ABSTRACT
The use of high-throughput methods to synthesize and screen combinatorial libraries of candidate drug compounds has become an established research methodology in the pharmaceutical industry. This approach has also been applied to proteomics and genomics research. The application of combinatorial and high-throughput approaches to the synthesis and screening of materials has been growing rapidly. Combinatorial and high-throughput materials science involves the rapid preparation of libraries of chemically distinct materials, followed by screening of the materials for key performance properties.1-6 A goal of high-throughput screening is to identify hits or leads: compositions that show promising or extraordinary performance. These leads can either be used to further refine library design in future high-throughput experiments or the leads can serve as candidates for further product development. In addition, data generated in high-throughput experiments
can also be used to determine structure-property relationships. This information can provide valuable insight into the effect of key compositional variables on performance properties and guide future research.
