UNUSUALLY LARGE YOUNG'S MUDULI OF AMINO ACID MOLECULAR CRYSTALS*

ORAL

Abstract

Young's moduli of selected amino acid molecular crystals were studied both experimentally and computationally using nanoindentation and dispersion-corrected density functional theory. The Young modulus is found to be strongly facet-dependent, with some facets exhibiting exceptionally high values (as large as 44 GPa). The magnitude of Young's modulus is strongly correlated with the relative orientation between the underlying hydrogen-bonding network and the measured facet. Furthermore, we show computationally that the Young modulus can be as large as 70-90 GPa if facets perpendicular to the primary direction of the hydrogen-bonding network can be stabilized. This value is remarkably high for a molecular solid and suggests the design of hydrogen-bond networks as a route for rational design of ultra-stiff molecular solids. *Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.. doi: 10.1002/anie.201505813

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Authors

  • Ido Azuri

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel
    • Weizmann Institute of Science

  • Elena Meirzadeh

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel

  • David Ehre

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel

  • Sidney R. Cohen

    • Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel

  • Andrew M. Rappe

    • The Makineni Theoretical Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

  • Meir Lahav

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel

  • Igor Lubomirsky

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel

  • Leeor Kronik

    • Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovoth, Israel