Stress or Strain Does Not Impact Sorption in Stiff Mesoporous Materials.

The present paper investigates strain-induced sorption in mesoporous silicon. Contrarily to a previous report based on indirect evidence, we find that external mechanical strain or stress has no measurable impact on sorption isotherms, down to a relative accuracy of 10-3. This conclusion is in agreement with the analysis of the sorption-induced strain of porous silicon and holds for other stiff mesoporous materials such as porous silicas.