A High Throughput Aqueous Passivation Testing Methodology for Compositionally Complex Alloys using Scanning Droplet Cell

Compositionally complex alloy systems containing more than five principal elements allow exploring a wide range of compositions, processing, and structural variables with the hope for identifying unique properties. Such opportunities also apply to designing materials for improved corrosion resistance, regulated by a self-healing passive film. Such a rich landscape in reactivity and protectivity demands the search for high-throughput experimental testing workflows to uncover key metrics, indicative of superior properties. In this communication, one such methodology is demonstrated for evaluating passivation performance of a combinatorial library of Al0.7-x-yCoxCryFe0.15Ni0.15 thin film alloys in deaerated 0.1 mol/L H2SO4(aq), using a scanning droplet cell

High Throughput Discovery of Lightweight Corrosion-Resistant Compositionally Complex Alloys

Compositionally complex alloys hold the promise of simultaneously attaining superior combinations of properties such as corrosion resistance, light-weighting, and strength. Achieving this goal is a challenge due in part to a large number of possible compositions and structures in the vast alloy design space. High throughput methods offer a path forward, but a strong connection between the synthesis of a given composition and structure with its properties has not been fully realized to date. Here we present the rapid identification of light weight highly corrosion-resistant alloys based on combinations of Al and Cr in a Cantor-like base alloy (Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni). Previously unstudied alloy stoichiometries were identified using a combination of high throughput experimental screening coupled with key metallurgical and electrochemical corrosion tests, identifying alloys with excellent passivation behavior. Importantly, the electrochemical impedance modulus of the exposure-modified, air-formed film at the corrosion potential was found as an accurate non-destructive predictor of corrosion and passivation characteristics. Multi-element EXAFS analyses connected more ordered type chemical short range order in the Ni-Al 1st nn shell to poorer corrosion. This report underscores the utility of high throughput exploration of compositionally complex alloys for the identification and rapid screening of vast stoichiometric space

Self-driving Multimodal Studies at User Facilities

Multimodal characterization is commonly required for understanding materials. User facilities possess the infrastructure to perform these measurements, albeit in serial over days to months. In this paper, we describe a unified multimodal measurement of a single sample library at distant instruments, driven by a concert of distributed agents that use analysis from each modality to inform the direction of the other in real time. Powered by the Bluesky project at the National Synchrotron Light Source II, this experiment is a world's first for beamline science, and provides a blueprint for future approaches to multimodal and multifidelity experiments at user facilities.Comment: 36th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2022). AI4Mat Worksho

What is missing in autonomous discovery: Open challenges for the community

Self-driving labs (SDLs) leverage combinations of artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced computing to accelerate scientific discovery. The promise of this field has given rise to a rich community of passionate scientists, engineers, and social scientists, as evidenced by the development of the Acceleration Consortium and recent Accelerate Conference. Despite its strengths, this rapidly developing field presents numerous opportunities for growth, challenges to overcome, and potential risks of which to remain aware. This community perspective builds on a discourse instantiated during the first Accelerate Conference, and looks to the future of self-driving labs with a tempered optimism. Incorporating input from academia, government, and industry, we briefly describe the current status of self-driving labs, then turn our attention to barriers, opportunities, and a vision for what is possible. Our field is delivering solutions in technology and infrastructure, artificial intelligence and knowledge generation, and education and workforce development. In the spirit of community, we intend for this work to foster discussion and drive best practices as our field grows

Epitaxial crystals of Bi\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3ePt\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e7\u3c/sub\u3e pyrochlore through the transformation of δ -Bi\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e fluorite

Bi Pt O pyrochlore is thought to be one of the most promising oxide catalysts for application in fuel cell technology. Unfortunately, direct film growth of Bi Pt O has not yet been achieved, owing to the difficulty of oxidizing platinum metal in the precursor material to Pt . In this work, in order to induce oxidation of the platinum, we annealed pulsed laser deposited films consisting of epitaxial δ-Bi O and co-deposited, comparatively disordered platinum. We present synchrotron x-ray diffraction results that show the nonuniform annealed films contain the first epitaxial crystals of Bi Pt O . We also visualized the pyrochlore structure by scanning transmission electron microscopy, and observed ordered cation vacancies in the epitaxial crystals formed in a bismuth-rich film but not in those formed in a platinum-rich film. The similarity between the δ-Bi O and Bi Pt O structures appears to facilitate the pyrochlore formation. These results provide the only route to date for the formation of epitaxial Bi Pt O . 2 2 7 2 2 7 2 3 2 2 7 2 3 2 2 7 2 2 7 4