Sc20C60: a volleyballene

Novel Isomer of Volleyballene Sc20C60

The Stone-Wales defect is a well-known and significant defective structure in carbon materials, impacting their mechanical, chemical, and electronic properties. Recently, a novel metal-carbon nanomaterial named Volleyballene was discovered, characterized by a C-C bond bridging two carbon pentagons. Using first-principles calculations, a stable Stone-Wales-defective counterpart of Volleyballene, exhibiting Th symmetry, has been proposed by rotating the C-C bond by 90°. Although its binding energy per atom is slightly higher than that of Volleyballene (ΔEb = 0.009 eV/atom), implying marginally lower structural stability, it can maintain its bond structure until the effective temperature reaches about 1500 K, indicating greater thermodynamic stability. Additionally, its highest vibration frequency is 1346.2 cm-1, indicating a strong chemical bond strength. A theoretical analysis of the Sc20C60 + Sc20C60 binary systems highlights that the stable building block may be applied in potential nanoassemblies.

B12-containing volleyball-like molecule for hydrogen storage

A stable core-shell volleyball-like structure of B12@Li20Al12 has been proposed using first-principles calculations. This structure with T h symmetry is constructed with a core structure of I h-B12 and a volleyball-like shell of Li20Al12. Frequency analysis and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the exceptional stability of B12@Li20Al12. The chemical bonding analysis for B12@Li20Al12 is also conducted to confirm its stability and 46 multi-center two-electron σ bonds are observed, which are widely distributed throughout the core-shell structure. For the hydrogen storage capacity of the B12@Li20Al12, our calculated results indicate that about 58 H2 molecules can be absorbed at most, leading to a gravimetric density of 16.4 wt%. The exceptionally stable core-shell volleyball-like B12@Li20Al12 combined with its high hydrogen storage capacity indicates that it can be one of the outstanding hydrogen storage materials of the future.

A New Class of Scandium Carbide Nanosheet

A new class of two-dimensional scandium carbide nanosheet has been identified by using first-principles density functional theory. It has a primitive cell of Sc3C10, in which there are two pentagonal carbon rings surrounded by one scandium octagon. Being as the precussor of Volleyballene Sc20C60 and ScC nanotubes, the Sc3C10 nanosheet is exceptionally stable. By rolling up this Sc3C10 sheet, a series of stable ScC nanotubes have been obtained. All the nanotubes studied have been found to be metallic. Furthermore, the hydrogen storage capacity of the ScC nanotubes has been explored. The calculated results show that one unit of the (0,3) ScC nanotube can adsorb a maximum of 51 hydrogen molecules, reaching up to a 6.25 wt% hydrogen gravimetric density with an average binding energy of 0.23 eV/H2.

Ti12C68: A stable T h -symmetry hollow cage

A stable T h -symmetry Ti12C68 cage was systemically investigated using density functional theory. The structure of Ti12C68 is a hollow cage with twelve TiC13 subunit of three pentagons and one hexagon. The calculated frequencies are in the range 95.1 cm-1-1423.9 cm-1. There are no imaginary frequencies, showing its kinetic stability. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that the topological structure of cage-like Ti12C68 cluster was well maintained when the effective temperature is up to 1139 K. The natural bond orbitals analysis shows that the d orbit of Ti atoms form four σ bonds with the neighboring four carbon atoms in each TiC13 subunit playing an important role in the cluster stability. The molecular frontier orbitals analysis indicates that Ti12C68 cage has a narrow HOMO-LUMO gap with metal-like property. It would be expected to enrich the species of hollow metal carbide clusters.

Hydrogen storage on volleyballene

This study is devoted to the hydrogenation of the recently predicted volleyballene (Sc₂₀C₆₀) compound.

Cu20Si12: A Hollow Cage Constituted of a Copper Dodecahedron and a Silicon Icosahedron

A stable hollow copper silicide cage with Ih symmetry, Cu20Si12, constituted of a copper dodecahedron and a silicon icosahedron, was investigated using density functional theory. Molecular dynamics simulations show that Cu20Si12 retains its geometric topology up to an effective temperature of about 962 K. The molecule has a HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.099 eV, indicating its relatively high chemical stability. These frontier molecular orbitals show clear characteristics of hybridization between Si 3p and Cu 3d electrons. This proposed structure helps to extend the range of high-symmetry molecular polyhedral species. The hollow space within Cu20Si12 can be used to accommodate other atoms or molecules and emphasizes the benefit of studying endohedral fullerenes.

New Volleyballenes: Y20C60 and La20C60

Two new stable Volleyballenes, the Y₂₀C₆₀ and La₂₀C₆₀ molecular clusters, are proposed on the basis of first-principles density functional theory. In conjunction with recent findings for the scandium system, these findings establish Volleyballene M₂₀C₆₀ molecules as a general class of stable molecules within the fullerene family. Both Y₂₀C₆₀ and La₂₀C₆₀ molecules have T_h point group symmetries and relatively large HOMO-LUMO gaps.

New insight into the structure of the C60Sc20 cluster: bonding, vibrational and optical properties

In this communication a systematic study of bonding, IR, Raman and absorption spectra has been carried out for a new stable C₆₀Sc₂₀ cluster.