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Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Reliable Mechanochemistry: Protocols for Reproducible Outcomes of Neat and Liquid Assisted Ball-mill Grinding Experiments
Published on: January 23, 2018
Mathematical models of the homochiralisation of crystals by grinding
1Theoretical Mechanics, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. Jonathan.Wattis@nottingham.ac.uk
Abstract:
We review the existing mathematical models which describe physicochemical mechanisms capable of producing a symmetry-breaking transition to a state in which one chirality dominates the other. A new model is proposed, with the aim of elucidating the fundamental processes at work in the crystal grinding systems of Viedma (Phys Rev Lett 94:065504, 2005) and Noorduin (J Am Chem Soc 130:1158-1159, 2008). We simplify the model as far as possible to uncover the fundamental competitive process which causes the symmetry-breaking, and analyse other simplifications which might be expected to show symmetry-breaking.
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