Grizou, J. , Points, L. J., Sharma, A. and Cronin, L. (2020) A curious formulation robot enables the discovery of a novel proto-cell behaviour. Science Advances, 6(5), eaay4237. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay4237) (PMID:32064348) (PMCID:PMC6994213)
|
Text
200635.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 3MB |
Abstract
We describe a chemical robotic assistant equipped with a curiosity algorithm (CA) that can efficiently explore the states a complex chemical system can exhibit. The CA-robot is designed to explore formulations in an open-ended way with no explicit optimization target. By applying the CA-robot to the study of self-propelling multicomponent oil-in-water protocell droplets, we are able to observe an order of magnitude more variety in droplet behaviors than possible with a random parameter search and given the same budget. We demonstrate that the CA-robot enabled the observation of a sudden and highly specific response of droplets to slight temperature changes. Six modes of self-propelled droplet motion were identified and classified using a time-temperature phase diagram and probed using a variety of techniques including NMR. This work illustrates how CAs can make better use of a limited experimental budget and significantly increase the rate of unpredictable observations, leading to new discoveries with potential applications in formulation chemistry.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Sharma, Mr Abhishek and Points, Mr Laurie and Cronin, Professor Lee and Grizou, Dr Jonathan |
| Authors: | Grizou, J., Points, L. J., Sharma, A., and Cronin, L. |
| College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry |
| Journal Name: | Science Advances |
| Publisher: | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| ISSN: | 2375-2548 |
| ISSN (Online): | 2375-2548 |
| Published Online: | 31 January 2020 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2020 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Science Advances 6(5):eaay4237 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons license |
University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record
Funder and Project Information
Funder and Project Information