Substantiation of the feasibility of considering the five-atom cycles in the C60 fullerene skeleton as the five-atom molecules that form it is substantiated.
Cai Changhui1, Anatoly Zolotarenko2,3, Alexander Savenko2, Lyudmila Kopylova2, Tatyana Shaposhnikova2, Olga Krivushchenko2, Natalia Gavrilyuk2,3, Alexander Zolotarenko2,3, Yuri Zhirko5, Dmitry Shchur1,2,4, Maratbek Gabdullin4
1Anhui Jinding Safety Technology Co., Ltd., No. 1265 Zhaoxia Road, High tech Development Zone, Suzhou City, Anhui Province, P.R.Chinaa
2Frantsevich Institute for Problems of Materials Science of NASU, 3 Omeliana Pritsaka Str., Kyiv, 03142, Ukraine,
3Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry of NASU, 17 Oleh Mudrak Str., Kiev, 03164, Ukraine
4Kazakh-British Technical University (KBTU) 71, Al-Farabi Str., Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
5Institute of Applied Physics of the N.A.S. of Ukraine, 58 Petropavlivska Str., UA-40000 Sumy, Ukraine
This study demonstrates that the fullerene molecule consists of five-atom fragments and is characterized by a distinct type of spx-hybridization; consequently, fullerene should be recognized as a new allotropic form of carbon. A spatial diagram of carbon allotropes at two levels of organization—gaseous and crystalline—is proposed.It has been established that, in solution at temperatures above 250 K, the fullerene molecule exists in two states: β and γ. It is also shown that the crystallization of the fullerene molecule into three distinct states is attributable to its existence in the form of three stable isomers.
Conclusions
Abstract The high hydrogen storage capacity of carbon nanomaterials has backgroundeded the study of the hydrogenation process and the behavior of the fullerene molecule itself across various states of matter.
This paper addresses the formation of the C60 fullerene molecule in carbon plasma, the geometric structural features of the hydrogenated C60 fullerene framework, the color of fullerene solutions, and the three primary resonance structures of the C60 fullerene molecule. It presents the results of an experimental study on the formation of C60 fullerene in three states of matter. It is shown that the crystallization of fullerene into three distinct forms results from its formation via a series of three stable isomers.
It is noted that C60 divides the group of spherical molecules into two groups: a) C20–C60 and b) C60–nanotube. As the number of carbon atoms in the C60 framework decreases toward the C20 molecule, the number of pentagons in the framework remains constant; however, this renders the C20 molecule extremely unstable. Structural defects in the C60 molecule are triggered by a reduction in the number of carbon atoms, manifesting as deformation and a decrease in the number of hexagonal voids. Conversely, when the C60 framework rearranges into a nanotube structure, defects arise from an increase in the number of carbon atoms—manifesting as an increase in hexagonal cycles—which leads to reduced chemical reactivity. With this number of pentagons, the framework of this molecule remains unchanged.
Fig. 4. Tricycle formed by three five-atom carbon molecules (A – hypothetical position of a single hydrogen atom in the five-atom ring; B – position of three hydrogen atoms in the six-atom intermolecular cavity).
Fig. 3. Increase in the diameter of the C60 fullerene molecule upon hydrogenation to a hydrogen concentration corresponding to the formula C60H60 (excluding interatomic H–H interactions).
An investigation of the geometric structural features of the hydrogenated С60 fullerene molecule's framework reveals that the framework is formed by five-atom cyclic units.
Fig. 5. Covalent resonance structures of C60 fullerene (Fα, Fβ, Fγ) (a) with varying numbers of double bonds in its five-membered rings: (b) (α) – two double bonds in the pentadiene-like fragment, (β) – one double bond in the pentaene-like fragment, (γ) – all bonds single in the radialene-like fragment.
Geometric structural features of the framework of a hydrogenated C60 fullerene molecule.
Fig. 6. Fullerene solutions.