The ultrastiff crystals of mucic (galactaric) acid.

ABSTRACT: The upper limits of the stiffness of organic crystals, a newly established class of engineering materials, are an underexplored, yet very exciting domain of the material property space, because it could potentially provide ordered materials composed of light atoms with mechanical properties comparable to those of light metals and alloys. At present, however, the discovery of mechanically stiff and hard crystals is entirely serendipitous, since the relationships between the stiffness and crystal structure remain elusive. Here, guided by the very high density of the crystals of mucic (galactaric) acid, we investigated and report that this material is an ultrastiff organic crystal, with a Young's modulus obtained by nanoindentation on the (100)/(1̄00) pair of faces of E = 50.25 ± 1.55

SUBMITTER: Karothu DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12661180 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature