title: Pressure-induced lock-in in an aperiodic nanoporous crystal.
abstract: This Letter reports on the first observation of a commensurate lock-in inside an aperiodic composite. This result is obtained by neutron diffraction, under hydrostatic pressure, in the prototype self-assembled crystal of hexadecane urea. A selective compressibility of the sublattices is a required condition together with the existence of a lock-in energy term in these supramolecular materials. This measurement, under one-dimensional confinement, opens the way for the use of continuously controlled forces to manipulate molecular properties or functions.
authors.affiliation: Groupe Matière Condensée et Matériaux UMR CNRS 6626, Université de Rennes 1, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Toudic
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ecolivet
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bourges
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Breczewski