ON THE WAY TO FULLERENES - MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS STUDY OF THE CURLING AND CLOSURE OF GRAPHITIC RIBBONS

The short-time behavior of isolated graphitic ribbons is simulated at high temperature using a model hydrocarbon potential. These ribbons show large instantaneous deviations from planarity that often result in the formation of open-ended hollow carbon structures representing good fullerene precursors. While confirming the importance of pentagon formation in the production of these precursors, these results also point to the central role of relatively high temperatures in these processes.