Criteria for the growth of fullerenes and single-walled carbon nanotubes in sooting environments

Abstract

The spherical curvature induced by pentagons in corannulenes and hexagonal sheets is shown to be the basic constituent that controls the growth of fullerenes and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in soot forming and carbon vapour environments. Formation of the initial ring of five or six atoms is the essential step which with the addition of further pentagons and hexagons determines whether a spinning fullerene is to be formed or the cap that lifts up and leads to the formation of an SWNT. A continuum elastic model is developed to determine the criteria for the growth of these structures. The observed dominance of the growth of 14 Å diameter armchair SWNTs in sooting and carbonaceous environments is explained by using the nanoelastic model of C shells.

14 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Continuum elastic model of fullerenes and the sphericity of the carbon onion shells

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Modelling of C2 addition route to the formation of C60
• Formation of carbon nano and micro structures on C1+ irradiated copper surfaces
• The role of the C2 gas in the emergence of C60 from the condensing carbon vapour
• Formation and transformation of low density, onion-like carbon cages
• Dynamic emergence of fragmenting, exploding cages of irradiated single-walled carbon nanotubes and C60