Solar-powered nanomechanical transduction from crystalline molecular rotors.

Sylvester, Sven O; Cole, Jacqueline M · Adv Mater · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A photoinduced solid-state SO₂ isomerism drives a larger mechanical change (benzene-ring rotation) in a neighbouring ion (i.e., the system acts as a solar-powered molecular transducer). The ring rotation and SO₂ photoisomerisation are observed using in situ X-ray crystallography and are controllable, reproducible, and metastable at low temperatures. This discovery presents a new range of materials for solar-energy-based molecular transduction.

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