Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation on the formation process of He@C₆₀ synthesized by explosion

J Mol Model. 2013 Apr;19(4):1705-10. doi: 10.1007/s00894-012-1737-0. Epub 2013 Jan 8.

Abstract

The applications of endohedral non-metallic fullerenes are limited by their low production rate. Recently, an explosive method developed in our group shows promise to prepare He@C₆₀ at fairly high yield, but the mechanism of He inserting into C₆₀ cage at explosive conditions was not clear. Here, ab initio molecular dynamics analysis has been used to simulate the collision between C₆₀ molecules at high-temperature and high-pressure induced by explosion. The results show that defects formed on the fullerene cage by collidsion can effectively decrease the reaction barrier for the insertion of He into C₆₀, and the self-healing capability of the defects was also observed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't