Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
10:42
Combining Solid-state and Solution-based Techniques: Synthesis and Reactivity of Chalcogenidoplumbates(II or IV)
Published on: December 29, 2016
Dynamic Covalent Se─Se Bonds Enable Mechanically Adaptive Selenium Crystals
Chaowei He1, Wenjie Zhang1, Ruihao Zhou1
1Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|May 17, 2026
Summary
Elemental selenium acts as a dynamic covalent inorganic crystal. Mechanical or optical stimuli trigger bond changes, enabling adaptive structures and tunable dielectric properties in polymer composites.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemistry
- Solid-State Physics
Background:
- Dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) is key to adaptive organic materials.
- Control over inorganic crystalline solids using DCC is underdeveloped.
- Elemental selenium's potential in DCC is unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate elemental selenium as a dynamic covalent inorganic crystal.
- To explore architectural and functional adaptability driven by dynamic covalent Se─Se bonds.
- To investigate chemo-mechanical coupling in polymer-selenium composites.
Main Methods:
- Utilized external mechanical and optical stimuli to induce Se─Se bond cleavage and reformation.
- Embedded selenium within a crosslinked polymer matrix to create a programmable environment.
- Investigated the response of crystal architecture and dielectric behavior to matrix stiffness and light.
Main Results:
- Elemental selenium exhibits dynamic covalent behavior in its crystalline form.
- Structural reconfiguration of the selenium framework is mediated by stimuli-responsive Se─Se bonds.
- Chemo-mechanical coupling allowed tunable crystal branching and dielectric properties.
Conclusions:
- Elemental selenium functions as a dynamic covalent inorganic crystal.
- This work extends DCC to inorganic crystalline materials.
- Dynamic covalent inorganic crystals represent a new class of adaptive materials.
Related Concept Videos
02:42Valence Bond Theory
Coordination compounds and complexes exhibit different colors, geometries, and magnetic behavior, depending on the metal atom/ion and ligands from which they are composed. In an attempt to explain the bonding and structure of coordination complexes, Linus Pauling proposed the valence bond theory, or VBT, using the concepts of hybridization and the overlapping of the atomic orbitals. According to VBT, the central metal atom or ion (Lewis acid) hybridizes to provide empty orbitals of suitable...
02:45Valence Bond Theory
Overview of Valence Bond Theory
02:40Chemical Bonds
Atoms participate in a chemical bond formation to acquire a completed valence-shell electron configuration similar to that of the noble gas nearest to it in atomic number. Ionic, covalent, and metallic bonds are some of the important types of chemical bonds. Bond energy and bond length determine the strength of a chemical bond.
Types of Chemical Bonds
An ionic bond is formed due to electrostatic attraction between cations and anions. Often, the ions are formed by the transfer of electrons from...
02:18Network Covalent Solids
Network covalent solids contain a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms as found in the crystal structures of nonmetals like diamond, graphite, silicon, and some covalent compounds, such as silicon dioxide (sand) and silicon carbide (carborundum, the abrasive on sandpaper). Many minerals have networks of covalent bonds.
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
To break or to melt a covalent network solid, covalent bonds must be broken. Because covalent bonds are relatively strong, covalent network solids are typically...
02:58Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
Crystal Field Theory
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
03:24Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals I
The mathematical expression known as the wave function, ψ, contains information about each orbital and the wavelike properties of electrons in an isolated atom. When atoms are bound together in a molecule, the wave functions combine to produce new mathematical descriptions that have different shapes. This process of combining the wave functions for atomic orbitals is called hybridization and is mathematically accomplished by the linear combination of atomic orbitals. The new orbitals that...