Science & Technology (Commonwealth Union) – As artificial intelligence (AI) further advances, its ability to enhance various devices may possibly open new oppourtunities.
The production of the next generation of wearable sensors, biomedical equipment and other bioelectronic technologies will require the creation of advanced, high-performance materials capable of conducting electrical signals.
But when addressing the possibility researchers efficiently marking better materials for future electronic devices the researchers looked into to 2 possibilties. One approach would be to develop, synthesise, analyse and test potential materials individually in the laboratory. Another is to harness modern computing, examine materials at the molecular level and create predictive models that can point researchers towards promising new candidates.
Researchers are now pursuing the second approach through a data-driven, artificial intelligence-powered materials-by-design strategy. The project is being led by Wenjie Xia of Iowa State University in collaboration with teams from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Windsor in Canada. Funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council is supporting the collaborative research.
A four-year NSF grant worth $879,911 is funding Xia, an associate professor of aerospace engineering and the project’s lead investigator, along with his research team as they develop computational models and data-driven methods designed to accelerate the discovery and development of advanced materials.
Xia indicated that they aim to harness data, artificial intelligence and computational technologies to accelerate the design and discovery of advanced materials.
The study also had a heavy focus on understanding molecular structure. Xia further pointed out that a major factor in making the project successful is determining how the molecular structure of a material influences its physical characteristics and overall performance.
“In this project, we’re concerned about molecular structures, processing, properties and understanding how they ultimately impact material and device performance,” he explained. “Essentially, we want to learn how to put the molecules together.”
The research centres on organic mixed ionic-electronic conducting polymers, a class of materials capable of carrying both electronic charges and charged particles known as ions. This combination of electronic and ionic conductivity is especially valuable in bioelectronic technologies, where it can support a wider variety of device functions.
The researchers can adjust these interconnected transport properties by modifying the polymers’ molecular structures and controlling how the materials are processed. This allows them to fine-tune performance for specific device requirements.
According to the researchers, these materials could pave the way for lightweight, flexible and potentially stretchable, affordable devices. Potential applications include flexible electronic systems, wearable sensing technologies, bioelectronics and other emerging fields.
Despite their potential, achieving higher performance remains difficult. The researchers noted that scientists still do not fully understand how molecular design and processing conditions interact to influence the behaviour and performance of the resulting devices.
The project brings together a group of researchers whose expertise spans different stages of materials development. Xia will head the Iowa State University team responsible for using computational methods and data-driven modelling to study materials, from their molecular structures through to their physical properties.
At the University of Windsor, Simon Rondeau-Gagné will oversee the design and synthesis of the most promising materials identified through the research. Xiaodan Gu of the University of Southern Mississippi will focus on developing and refining the processes used to prepare the materials, while Aristide Gumyusenge of MIT will lead efforts to fabricate and test devices incorporating the new polymers.
Xia expressed confidence that the collaboration could lead to materials-by-design approaches capable of speeding up the development of high-performance conducting polymers. By combining their expertise, the researchers aim to better understand how molecular structure and processing techniques influence the properties of materials and, ultimately, the performance of the devices in which they are used.
