Issue 22, 2016

Sc20C60: a volleyballene

Abstract

An exceptionally stable hollow cage containing 20 scandium atoms and 60 carbon atoms has been identified. This Sc20C60 molecular cluster has a Th point group symmetry and a volleyball-like shape that we refer to below as “Volleyballene”. Electronic structure analysis shows that the formation of delocalized π bonds between Sc atoms and the neighboring pentagonal rings made of carbon atoms is crucial for stabilizing the cage structure. A relatively large HOMO–LUMO gap (∼1.4 eV) was found. The results of vibrational frequency analysis and molecular dynamics simulations both demonstrate that this Volleyballene molecule is exceptionally stable.

Graphical abstract: Sc20C60: a volleyballene

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 11 2015
Accepted
02 2 2016
First published
04 2 2016

Nanoscale, 2016,8, 11441-11444

Author version available

Sc20C60: a volleyballene

J. Wang, H. Ma and Y. Liu, Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 11441 DOI: 10.1039/C5NR07784B

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