Structures of D5d-C80 and Ih-Er3N@C80 Fullerenes and Their Rotation Inside Carbon Nanotubes Demonstrated by Aberration-Corrected Electron Microscopy

Nano Lett., 7 (12), 3704 -3708, 2007. 10.1021/nl0720152 S1530-6984(07)02015-2
Web Release Date: November 10, 2007

Structures of D₅_d-C₈₀ and I_h-Er₃N@C₈₀ Fullerenes and Their Rotation Inside Carbon Nanotubes Demonstrated by Aberration-Corrected Electron Microscopy

Yuta Sato,* Kazu Suenaga,* Shingo Okubo, Toshiya Okazaki, and Sumio Iijima

Research Center for Advanced Carbon Materials, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan

Received August 13, 2007

Revised October 6, 2007

Abstract:

Time-dependent orientational changes of D₅_d-C₈₀ and I_h-Er₃N@C₈₀ fullerenes inside single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) were demonstrated by aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at real atomic-level resolution. Detailed structure of the ellipsoidal D₅_d-C₈₀ fullerene, e.g., the pyrene-like tetracyclic component in its cylindrical body, was unambiguously identified by the TEM images. The Er-Er distances in I_h-Er₃N@C₈₀ were estimated to be 0.35 ± 0.03 nm, and the C₃ symmetry axis of the Er₃N cluster was suggested to agree with one of the S₆ axes of the spherical I_h-C₈₀ cage. Our results indicate that atomic-resolution TEM enables the investigation of the orientations of individual molecules inside SWNTs in relation to the interactions of the molecules with the outer graphene walls.

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