The DMREF team recently published a perspective article that discusses the  need  for  additional  fundamental  insight  into  the  solution  behavior  of donor-acceptor    based    organic    semiconducting    (OSC)    conjugated polymers.
Notes    that    combining    high-throughput    experimentation    (HTE) laboratory   techniques   with   materials   informatics   offers   several avenues  to  navigate  vast  domains  of  tunable  variables  offered  by OSC  thin films.
Outlines steps necessary to incorporate a comprehensive informatics methodology  into  experimental  development  of  polymer-based  OSC technologies. Key findings:
To  inform  efficient  HTE  for  data  collection  and  application  of  data-centric     tools     to     construct     new     process−structure−property relationships,  examination  of  the  solution  state  prior  to  deposition, coupled  with  thin-film  characterization  is  crucial  for  understanding underlying   physicochemical   mechanisms   influencing   final   OSC performance.
Inclusion  of  data-driven   approaches  offers   predictive  capabilities previously unattainable via traditional experimental means.