Patent ID: 7166470

Claim:
A method for creating and screening libraries of materials, the method comprising: i) preparing a first library comprising a first array of materials on a common first substrate, the first array including compositional gradients having a predefined step size within a ternary space of components, the first array being formed by a method that comprises: (a) at least partially dissolving two or more components; (b) mixing the two or more components together in nine or more different ratios thereby forming nine or more different mixtures; and (c) dispensing the two or more components in nine or more different ratios into regions on the first substrate; and ii) screening the materials of the first library for heterogeneous catalysis performance, and iii) preparing a second library based on the result(s) of the screening step (ii) to evaluate whether local performance maxima exist at compositions between those of the first array, the second library being a focus library and comprising a second array of materials on a second common substrate, the second array including compositional gradients having a predefined step size within the ternary space of components where the gradient step size of the second array is smaller than the gradient step size of the first array, the second array being formed by a method that comprises: (a) at least partially dissolving two or more components; (b) mixing the two or more components together in nine or more different ratios thereby forming nine or more different mixtures; and (c) dispensing the two or more components in nine or more different ratios into regions on a second substrate.