AI4Green4Students: Promoting sustainable chemistry in undergraduate laboratories with an electronic lab notebook

AI4Green is an open-source, machine-learning-powered electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) developed by our research group to help chemists mitigate environmental impacts, particularly within the pharmaceutical sector. This study presents AI4Green4Students, a pedagogically adapted version designed to foster sustainable laboratory practices and encourage the use of digital tools within undergraduate laboratory teaching. The AI4Green4Students ELN includes features for sustainability assessment, data documentation, and analysis, aiming to equip students with skills for modern, sustainable laboratory practices. User feedback, gathered through questionnaires and interviews, informed the initial development and subsequent refinements of the application, enhancing its usability, efficiency, and functionality. Implementation in a Year 3 undergraduate chemistry lab project indicated improved adherence to sustainable practices, suggesting that the ELN supports the integration of sustainable chemistry into laboratory teaching. Future efforts will expand AI4Green4Students to include additional experiments to broaden its applicability across undergraduate chemistry courses, as well as integrate machine learning tools to enhance data analysis capabilities.