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ABSTRACT:
Berkeley Lab researchers, Alex Zettl, Steven Louie, Marvin Cohen and colleagues, have synthesized and isolated
C36 fullerenes for designing new materials. C36 is more
chemically reactive than C60 due to its higher percentage
of 5-membered rings, so it will form a variety of stable
compounds. For example, C36 fullerenes can be coated
with other elements, such as F or Cl, to make teflon-like
balls.
The researchers have also produced solid C36 –
the first time a solid fullerene smaller than C60 has
been synthesized. The molecules in the solid, which
can form in several different structures, bind together
covalently forming a very hard, polymerized solid. These
solid, pure carbon C36 fullerites are expected to have
high superconducting transition temperatures. Moreover,
when some of the carbon atoms are substituted with other
elements, such as nitrogen, selected bonds get shorter
and the superconducting transition temperatures are
predicted to be increased further.
The many possibilities for materials designed from
C36 fullerenes include: halogenated C36 molecules for
lubricants; C36 materials trapping radioactive tracers
inside for medical imaging; covalently linked, hard,
solid films of C36 molecules for catalyzing chemical
reactions; magnetic atoms, trapped in stable, covalently
bonded C36 fullerenes, for recording devices. C36-based
materials can be used also for infrared detectors and
other optical or electronic applications. |
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STATUS: Patent Pending. Available for licensing
REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-1366
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE:
Piskoti
C., Yarger J., Zettl A., "A New Carbon Solid", Letters to Nature, v 393, 1997.
Crespi
V. H., Cohen M. L., "In Situ Band Gap Engineering
of Carbon Nanotubes", Physical Review Leters, 79,
2093, 1997.
SEE
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