The Application of Automation to Significantly Accelerate Polymer Latex Research

Abstract

Polymer latexes are essential components in a wide range of commercial products and formulations such as, paints, cosmetics, coatings, biotechnology, and functionalized supports. Many difficulties are intrinsic to the implementation of polymer latex research, particularly in the purification of the final latex dispersions and the control and reproducibility of particle size, therefore making high-throughput research in this area especially challenging. In this article, we demonstrate how the investigation of the influential synthesis factors on polymer latex materials properties can be swiftly and reproducibly achieved by the combinational use of experimental design, automated synthesis, and a newly developed high-throughput purification process. Through the implementation of flexible automated platforms, a significant increase in the throughput of this previously manual process was achieved. Reaction models were used to examine the synergistic and antagonistic effects of the latex synthesis parameters, thereby allowing the controlled synthesis of fully characterized libraries of surface–functional polymer latexes to be rapidly produced and screened for a wide range of applications.