Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Atomic rearrangements leading to the coalescence of fullerene cages are revealed by topological analysis. Paths found for nanotubes and C(60) consist exclusively of Stone-Wales bond rotations. Computed intermediate states show gradual evolution from separate clusters to completely fused coherent units. Molecular dynamics simulations follow the predicted routes, overcome the nucleation barrier, and reach a final annealed state. While the overall behavior resembles macroscopic sintering, the nanoscale neck undergoes quantized changes in diameter and crystalline order.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Zhao et al. (2002) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: