A new robotic platform automates electrochemical experiments and helps researchers gather information more efficiently about materials suitable for energy storage.
“We have developed new robotic tools that are not particularly complicated, but which allow us to speed up or even completely change the way research is conducted,” says Associate Professor Pekka Peljo.
The robotic platform developed by the researchers combines a liquid-handling robot, a consumer-grade 3D printer modified by the researchers, and an electrochemical measurement system. The liquid-handling robot prepares samples in a 96-well plate, while the electrochemistry robot, modified from a 3D printer, positions electrodes in the wells for measurements.
The number of possible combinations of materials is so vast that testing all combinations manually, one experiment at a time, is extremely slow.
The robot itself does not perform an individual measurement much faster than a human, but researchers can program the experiments in advance and leave the system to work independently around the clock. In addition, preparing samples with the liquid-handling robot is considerably faster.
https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/robot-accelerates-the-search-for-energy-storage-materials