Neng W, Shuang-ying L, Jun X, Matteo M, Yi-long Z, Shu W, Li-tao S, Qing-an H. Fullerene growth from encapsulated graphene flakes.
NANOSCALE 2014;
6:11213-11218. [PMID:
25123407 DOI:
10.1039/c4nr03680h]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The direct in situ observation of fullerene formation encapsulated within a graphene ridge has been made possible using an aberration corrected transmission electron microscope (AC-TEM). An atom-by-atom mechanism was proposed based on in situ AC-TEM observations. First principle calculations found a continuous energy decrease upon the addition of carbon atoms to the edge of the graphene flakes, which mimics the fullerene growth steps and supports the atom-by-atom mechanism. The ridged graphene structure worked as a container for pinning small graphene flakes and capturing carbon atoms, which increased the growth probability of the fullerene structure within the small encapsulated space.
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