AROMATIC CHARACTER OF GRAPHITE AND CARBON NANOTUBES

Degrees of aromatic stabilization were estimated graph-theoretically for a single graphite sheet and infinitely long graphitic tubules. Graphite was found to be as aromatic as fully benzenoid hydrocarbons. All graphitic tubules have essentially the same aromatic stabilization energy per carbon atom as a single graphite sheet. This is closely associated with the fact that graphitic tubules can change their diameters so as to form a closely packed multilayered carbon nanotube. Metallic tubules are only slightly less aromatic than semiconductive ones.