An unusual luminescent inorganic oxide, Sr2CeO4, was identified by parallel screening techniques from within a combinatorial library of more than 25,000 members prepared by automated thin-film synthesis. A bulk sample of single-phase Sr2CeO4 was prepared, and its structure, determined from powder x-ray diffraction data, reveals one-dimensional chains of edge-sharing CeO6 octahedra, with two terminal oxygen atoms per cerium center, that are isolated from one another by Sr2+ cations. The emission maximum at 485 nanometers appears blue-white and has a quantum yield of 0.48 +/- 0.02. The excited-state lifetime, electron spin resonance, magnetic susceptibility, and structural data all suggest that luminescence originates from a ligand-to-metal Ce4+ charge transfer.

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In less than one minute the catalytic activity and selectivity of a single catalyst was measured in combinatorial libraries of ternary Rh-Pd-Pt-Cu alloys. Only slightly more than two hours were needed to complete a library with 136 elements. The elements of the libraries (ca. 2-4 μg of material) are contained in a two-dimensional array synthesized by a thin-film technique. The analysis was performed by a scanning mass spectrometer (see picture).

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