Thompson Amy J, Chamorro Orué Analia I, Nair Akshay Jayamohanan, Price Jason R, McMurtrie John, Clegg Jack K
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO - Melbourne, 800 Blackburn Rd, Clayton, VIC, 3168, Australia.
Chem Soc Rev. 2021 Nov 1;50(21):11725-11740. doi: 10.1039/d1cs00469g.
The discovery of molecular single crystals that display interesting elastic behaviour has generated excitement regarding their potential applications as it has upended the common perception of crystals as brittle objects. In order to design new functional materials based on molecular crystals, a comprehensive understanding of how these materials respond to deformation on a molecular-level is required. An introduction to the underlying mechanical theory and how it may be applied to single crystals is provided, along with a comprehensive discussion on how these mechanical properties can be characterised. While this field has already presented a large number of elastically flexible crystals, there is a lack of detailed mechanical characterisation data and some contention regarding the atomic-scale mechanism of elasticity. Due to the discrepancies and contradictions between theories proposed in the literature, it is not yet understood why some crystals are elastic while others shatter under applied force. To dispel ambiguity and guide future research, a set of criteria are proposed to define an elastically flexible crystal, so that these materials may find applications among future technologies.
分子单晶展现出有趣的弹性行为，这一发现引发了人们对其潜在应用的关注，因为它颠覆了人们通常认为晶体是脆性物体的观念。为了基于分子晶体设计新型功能材料，需要全面了解这些材料在分子层面如何响应变形。本文介绍了相关的基础力学理论及其在单晶中的应用方式，同时全面讨论了如何表征这些力学性能。虽然该领域已经出现了大量具有弹性柔韧性的晶体，但缺乏详细的力学表征数据，并且在弹性的原子尺度机制方面存在一些争议。由于文献中提出的理论之间存在差异和矛盾，目前尚不清楚为什么有些晶体具有弹性而另一些在受力时会破碎。为消除歧义并指导未来的研究，本文提出了一套标准来定义具有弹性柔韧性的晶体，以便这些材料能在未来技术中找到应用。
