Flexible crystals: inducing new physical properties in crystalline materials through the combination and control of intermolecular interactions

该提案旨在设计具有独特物理和机械性能（如弹性和柔韧性）的新型晶体材料。将采用一种创新的方法，利用排列在晶格中的分子之间的弱力来控制材料的整体性质。分子间相互作用的强度、性质和矢量将变化，并与所得的机械特性相关。通过这样做，这个项目将学习如何设计具有可预测和有用特性的材料。这种方法的发展将产生对互补分子间力的基本理解，并为生产的材料为特定的高科技应用量身定制奠定基础。

The proposal aims to design new crystalline materials with unique physical and mechanical properties such as elastic flexibility. An innovative approach will be employed, using the weak forces between molecules arranged in a crystal lattice to control the bulk properties of the materials. The strength, nature and vectors of the intermolecular interactions will be varied and correlated with the resulting mechanical characteristics. By doing so, this project will learn how to engineer materials with predictable and useful properties. The development of this approach will generate fundamental understanding of complementary intermolecular forces and lay the foundations for the materials produced to be tailored for specific high-tech applications.