# Autonomous Synthesis of Nanoparticles with Target Scattering Patterns

## TL;DR

This paper introduces an autonomous method for synthesizing nanoparticles with specific atomic structures by targeting scattering patterns, reducing reliance on trial-and-error methods.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is an autonomous synthesis approach that uses scattering patterns to design nanoparticle structures without requiring prior synthesis knowledge.

## Key findings

- The method successfully targets and synthesizes gold nanoparticles with specific atomic structures (5 nm decahedral and 10 nm face-centered cubic).
- Real-time experimental scattering data is matched to simulated patterns to autonomously design synthesis protocols.
- The approach provides a generalizable blueprint for on-demand atomic structure-informed materials design.

## Abstract

Controlled synthesis of materials with specified atomic
structures
underpins technological advances yet remains reliant on iterative,
trial-and-error approaches. Nanoparticles (NPs), whose atomic arrangement
dictates their emergent properties,1–5 are particularly
challenging to synthesize due to numerous tunable parameters. Here,
we introduce an autonomous approach that explicitly targets atomic-scale
structure through scattering patterns. Our method autonomously designs
synthesis protocols by matching real-time experimental total scattering
(TS) and pair distribution function (PDF) data to simulated target
patterns, without requiring embedded synthesis knowledge. We demonstrate
this capability at a synchrotron by targeting two structurally distinct
gold NP scattering patterns: 5 nm decahedral and 10 nm face-centered
cubic structures. Ultimately, specifying target scattering patterns
and autonomously approaching synthesis protocols that reproduce them
experimentally may enable on-demand, atomic structure-informed materials
design. ScatterLab thus provides a generalizable blueprint for autonomous,
atomic structure-targeted synthesis across diverse systems and applications.