Mechanically Responsive Molecular Crystals

Mechanically Tunable Photonic Crystals

The next frontier in photonic crystal research may be to achieve dynamic tunability that allows real-time, on-demand control of the photonic band structure. Recently, researchers have been working on a new strategy for achieving this goal—by applying mechanical force. This approach can produce much greater tunability than is possible with electro-optic materials and may greatly expand the usefu...

Stimuli-responsive mechanically adaptive polymer nanocomposites.

A new series of biomimetic stimuli-responsive nanocomposites, which change their mechanical properties upon exposure to physiological conditions, was prepared and investigated. The materials were produced by introducing percolating networks of cellulose nanofibers or "whiskers" derived from tunicates into poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA), and blends of these polymers,...

Thermo-mechanically responsive crystalline organic cantilever.

We report thermo-mechanically responsive and thermochromic behavior in the single crystalline organic semiconductor butoxyphenyl N-substituted naphthalene diimide (BNDI). We show that initially monoclinic single crystals of BNDI undergo a single-crystal to single-crystal transition to a triclinic phase. This transition accompanies large changes in the crystal packing, a visible decrease in crys...

Geometrically controlled mechanically responsive polyelectrolyte tube arrays.

IO N Over the last two decades, there has been extensive work on stimulus-responsive materials and structures that undergo actuation, swelling, variable permeability and wettability, and aggregation in the presence of external environmental stimulus, e.g., pH, ionic strength, temperature, and pressure. [ 1–4 ] However, the design, fabrication, characterization, and fundamental understanding of ...

Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals