Combinatorial and high-throughput materials science

There is increasing acceptance of high-throughput technologies for the discovery, development, and optimization of materials and catalysts in industry. Over the years, the relative synchronous development of technologies for parallel synthesis and characterization has been accompanied by developments in associated software and information technologies. This Review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on the state of the art of the field by selected examples. Technologies developed to aid research on complex materials are covered as well as databases, design of experiment, data-mining technologies, modeling approaches, and evolutionary strategies for development. Different methods for parallel synthesis provide single sample libraries, gradient libraries for electronic or optical materials, similar to polymers and catalysts, and products produced through formulation strategies. Many examples illustrate the variety of isolated solutions and document the barely recognized variety of new methods for the synthesis and analysis of almost any material. The Review ends with a summary of success stories and statements on still-present problems and future tasks.