Phys.org January 11, 2023
Carbon structures with covalent bonds connecting C60 molecules have been reported but until now there was no process to produce large enough quantities for detailed characterization and exploration necessary for potential applications. An international team of researchers (China, South Korea) has developed a gram-scale preparation method for long-range ordered porous carbon (LOPC), from C60 powder catalysed by α-Li3N at ambient pressure. LOPC consists of connected broken C60 cages that maintain long-range periodicity. At a lower temperature, shorter annealing time or by using less α-Li3N polymerized C60 crystal forms due to the electron transfer from α-Li3N to C60 and it shows a higher degree of delocalization of electrons in LOPC than in C60(s). The electrical conductivity and conduction appear to result from a combination of metallic-like transport over short distances punctuated by carrier hopping. According to the researchers their work enables the discovery of other crystalline carbons starting from C60(s)…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Morphological and structural characterizations. Credit: Nature (2023)Â