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- Title
Direct transformation of graphene to fullerene.
- Authors
Chuvilin, Andrey; Kaiser, Ute; Bichoutskaia, Elena; Besley, Nicholas A.; Khlobystov, Andrei N.
- Abstract
Although fullerenes can be efficiently generated from graphite in high yield, the route to the formation of these symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing carbon cages from a flat graphene sheet remains a mystery. The most widely accepted mechanisms postulate that the graphene structure dissociates to very small clusters of carbon atoms such as C2, which subsequently coalesce to form fullerene cages through a series of intermediates. In this Article, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy directly visualizes, in real time, a process of fullerene formation from a graphene sheet. Quantum chemical modelling explains four critical steps in a top-down mechanism of fullerene formation: (i) loss of carbon atoms at the edge of graphene, leading to (ii) the formation of pentagons, which (iii) triggers the curving of graphene into a bowl-shaped structure and which (iv) subsequently zips up its open edges to form a closed fullerene structure.
- Subjects
PRODUCTION possibility curve; FULLERENES; GRAPHENE; FOURIER transforms; CLUSTER analysis (Statistics); ELECTRON microscopy; BILINEAR transformation method; BIOCHEMICAL mechanism of action; ATOMS
- Publication
Nature Chemistry, 2010, Vol 2, Issue 6, p450
- ISSN
1755-4330
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nchem.644