The use of mechanical force to break and build chemical bonds in polymers can enable transformations that cannot be conducted using stimuli such as light and heat. Now, an insulating polymer has been mechanically unzipped to create a semiconducting polymer with extended regions of conjugation.
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Craig, S. Up another rung. Nature Chem 9, 1154–1155 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2902
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2902
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