New solids based on B12N12 fullerenes

• In recent years, BN fullerenes have been synthesized experimentally. As their carbon counterparts, these BN fullerenes could be assembled in molecular solids, but this possibility has been studied little in the literature. In this work, we focus on the smallest synthesized BN fullerene, B12N12, which is built by squares and hexagons. First, the interaction between two of these fullerenes has been analyzed, using the hybrid B3LYP and MPW1PW91 density functional methods. Two different interactions have been studied in the dimer, a square facing a square (S−S) and a hexagon facing a hexagon (H−H). In both cases, a B is facing a N. The most stable dimer was found to be S−S facing, with covalent interactions between the monomers, but other dimers with weak interactions have been found as well, which opens possibilities of new systems, as in the case of fullerene dimers and solids. The solids resulting from the infinite repetition of the characterized dimers were optimized, finding two different solids, with covalent and weak interactions between monomers, respectively. The solid with covalent interactions is a nanoporous material that is more stable by around 12 eV. Because of the nanoporous character of this solid, it could be used for heterogeneous catalysis, molecular transport, and so forth. The SIESTA code with the GGA-PBE density functional method has been used for the solid-state calculations.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Teoretisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Theoretical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

B12N12

fullerenes

solids

dimers

density functional theory

excitations

Theoretical chemistry

Teoretisk kemi

NATURAL SCIENCES

NATURVETENSKAP

Chemistry

Kemi

kemi

Chemistry

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)