Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chemistry is commonly thought of as a discipline that studies substances, their properties, their transformations, and reactions with other substances. In order to induce chemical change, the substances can be heated to high temperatures (or cooled if the reaction produces lots of heat or is temperature sensitive), we can shine light on them, pass an electric current through a solution containing them, or even microwave them in an oven, which is often done in a solution containing dissolved reactants. However, applying mechanical stimulation (such as stretching, grinding, friction, or impact), as a way to change properties or induce chemical reactions, has not been a popular tool for chemists historically. Historically, grinding materials until they react is a technique used before chemistry became a discipline, in the times of alchemy or even in ancient times. Until recently, the arguments against mechanical methods were low reproducibility and inability to compete with solution methods.
At the same time, it was known that certain compounds have unique properties that can be observed after mechanical stress. As materials from them started being developed and mechanically responsive devices in the modern world (touch pads, etc..) became more common, mechano-responsive chemical materials started to capture the imagination of many. And if a chemical has unique properties in response to mechanical stress, then the next question is, would the outcome of reactions induced by mechanical action be different to those carried out by classical solvent methods? In that light, recently developed mechanochemical reactors have enabled reproducibility and a rush for discovery in this new and exciting field.
In the first part of my lecture, I will introduce our decade-long journey into the design of mechanoresponsive materials that change their luminescent properties in response to mechanical stretching or rubbing. In particular, I will focus on films containing metal complexes that change photoluminescence intensity in response to stretching, or produce mechanoluminescence (emission of light caused by mechanical stimulation). Inspired in part by these results, and in part from the catalytic results obtained from our lab’s more traditional ‘solution-based chemistry’ research directions, in the second part I will talk about our more recent adventures in the field of mechanochemistry – where inducing chemical reactions through ball milling led us to make observations into the basic aspects of mechanochemical reactions.
Chemistry is commonly thought of as a discipline that studies substances, their properties, their transformations, and reactions with other substances. In order to induce chemical change, the substances can be heated to high temperatures (or cooled if the reaction produces lots of heat or is temperature sensitive), we can shine light on them, pass an electric current through a solution containing them, or even microwave them in an oven, which is often done in a solution containing dissolved reactants. However, applying mechanical stimulation (such as stretching, grinding, friction, or impact), as a way to change properties or induce chemical reactions, has not been a popular tool for chemists historically. Historically, grinding materials until they react is a technique used before chemistry became a discipline, in the times of alchemy or even in ancient times. Until recently, the arguments against mechanical methods were low reproducibility and inability to compete with solution methods.
At the same time, it was known that certain compounds have unique properties that can be observed after mechanical stress. As materials from them started being developed and mechanically responsive devices in the modern world (touch pads, etc..) became more common, mechano-responsive chemical materials started to capture the imagination of many. And if a chemical has unique properties in response to mechanical stress, then the next question is, would the outcome of reactions induced by mechanical action be different to those carried out by classical solvent methods? In that light, recently developed mechanochemical reactors have enabled reproducibility and a rush for discovery in this new and exciting field.
In the first part of my lecture, I will introduce our decade-long journey into the design of mechanoresponsive materials that change their luminescent properties in response to mechanical stretching or rubbing. In particular, I will focus on films containing metal complexes that change photoluminescence intensity in response to stretching, or produce mechanoluminescence (emission of light caused by mechanical stimulation). Inspired in part by these results, and in part from the catalytic results obtained from our lab’s more traditional ‘solution-based chemistry’ research directions, in the second part I will talk about our more recent adventures in the field of mechanochemistry – where inducing chemical reactions through ball milling led us to make observations into the basic aspects of mechanochemical reactions.
