High‐Throughput/High‐Output Experimentation in Polymer Research

Abstract

High‐throughput and high‐output experimental techniques represent suitable approaches to facilitate and speed up the preparation, optimization, and investigation of polymeric materials and polymerization processes. High‐throughput and high‐output screenings (HT/HO) are now recognized as highly efficient and cost‐effective techniques providing clear opportunities for the elucidation of structure–property relationships in polymer libraries. A wide range of important parameters can be investigated with systematic variations of properties, such as molar mass, dispersity, composition, microstructure, and other application‐specific properties. Moreover, the implementation of effective offline and online characterization techniques in HT/HO workflows has enabled the development of practical and productive methodologies. In recent years, HT/HO approaches have been actively pursued especially by the continuous development of reversible deactivation radical polymerization techniques. The synergy of such techniques, and the further development of computational and data management methods, could facilitate the fast access to complex and well‐defined polymeric materials in highly effective procedures. This contribution outlines the framework of the current status of high‐throughput and high‐output screenings for the synthesis and characterization of polymeric materials. Emphasis is placed on the advantages, current limitations, and the possible extensions and perspectives discussed in the current literature.

Automated Parallel Dialysis for Purification of Polymers

“…To this end, a successful digitalization of the polymer R&D process will undoubtedly require automating and/or parallelizing in a reliable manner different experimental tasks, such as synthesis, characterization, purification, and testing of polymer materials. First approaches toward this ultimate goal have shown progress in establishing efficiently automated and/or parallel experimental protocols for the synthesis and characterization of polymer libraries employing combinatorial, highthroughput/-output (HT/O), or flow chemistry techniques [2][3][4]. Nonetheless, HT/O experimentation, as used nowadays in different polymer laboratories, currently faces obstacles that need to be addressed to contribute to the establishment of fully automated and/or parallelized experimental workflows necessary to progress the digitalization of R&D in this field.…”