Abstract

Mechanical forces typical of daily life are several billion times stronger than the force between two atoms, such as a carbon - carbon bond. Although light and heat are routinely used as conventional energy inputs to drive chemical reactions, harnessing mechanical energy for the same goal is not trivial. In the 1930s, Staudinger found that polymers are able to undergo mechanically driven chemical bond scission, and, today, we are on the verge of understanding and exploiting this process at an unprecedented level. In the beginning of the talk, the experimental basis for this interesting energy transformation process will be presented. Then, I’ll describe our recent studies on addressing mechanochemistry in polymer solutions through intramolecular crosslinks, and finally, I’ll present new mechanochemical approaches to self-healing applications.

Research Interests
Charles Diesendruck is interested in the action of mechanical force at the molecular level. His research involves the use of molecular architecture for directing mechanical forces in polymeric molecules and aggregates for the development of mechanically robust and self-healing materials. His group works on the synthesis of small molecular probes and polymers, and mechanical testing of materials.