Prajakatta Mulay

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

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About

Prajakatta Mulay is a rising leader in the field of automated polymer synthesis, pioneering the integration of robotics and photochemistry to transform how advanced materials are made. Her research centers on developing high-throughput, oxygen-tolerant platforms for reversible-deactivation radical polymerizations (RDRP), with a focus on photoinduced techniques. In her landmark 2023 work, Mulay introduced a fully automated platform for photoinitiated RAFT polymerization, employing a robotic arm to achieve robust parallel synthesis of acrylate and acrylamide polymers with high monomer conversions and low dispersity—a breakthrough that has already garnered 30 citations for its potential in combinatorial materials discovery. Building on this, her 2025 study on automation-assisted photoinduced atom transfer radical polymerization further expands the toolkit, enabling oxygen-tolerant reactions in open well plates to dramatically lower the knowledge barrier for tailored polymer synthesis. By merging robotics with photochemistry, Mulay is democratizing access to precision polymer engineering, paving the way for accelerated discovery of functional materials. Her work represents a critical step toward fully autonomous materials laboratories, positioning her as a key innovator in the next generation of polymer science.