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Systematic fractional change in the yield of various isomers of fullerenes was revealed to strongly depend on temperature of a buffer gas. A new kinetic consideration is proposed for understanding the observed temperature- and pressure-dependence of yield of fullerenes. The model consists of three competitive reactions in consideration of plausible behaviors of a precursor, (1) decomposition into smaller fragments, (2) isomerization leading to formation of a stable fullerene cage, and (3) growth into a larger carbon cluster. Arrhenius activation energy of formation of stable fullerenes was determined to be 0.8 eV for both C and C, while a higher energy of 2.0−3.3 eV for seven different isomers of higher fullerenes ranging from C to C. Correlation in the activation energy is noted for a series of higher fullerenes with different sizes, suggesting the existence of a specific precursor in their formation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collision induced electron detachment of the fullerene C and the other C produced through the laser vaporization of a carbon rod was studied. Both of C showed quite different behavior for the process. It was suggested that the laser vaporized C has a different structure from the fullerence C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]