Dresden 2009 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 43: New Materials
CPP 43.3: Talk
Friday, March 27, 2009, 11:00–11:15, ZEU 114
Towards understanding of C60-based nanowire growth with anomalous anisotropy — •Ilia Solov'yov1, Junfeng Geng2, Andrey Solov'yov1, and Brian Johnson2 — 1Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany — 2Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
The growth of one-dimensional (1D) nanocrystals is an important research topic in crystal engineering for nanotechnology. In a recent study, we demonstrated that exceptionally long fullerene nanowires, with a length-to-width aspect ratio as large as ~3000, can be grown from 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene solution of C60.
We perform a thorough theoretical and experimental analysis, aimed to explain the exceptionally large aspect ratio of C60-based nanowires. By accounting for different interactions in the system we have calculated the structure of the unit cell and determined the role of the fullerene and of the solvent molecules in the crystallization process of the nanowire. We have calculated the adhesion energy of C60 molecules to the nanowire surface and demonstrated that it is related to the anisotropy of the crystal.
To get a more in-depth understanding of the nanowire growth mechanism we have also considered the influence of electron polarization on the anisotropy of the C60-based nanowires and studied the possible polymerization reactions in the system, which likely occur between the C60 and the solvent molecules in the nanowire.