Researchers pinpoint origins of elasticity
Scientists have gained new insights into the fundamental behaviour of flexible materials, an advance that could lead to the design of new building materials and technology.
The team, which involved researchers at The University of Queensland and QUT, has identified the origin of the restoring force that lets elastic crystals return to their original shape.
Professor Jack Clegg from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences said the team bent flexible crystals – including one developed at UQ which can be tied in a knot – to calculate how intermolecular interactions changed under compressive and expansive strain.
“Elasticity is a property that underpins a myriad of existing technologies including optical fibres, aeroplane components and load-bearing bridges,” Professor Clegg said in a statement. “We looked at how and where the energy was stored as the crystals contracted and went back to their original shape and size.”
The experiments showed the potential energy that allowed the crystal to spontaneously straighten out was stored in the interactions between molecules.
“Under strain, the molecules reversibly rotate and reorganise in a way that stores energy differently on the inside and the outside of the bend,” said Professor Clegg.
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