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Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have a huge role to play in the quest for high-performance, low-cost components, the authors said, and could slash development times by 90%. The report, Materials Acceleration Platform: Accelerating Advanced Energy Materials Discovery by Integrating High-Throughput Methods with Artificial Intelligence, is the result of a workshop involving 55 experts from around the world last September.
New materials are key to many clean energy technologies including advanced batteries, solar cells, low-energy semiconductors and carbon-capture techniques. However, discovering them is a time-consuming and expensive process, with simulation, synthesis and testing potentially taking 10-20 years.
“Looking for innovations in new materials that continue to drive clean energy technologies is a crucial part of the energy industry’s development,” said Jenifer Baxter, head of engineering policy at the IMechE, to Professional Engineering. “The creativity of scientists and engineers combined with AI and robotics is likely to be a familiar working environment in the future and is a trend we should embrace.”
Batteries for electric vehicles and mobile technology could particularly benefit from newly-discovered materials. The mining of minerals such as lithium and cobalt for batteries can have a negative impact on the environment, Baxter said, as can recycling once they are used.
“With batteries expected to play an important role in the future UK and global energy systems, further research and development is needed in their end-of-life management,” added Baxter, who was not involved in the report. “If new materials can be found that create improvements in the whole lifecycle of batteries, we can ensure that these technologies do not leave a negative legacy for future generations.”
'Like Edison looking for filaments'
Extensive trial-and-error testing currently holds back material development, said lead author Alán Aspuru-Guzik from Harvard University in Massachusetts. “The performance, efficiency and affordability of clean energy technologies can be increased by finding materials with the properties you need,” he said. “At the moment, we're very much like Edison looking for filaments for his light bulb, testing them one by one in a sequential fashion, by trial and error, until we find the one that works. This report lays out a road map for methods that will let us quickly discover and design materials with exactly the properties we need.”
As well as autonomous labs to automatically design, perform and interpret experiments, the report called for the development of specific forms of AI for materials discovery and modular robotics platforms. As the global energy demand increases, the report also emphasised the need for international, multidisciplinary teams to help tackle development issues.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.