New CircuLab to make sustainable materials development more efficient

Text: Lina Enell, Stockholm University.

“Technology has evolved tremendously, and we should take this to our advantage. The amount of data will help us to improve the materials, to reproduce the materials, and to find new applications of materials,” says Belén Martín-Matute, Professor of Organic Chemistry at Stockholm University.

Developing new materials involves many stages, from synthesis and processing to analysis and testing. CircuLab is designed to connect several of these stages. Its automation platforms make it possible to synthesise materials with high precision and then test their properties, while large amounts of data can be used to develop and optimise the processes with the support of AI and machine learning.

“Everything is coming together with the data,” says Aji Mathew, Professor of Materials Chemistry at Stockholm University. The equipment can be used separately, in groups or as part of the platform as a whole.

Inaugurated at Stockholm University

CircuLab is one of the research infrastructures being established within WISE, which has made major investments in advanced equipment and research infrastructure for sustainable materials science.

“Continuously upgrading our research infrastructure is essential for us to conduct high-quality research. With CircuLab, we can connect and automate the entire research process,” says Hans Adolfsson, President of Stockholm University.

CircuLab was inaugurated on 30 September with speeches, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a tour of the new research environment. The programme also included a workshop on data-driven sustainable chemistry.

“It’s kind of hard to summarise what this has meant for us. We’re really grateful to WISE and to the Wallenberg Foundation for these opportunities,” says Lena Mäler, Dean of the Faculty of Science.

Open to researchers and companies

CircuLab is an open research platform for academic researchers, start-ups and companies. By bringing together equipment and methods covering several stages of materials development on the same platform, CircuLab creates opportunities for new collaborations and research projects.

“This initiative is not just for Stockholm University, it is for the entire country,” says Bo Liedberg, Chair of the Committee for Research and Technology Platforms (RTP) at WISE.

He emphasises that the platform should be made accessible to a wider scientific community and attract researchers to Stockholm University to work and collaborate.