Polymerization optimization
The problem
Polymerization reactions move fast – sometimes too fast to control. After initiation, they need to be quickly quenched to avoid polymer branching, runaway reactions or other side reactions. Understanding how temperature, pressure, monomer ratios, and catalyst concentration affect polymer growth is critical, but doing that manually is slow, inconsistent, and wasteful.
High-throughput and automated systems can help scale the number of reactions, but speed alone isn’t enough. The challenge is managing highly exothermic, pressure-sensitive reactions with precision — capturing real-time data on gas uptake and reaction kinetics to truly understand how your polymerization behaves. Traditional automation helps you move faster, but it doesn’t help you understand your science faster.
The right tool for the job
Stuntman combines built-in AI with adaptable hardware and software built for polymerization. Turn your natural-language prompts into executable scripts that can orchestrate closed-loop automation from start to finish. Stuntman’s AI helps plan and organize experiments, interpret results, and guide how things progress. Design, execute, and analyze experiments all in one place using Stuntman AI, intuitive drag-and-drop interface workflows, or Python with full API access.
Deck it out your way to prepare reactions, run them under tightly controlled conditions, and integrate analytical results on a single platform. It automates every step — setup, injection, reaction control, sampling, and quenching — across gas-phase polymerizations, alkoxylations, and mixed-feed co-polymerizations. At its core is the Optimization Sampling Reactor (OSR), delivering independent control of temperature, pressure, and gas feeds while tracking gas uptake in real time. You see catalyst activity and reaction progress as they happen. Every step is tracked in real time and logged as it happens. All this control means you can trust your data and draw the right conclusions from it.
What’s possible
What's an OSR?
The Optimization Sampling Reactor (OSR) is an 8-channel reactor with independent control of pressure and temperature, and gas or liquid feeds. The OSR covers a wide operating range – up to 750 psi (51.7 bar), -15 °C to 200 °C, and working volumes from <1 - 25 mL per reaction and is chemically compatible with most reaction conditions. Each reactor includes an antechamber for injection under full temperature and pressure, so you can inject catalyst into the reactor when temperature and pressure are all set. Stuntman deck can be filled with up to 48 reactors to run in parallel or sequence.
The OSR’s heated reactor top keeps your solutions in the vial, while overhead stirring ensures uniform mixing even in heterogeneous or slurry systems. Reactions can be started by turning on the gas line or adding catalysts or reactants through the injection port. Each gas inlet is precisely metered, so you can add discrete amounts of reactive gases and track uptake throughout the run. If your chemistry calls for adding gases in liquid form, Condensable Gas Injection (CGI) lets you aspirate and deliver them directly using the OSR injection arm.
For polymerization work, the OSR can be configured with two different types of stir tops depending on the chemistry. The Merlin seal stir top is ideal when no sampling is required and pressures up to 400 psi (27.6 bar) are sufficient. It allows fast, leak-free injections through the OSR injection arm without opening or closing any valves, keeping the system fully sealed and inert.
When reactions require both injection and sampling under higher pressures, the ball-valve stir top is the go-to. It supports pressures up to 750 psi (51.7 bar) and allows precise, controlled sampling during the reaction without compromising containment.
The injection arm handles liquid or slurry additions with ease. If you’re injecting a catalyst to kick off a reaction, the needle bore is wide enough to pick up and transfer a slurry. When reactions finish, quenching is just as controlled. Stuntman’s software automatically monitors gas uptake or time per reactor and triggers quenching or sampling when thresholds are hit. You can quench a completed reactor with the injection arm and continue to process or initiate other reactors. If your reaction runs a little bit slower, the same injection arm does double duty as a sampling tool, pulling small, representative aliquots from the reactor to understand progress.
Depending on chemistry requirements and deck space, reactions can be prepared directly in glass vials on the Stuntman deck – dosing both solids and liquids. If you want it all to be in an inert atmosphere, no problem.
Integrations
With Stuntman, the possibilities are endless. Use Stuntman’s built-in AI or Python API to connect with your own tools, data systems, or AI and machine learning platforms. Drop in modules that your workflow calls for or hook it up with third-party systems. Keep expanding as your workflows evolve.
Stuntman
Stuntman has natural-language AI embedded directly into the system to help plan and design smarter experiments, close the loop faster, and adapt as conditions change, while hardware is configured upfront to fit your workflow. The result is faster iteration, more informative data, and automation that finally keeps pace with real science, whether you’re working in chemistry, biologics, materials, or beyond.
Want more info?
Every lab has different bottlenecks and challenges. We’re all about partnering with you to build the bespoke solution that lets you do science faster and better. Have questions or can’t wait to speak with our expert team to find out what might be possible?