Space fullerenes

The remarkable stability of the cage structure makes fullerenes Important candidates for survival and wide distribution in space. Fullerenes of astronomical origin have been detected in meteorites and in and around an impact crater on the Long Duration Exposure Facility spacecraft (39). Laboratory simulations in combination with interstellar observations support the idea that the predominant fraction of carbon in space is present as solid macromolecular carbon (40) or amorphous and hydrogenated amorphous carbon (41). 

M. Dutour-Sikiric, O. Delgado-Fredrichs, M. Deza, Space fullerenes a computer search for new Frank-Kasper structures. Acta Cryst. A66, 1-14 (2010)... 

What a storyi Fullerenes formed during the ex plosion of a star travel through interstellar space as passengers on a comet or asteroid that eventually smashes into Earth Some of the fullerenes carry pas sengers themselves—atoms of helium and argon from the dying star The fullerenes and the noble gas atoms silently wait for 251 million years to tell us where they came from and what happened when they got here... 

For C70, molecular orbital calculations [60] reveal a large number of closely-spaced orbitals both above and below the HOMO-LUMO gap [60]. The large number of orbitals makes it difficult to assign particular groups of transitions to structure observed in the solution spectra of C70. UV-visible solution spectra for higher fullerenes (C n = 76,78,82,84,90,96) have also been reported [37, 39, 72]. 

In addition to chemical or physical properties, a fascinating aspect of fullerene related materials is their central empty space, where atoms, molecules or particles can be enclosed. The enclosed particles are then protected by the robust graphitic layers from chemical or mechanical effects. The very long cavities of CNTs have a special potential due to their high aspect ratio and they can be used as templates to fabricate elongated nanostructures. 

The formation of fullerenes and CNTs has also been affected by their environmental atmosphere [22] and, in particular, a hydrogen atmosphere plays an important role in forming graphitic structures of multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) in the form of buckybundles [24]. Intercalation into MWCNTs has been difficult or impossible, because there is no space for intercalants to enter into a Russian-doll-type structure of the nanotubes. However, the buckybundles formed in the hydrogen arc discharge were found to be successfully intercalated with potassium and ferric chloride (FeCl3) without breaking the... 

Now and then, projectiles from outer space cause excitement and surprises, as in January 2000, when a meteorite impacted the frozen surface of Lake Targish in Canada. It was a new type of C-chondrite with a carbon concentration of 4-5%, and probably came from a D-type asteroid (Hiroi et al., 2001). More exact analysis of the Targish meteorite showed the presence of a series of mono- and dicarboxylic acids as well as aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (Pizzarello et al., 2001). Aromatic compounds and fullerenes were detected in the insoluble fraction from the extraction this contained planetary helium and argon, i.e., the 3He/36Ar ratio was... 

The conjugation in the molecular wire may be disrupted or modulated to create systems with different properties. For example, a porphyrin Ceo donor-acceptor system linked with a conjugated binaphthyl unit, has a preference for the atropi-somer where the fullerene unit is closer to the porphyrin system, thus increasing the through space interactions [82]. The charge transfer process on a dyad containing a crown ether in the linker structure can be modulated by complexation/ decomplexation of sodium cations [83] but even more interesting is the construction of supramolecular systems where the donor and acceptor moieties are... 

To reach the fantastic heights required by a space elevator, new materials are essential. Skyscrapers of today are usually composed of a steel framework, but steel is too heavy to use for the space elevator—the tower must be so high and needs so much material that it could not possibly support its own weight if it was made of steel. One possibility for a new material is related to the fullerenes discussed in the text. Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical fullerenes composed of sheets of graphites rolled into tiny cylinders with a diameter of roughly 0.00000004 inches (0.0000001 cm)—a nanometer. The structure and bonds of carbon nanotubes could potentially be used to create a material with about 50-100 times the strength of steel. A slender ribbon of carbon nanotube could be the key to bringing the dream of a space elevator into reality. 

---