Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

A soft porous crystal which changes its fluorescence in response to mechanical grinding and heat has been developed by scientists in China. 

Applying mechanical force changes the organic crystal’s fluorescence from yellow through to cherry red. Heating the crystal reverses this. The team say this mechanofluorochromism is caused by the crystal going through multiple structural transformations.

Read the full paper for free until 5^th December:

Construction of soft porous crystal with silole derivative: strategy of framework design, multiple structural transformability and mechanofluorochromism: J. Mei, J. Wang, A. Qin, H. Zhao, W. Yuan, Z. Zhao, H. H. Y. Sung, C. Deng, S. Zhang, I. D. Williams, J. Z. Sun and B. Z. Tang, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM12673C

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