources will be solved. The system being developed will allow real-time quantitative analysis and quality control of large volumes of collected data and, if necessary, make adjustments to the experiment. Therefore, the research and development planned in this project can create preconditions for the formation of new scientific directions (for example, mega-science infrastructure as a generator of new unique materials). For scientific groups and modern sources of synchrotron radiation, the relevance and demand for the developed system under the control of artificial intelligence lies in the fact that it allows optimization of synthesis parameters and reaction conditions in fewer steps than a scientist or a classical control algorithm does. This will be a qualitative breakthrough in the time of testing and the efficiency of using SR, since typical operando experiments still require several days of experimental time, and a detailed analysis of the data obtained often occurs within several months after the experiment. Finally, within the framework of this project, a number of urgent problems will be solved for the first time on the development of several new classes of functional materials with specified properties for use in catalysis, medicine, ecology, and biology, each of which is designed to attract new users from the corresponding field to SR sources and entail is a whole series of studies in the world scientific community using the technology we have developed.