Abstract
The production of fullerenes by electrical arcing or resistively heating produces a number of other products including nanotubes and nanopolyhedra, microtubes, and pyrolytic carbon. The mechanism of formation of these different products is still speculative. We report here that the isotopic distributions in the various products named above differ, and this sheds new light on the mechanism by which they are formed. We electrically arced graphite rods of high purity (99.99% C) in a helium atmosphere according to the general procedure for preparing fullerenes. Pyrolytic carbon on the shell of the cathode deposit has an isotopic ratio close to that of the graphite. This is strong evidence that the pyrolytic carbon is formed by a mechanism different from nanotube, nanopolyhedra, or soot formation. We conclude that nanotubes and nanopolyhedra, pyrolytic carbon, microtubes, and fullerene soot in the arcing process are formed by different mechanisms. The nanotubes and nanopolyhedra are produced preferentially from ions with lowest mass-to-charge ratio and atoms. It is probable that the nanotubes and nanopolyhedra are formed by direct electrode-electrode interchange of charged monoatomic ions. Fullerene soot is formed from species with higher mass-to-charge ratios which can escape the electromagnetic field of the arc. 18 refs., 1 tab.
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