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Materials

Fullerene-like Boron Analog Reevaluated

B80 is likely to have an unsymmetrical core-shell structure, not a symmetrical hollow cage structure as previously thought

by Stephen K. Ritter
August 16, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 33

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Credit: J. Phys. Chem. A
The predicted B80 hollow-cage isomer (left) now appears improbable; the core-shell model (right) is more energetically favored.
Credit: J. Phys. Chem. A
The predicted B80 hollow-cage isomer (left) now appears improbable; the core-shell model (right) is more energetically favored.

In 2007, scientists announced in a computational study that the most energetically stable form of the B80 cluster was likely a symmetrical hollow cage—a boron analog to the C60 fullerene (C&EN, April 30, 2007, page 28). Upon further investigation, some researchers now conclude that the most stable B80 structural isomer isn’t a hollow cage but an icosahedral B12 cluster (one of the most stable forms of boron) tucked inside an unsymmetrical B68 shell. In the latest report on this front, Zhongfang Chen of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras; Jijun Zhao of China’s Dalian University of Technology; and colleagues have unveiled the lowest energy B80 isomer to date (J. Phys. Chem. A, DOI: 10.1021/jp1018873). Their core-shell model is 1.34 eV more stable than the B80 hollow cage and 1.04 eV more stable than another recently reported core-shell isomer (Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 3878). “Identifying the core-shell structure as being energetically more favorable will prompt scientists to reexamine previous theoretical work and help initiate a new wave of research on boron clusters and related boron sheets and nanotubes,” Chen says.

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