An automated platform for “on-demand” high-speed catalyst synthesis by flame spray pyrolysis

Abstract

Flame-Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) is a versatile synthetic aerosol method to produce inorganic mixed-metal nanoparticles, frequently used for catalysts, battery materials, or chromophores. This work introduces a novel automated robotic platform based on FSP – AutoFSP – to accelerate materials discovery and optimization while providing standardized, machine-readable documentation of all synthesis steps. The manuscript outlines the design considerations for both hardware and software of AutoFSP, as well as the platform's performance in terms of speed, accuracy, and repeatability. AutoFSP has demonstrated significant time savings by reducing operator workload by a factor of two to three, while also improving documentation and decreasing the chance of human experimental error. AutoFSP achieves high compositional accuracy and precision across two orders of magnitude. The relative error of the effective molar metal loading x in Zn_xZr_1−xO_y and In_xZr_1−xO_y nanoparticles produced with the setup remains within ± 5%. The platform showcases the potential of automation in chemical discovery and exemplifies how established manual synthetic methods can be adapted for robotic processes before integration into a materials acceleration platform (MAP).