Fullerene formation and annealing
- Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (United States)
Why does the highly symmetric carbon cluster C{sub 60} form in such profusion under the right conditions? This question was first asked in 1985, when Kroto suggested that the predominance of the C{sub 60} carbon clusters observed in the molecular beam experiments could be explained by the truncated icosahedral (or soccer ball) form. The name given to this cluster, buckminsterfullerene, led to the use of the term fullerenes for the family of hollow-cage carbon clusters made up of even numbers of triply coordinated carbons arranged with 12 pentagonal rings and an almost arbitrary number of hexagonal rings. More than a decade later, we still lack a completely satisfying understanding of the fundamental chemistry that takes place during fullerene formation. Most current models for fullerene formation require a facile mechanism for ring rearrangement in the fullerene structure, but the simplest proposed mechanisms are believed to have unrealistically high activation barriers. In recent research calculations have suggested that atomic carbon in the reaction mixture could act as a catalyst and allow substantially lower activation barriers for fullerene annealing. This article discusses the background for this research and other adjunct research. 14 refs.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 285040
- Journal Information:
- Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 5258 Vol. 272; ISSN SCIEAS; ISSN 0036-8075
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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