The Blockchain Integrated Automatic Experiment Platform (BiaeP)

J Phys Chem Lett. 2020 Dec 3;11(23):9995-10000. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c02840. Epub 2020 Nov 12.

Abstract

Given that robots are being utilized extensively in chemical synthesis research, the potential applications of robots remain to be explored. Along with the remarkable progress of experimental science, circumstances have occurred in which publications were castigated because of irreproducibility, either because of rigorous experimental conditions or because of initial data forgery. Some credit-assignment issues and plagiarism cases also attracted intense attention throughout the community. As a possible solution to authenticity and originality problems, we herein propose a blockchain integrated automatic experiment platform, BiaeP, which attempts to provide solutions for those kinds of problems. As a result of the integration with blockchain, its data irreversibility secures the authenticity and the timestamp helps prove the originality. Two trial experiments are included as examples. We believe the architecture of BiaeP could be widely applicable for future development of scientific research in experimental subjects, such as chemistry, materials science, biology, and so forth.