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Briefing
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- Polymer Synthesizing Robot – Engineers from Rutgers University built system using liquid-handling robot and software to automate development of polymers with different material properties
- Previous Challenge – Polymer synthesis usually occurred in controlled environments as chemical reactions are sensitive to oxygen, which limit researchers' development of large numbers of polymers
- Innovation – System takes advantage of recent developments in polymer chemistries, enabling it to tolerate oxygen to produce 384 different polymers at once, with varying molecular size, composition, architecture and functionality, as well as little user input
- Testing Results – Synthesized 96 unique polymers in 30 minutes compared to three hours with trained laboratory researcher
- Applications – Can accelerate development of new materials for drugs and regenerative medicine through tissue engineering, as well as diagnostics, medical devices, electronics, sensors, robots and lighting
- Next Step – Plans to add artificial intelligence and machine learning to complement automation process
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