Mechanochemistry is the coupling of the mechanical and the chemical phenomena on a molecular scale and includes mechanical breakage, chemical behaviour of mechanically-stressed solids (e.g., stress-corrosion cracking), tribology, polymer degradation under shear, cavitation-related phenomena (e.g., sonochemistry and sonoluminescence), shock wave chemistry and physics, and even the burgeoning field of molecular machines. Mechanochemistry can be seen as an interface between chemistry and mechanical engineering. It is possible to synthetize chemical products by using only mechanical action.[1] A method was proposed, in order to measure the energy involved during mechanical transformations.[2]
The term mechanochemistry is also sometimes used in molecular nanotechnology as a synonym for mechanosynthesis, the hypothetical process by which molecular assemblers would operate. Also called "positional synthesis" or "positional assembly", it is a technique for forming chemical bonds by direct computer control of the position of molecules.
Mechanochemical phenomena have been utilized since time immemorial, for example in making fire. The oldest method of making fire is to rub pieces of wood against each other, creating friction and hence heat, allowing the wood to undergo combustion at a high temperature. Another method involves the use of flint and steel, during which a spark (a small particle of pyrophoric metal) spontaneously combusts in air, starting fire instantaneously.