The quest for inorganic fullerenes
- Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz (Germany)
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science/DESY, D-22607 Hamburg (Germany)
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117575 (Singapore)
Experimental results of the search for inorganic fullerenes are presented. Mo{sub n}S{sub m}{sup −} and W{sub n}S{sub m}{sup −} clusters are generated with a pulsed arc cluster ion source equipped with an annealing stage. This is known to enhance fullerene formation in the case of carbon. Analogous to carbon, the mass spectra of the metal chalcogenide clusters produced in this way exhibit a bimodal structure. The species in the first maximum at low mass are known to be platelets. Here, the structure of the species in the second maximum is studied by anion photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and scanning tunneling microcopy. All experimental results indicate a two-dimensional structure of these species and disagree with a three-dimensional fullerene-like geometry. A possible explanation for this preference of two-dimensional structures is the ability of a two-element material to saturate the dangling bonds at the edges of a platelet by excess atoms of one element. A platelet consisting of a single element only cannot do this. Accordingly, graphite and boron might be the only materials forming nano-spheres because they are the only single element materials assuming two-dimensional structures.
- OSTI ID:
- 22492775
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 13; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Unsupervised Exploration of MoS2 Nanocluster Configurations: Structures, Energetics, and Electronic Properties
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journal | August 2019 |
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