Carbon-sublimation production of fullerenes.

Abstract

Carbon-sublimation production of fullerenes enjoys wide use in both experimental and industrial application worldwide. Although it has been nearly five years since the inception of the technique, little is known about the roles various parameters play in the production process. This work attempts to shed light, both experimentally and theoretically, on the basic processes at work in this type of fullerene production. Experimental results herein show that a functional relationship exists among the C₆₀, C₇₀, C₇₆, C₇₈, and C₈₄ fullerenes produced in carbon arcs. This result is interpreted to mean that an equilibrium description of the production process may be valid. Theoretical calculations are then offered in support of such a view. The theory goes on to show details of an equilibrium description that reproduce essential features of fullerene mass-spectra. It is shown that equilibrium abundances of n-atom-sized clusters are highly dependent on the stoichiometric equation chosen to describe the system. However, common traits of the investigated equilibrium descriptions lead to useful conclusions.