Phys.org  May 20, 2022 While organic crystals were previously thought to be fragile, an international team of researchers (UAE, USA – New York University) has discovered that some organic crystals are mechanically very robust. They demonstrated that the ferroelectric crystals of guanidinium nitrate exert a linear stroke of 51%, the highest value observed when transitioning at 295–305 K on heating and at 265–275 K on cooling. Their maximum force density is higher than electric cylinders, ceramic piezo actuators, and electrostatic actuators, and their work capacity is close to that of thermal actuators. They demonstrated that the material expanded and contracted over half […]