Novel peroxide-based material emits fluorescence in response to stress

Polymers make up everything from the clothes we wear to the plasticware we use for eating. In recent years, polymers that can release small molecules (like drugs) have been of major interest to pharmaceutical researchers. Previous studies have demonstrated that polymer systems can be modified to release fluorescent molecules when exposed to heat, light, or a change in pH. Now, researchers in the field have focused on "mechanophores," materials that undergo a chemical transformation when placed under mechanical stress.

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