AUTHOR=Michalchuk Adam A. L. , Boldyreva Elena V. , Belenguer Ana M. , Emmerling Franziska , Boldyrev Vladimir V. TITLE=Tribochemistry, Mechanical Alloying, Mechanochemistry: What is in a Name? JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.685789 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.685789 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

Over the decades, the application of mechanical force to influence chemical reactions has been called by various names: mechanochemistry, tribochemistry, mechanical alloying, to name but a few. The evolution of these terms has largely mirrored the understanding of the field. But what is meant by these terms, why have they evolved, and does it really matter how a process is called? Which parameters should be defined to describe unambiguously the experimental conditions such that others can reproduce the results, or to allow a meaningful comparison between processes explored under different conditions? Can the information on the process be encoded in a clear, concise, and self-explanatory way? We address these questions in this Opinion contribution, which we hope will spark timely and constructive discussion across the international mechanochemical community.