Mechanochemical reactions initiated by a mechanical force or action are ubiquitous in nature and engineering systems. The most obvious example would be chemical reactions induced by frictional heat at sliding interfaces. There are numerous chemical reactions occurring at mechanical interfaces where frictional heat generation is negligible. In such cases, chemical reactions must be initiated or driven by directly channeling mechanical force or energy into chemical reaction coordinates, which leads to chemical reactions that usually do not occur in thermal, photochemical, or electrochemical conditions. This talk will address how mechanical actions alter or control reaction dynamics or mechanisms. The system studied here is tribochemical polymerizations of adsorbed molecules (bicyclic terpenes and allyl alcohol) occurring at the sliding interface of solids (stainless steel, silicon oxide, etc.) Experimental and computational studies found that the distortion of molecules is a prerequisite for shear-induced chemical reactions and such distortion is facilitated when molecules are anchored to one of the solid surfaces via chemisorption.

Mechanochemistry at sliding interfaces – Tribo-polymerization of adsorbed molecules upon mechanical shear

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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