Accelerating Discovery – The Role of High Throughput Techniques in Formulation and Materials Science

Dr Doug Parker, Henry Royce Institute at the University of Liverpool

With rapid advancements in laboratory technologies and research methodologies over the past decade, the era of high throughput and large dataset driven materials discovery has been firmly established. But what does this mean in practice and how do we prevent bottlenecks in the discovery phase, when large Design of Experiment (DoE) runs meet the need for high throughput analytical solutions.  The need to do more, be that analytical screening or formulation synthesis, more quickly is not only being driven by the desire to make R&D more cost efficient but also because of the growing needs to generate datapoints and datasets for machine learning algorithms.

As one of the founding partners of the Henry Royce Institute, the University of Liverpool leads the Materials Chemistry (Chemical Materials Design) theme, alongside the University of Manchester.  At Liverpool Royce activities are primarily located within the Materials Innovation Factory, where our research spans analytical chemistry, machine learning and automation & robotics to accelerate the materials discovery process. We host suites of equipment dedicated to the formulation and analytical needs of both industry and academic users, whilst also supporting the Royce Technology Platform for “Automated Formulation of Materials”.  With the ability to provide consultancy/service work and support the wider UK SME and HEI researcher communities with targeted support schemes, Royce at the University of Liverpool is at the forefront of the digitalisation and data-driven world of high throughput materials discovery.