New strategy to design mechano-responsive luminescent materials
Crystals made from gold complexes change color as they change structure from "chiral" to "achiral" when ground.
"Smart" materials that change color in response to a mechanical stimulus have a broad range of applications such as creating pressure-sensitive sensors and packaging that can detect tampering.
Researchers at Hokkaido University have now designed a novel "mechano-responsive luminescent material" using a gold and isocyanide complex, which includes two bonded rings of carbon and hydrogen atoms.
When the material is first prepared, it is a viscous oil. The oil emits an orange color under ultraviolet irradiation. When the oil is pricked with a needle, however, it randomly crystallizes either into "chiral" yellow crystals that emit green light or into "achiral" whitish-grey crystals that emit bluish-green light.
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