Thermoelastic twisting–assisted crystal jumping based on a self-healing molecular crystal
Abstract
Adaptive crystals have attracted significant attention from solid-state chemists and crystal engineers for their promising applications in memories, capacitors, sensors, and actuators. Among them, thermosalient crystals are particularly favored thanks to their efficient energy conversions and rapid responses. However, the mechanisms for the mechanical responses of thermosalient crystals remain largely unclear. Herein we demonstrate that thermosalient effects of molecular crystals could be driven by thermoelastic twisting behaviors. The crystal, based on a model compound with rigid dibenzothiophene sulfone planes and flexible ethoxy chains, can spontaneously self-heal from mechanical fractures. Upon heating, the crystal undergoes remarkable thermosalient behaviors driven by a distinctive left- or right-handed twisting. This thermoelastic twisting converts thermal energy into elastic potential energy, which is further released as kinetic energy upon untwisting to drive the crystal jump. Our demonstration on thermoelastic twisting–induced crystal jumping offers a different perspective on the origins of thermosalient crystals and could provide inspiration for future engineering and application of dynamic molecular crystals.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (8)
Zhihua Wang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Metal and Molecular Materials Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Nankai University, Tongyan Road 38, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China
Puxin Cheng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Metal and Molecular Materials Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Nankai University, Tongyan Road 38, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China
Wenqing Han
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Metal and Molecular Materials Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Nankai University, Tongyan Road 38, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China
Rongchao Shi
SINOPEC (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Yanshan Branch, Fenghuangting Road 15, Beijing 102500, P. R. China
Jian Xu
Yongshen Zheng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Metal and Molecular Materials Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Nankai University, Tongyan Road 38, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China
Jialiang Xu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Metal and Molecular Materials Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies
Xian-He Bu
School of Materials Science and Engineering & State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry