The scientific community’s general interest in using mechanical energy to trigger or facilitate chemical reactivity has been growing at a speedy pace. In particular, in recent years, organic chemistry has witnessed a constant flow of examples where the use of mechanochemical techniques proved not only to outperform traditional solution-based methodologies, but also enabled access to otherwise i...

Single-molecule experiments have been used with great success to explore the mechanochemical cycles of processive motor proteins such as kinesin-1, but it has proven difficult to apply these approaches to nonprocessive motors. Therefore, the mechanochemical cycle of kinesin-14 (ncd) is still under debate. Here, we use the readout from the collective activity of multiple motors to derive informa...

In this review, the recent progress in the synthesis of ureas, thioureas and guanidines by solid-state mechanochemical ball milling is highlighted. While the literature is abundant on their preparation in conventional solution environment, it was not until the advent of solvent-free manual grinding using a mortar and pestle and automated ball milling that new synthetic opportunities have opened...

Mechanical alloying and vacuum sintering have been used to produce bulk nanostructured Ti5Si3 and Ti5Si3-15Wt.% Al2O3 nanocomposite. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to study the microstructural characteristics of the samples. Indentation method was used to calculate hardness, elastic modulus and fracture toughness ...

Cell shape is determined by a balance of intrinsic properties of the cell as well as its mechanochemical environment. Inhomogeneous shape changes underlie many morphogenetic events and involve spatial gradients in active cellular forces induced by complex chemical signaling. Here, we introduce a mechanochemical model based on the notion that cell shape changes may be induced by external diffusi...

The accumulation and disposal of polymer wastes including waste plastics, waste rubber, waste synthetic fibers and waste composites is a worldwide concern. Until now, there are many technical barriers in recycling polymer wastes with crosslinked structure, such as vulcanized rubber, crosslinked polyolefine and other thermoset materials. In this study, a mechanochemical approach was used to cond...

For the polypentapeptide of elastin, (L-Val-L-Pro-Gly-L-Val-Gly)n, and appropriate analogs when suitably cross-linked, it has been previously demonstrated that development of elastomeric force at fixed length and length changes at fixed load occur as the result of an inverse temperature transition, with the temperature of the transition being inversely dependent on the hydrophobicity of the pol...