High-throughput experimentation: A powerful enabling technology for the chemicals and materials industry

High-throughput experimentation (HTE) and combinatorial techniques have become an active area of interest for the materials and chemicals industry. These techniques could lead to faster, safer, and more efficient processes in virtually all industrial areas. This review briefly describes related aspects of the history of HTE and combinatorial methods in the materials and chemicals industry. It further describes the recent interest by the industry in this area in light of filed and granted patent applications, which represent the efforts of various industrial groups. Many aspects of hte, including material synthesis, screening, informatics, and application testing, have been addressed. A survey of these efforts suggests that such methods are recognized as a powerful enabling technology by industry and are potentially game changing. An effort has been made to keep the discussion focused on materials and techniques relevant to chemicals and materials technology, with an emphasis on polymer and synthetic organic chemistry and the analysis of related products. In-line with this effort, it has been attempted to exclude aspects mostly relevant to biological, genetic, and pharmaceutical technologies.