Paper alert: accelerating optimization of halide perovskites!
© 2025, Digital Discovery, Hilal Aybike Can
Our article “Accelerating optimization of halide perovskites: two blueprints for automation” is now published in Digital Discovery. We present HITSTA, an accelerated aging setup that not only speeds up stability testing but also provides insight into degradation mechanisms, and ROSIE, a robotic ink-mixing platform that standardizes and automates solution preparation for systematic, high-throughput studies. Together, these open-source and affordable tools pave the way for faster, more reproducible perovskite research.
The fine-tuning of halide perovskite materials for both performance and stability calls for innovative tools that streamline high-throughput experimentation. Here, we present two complementary systems designed to accelerate the development of solution-processed thin-film semiconductors. HITSTA (High-Throughput Stability Testing Apparatus) is a robust, cost-effective platform for optical characterization and accelerated aging, built around a repurposed 3D printer. It accommodates up to 49 thin-film samples, subjecting them to temperatures up to 110 °C and light intensities of 2.2 suns while continuously monitoring their absorptance and photoluminescence. ROSIE (Robotic Operating System for Ink Engineering) is a liquid-handling robot constructed from a hobbyist robotic arm and a syringe pump, enabling precise and automated ink formulation. We detail the design and operation of both systems, providing guidelines for their replication. To demonstrate their capabilities, we present a case study in which ROSIE and HITSTA are used to investigate the aging of mixed-cation, mixed-halide inorganic perovskites. Together, these systems form a powerful toolkit for accelerating the optimization of solution-processable thin-films via high-throughput experimentation.
The authors acknowledge funding from the European Union's
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (TRIUMPH,
101075725), the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (PERSISTARS),
and the ETH Domain through an AM grant (AMYS) and the
SNSF (A3P)