Sensors in Combinatorial Polymer Research

Summary: This review highlights the broad potential of sensor technologies for combinatorial polymer research. Advances in components microfabrication, electronics, transducers, and data analysis in the area of sensors can stimulate the development of many more new concepts applicable for rapid polymer screening. These advances are already impacting on several phases in a typical combinatorial discovery cycle that include parallel synthesis of polymers, their performance testing, evaluation of properties, and processing of collected data. It is demonstrated that sensors provide an attractive addition to the infrastructure of the analytical instruments used for screening of intrinsic and performance polymer properties. Impact of sensor technologies on the combinatorial discovery cycle. magnified image Impact of sensor technologies on the combinatorial discovery cycle.