Tribochemistry, Mechanical Alloying, Mechanochemistry: What is in a Name?

Over the decades, the application of mechanical force to influence chemical reactions has been called by various names: mechanochemistry, tribochemistry, mechanical alloying, to name but a few. The evolution of these terms has largely mirrored the understanding of the field. But what is meant by the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Adam A. L. Michalchuk, Elena V. Boldyreva, Ana M. Belenguer, Franziska Emmerling, Vladimir V. Boldyrev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Chemistry
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.685789/full
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Summary:Over the decades, the application of mechanical force to influence chemical reactions has been called by various names: mechanochemistry, tribochemistry, mechanical alloying, to name but a few. The evolution of these terms has largely mirrored the understanding of the field. But what is meant by these terms, why have they evolved, and does it really matter how a process is called? Which parameters should be defined to describe unambiguously the experimental conditions such that others can reproduce the results, or to allow a meaningful comparison between processes explored under different conditions? Can the information on the process be encoded in a clear, concise, and self-explanatory way? We address these questions in this Opinion contribution, which we hope will spark timely and constructive discussion across the international mechanochemical community.
ISSN:2296-2646