Photomechanical and thermomechanical molecular crystals

Photomechanical bending of salicylideneaniline crystals.

Platelike microcrystals of N-3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylidene-3-nitroaniline repeatedly bend and straighten upon alternate irradiation with UV and visible light. The mechanism of bending was elucidated by X-ray crystallographic analyses before and after photoirradiation.

Photomechanical spallation of molecular and metal targets: molecular dynamics study

Microscopic mechanisms of photomechanical spallation are investigated in a series of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations performed for molecular and metal targets. A mesoscopic breathing sphere model is used in simulations of laser interaction with molecular targets. A coupled atomisticcontinuum model that combines a molecular dynamics method with a continuum description of the laser exc...

Thermomechanical effect in molecular crystals: the role of halogen-bonding interactions

The design and synthesis of mechanically responsive materials is interesting because they are potential candidates to convert thermal energy into mechanical work. Reported in this paper are thermosalient effects in a series of halogen derivatives of salinazids. The chloro derivative, with higher electronegativity and a weaker inter-halogen bond strength (Cl⋯Cl) exhibits an excellent thermal res...

Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals

Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals

The problem of finding the equilibrium shape of a small particle by the Wulff construction is reviewed briefly, with emphasis on its applications to liquid crystals. The proof of Wulff’s theorem is stated in a concise mathematical form. Some typical equilibrium shapes of liquid crystalline cirops are described. When there is orientational order of the molecules in the liquid crystal but no tran...