Abstract Coalescence of fullerenes into giant fullerenes (Cn n > 100) has been observed in the gas phase and inside carbon nanotubes. In this work, we demonstrate the formation of giant fullerenes by heating fullerene soot. Extracting the majority of the magic number fullerenes (C60 and C70) allowed the underlying distribution of fullerenes in the solid state to be measured. Upon heating at 800–1000 °C for 30–60 min under vacuum the mass distribution of fullerenes was found to shift toward larger masses. High resolution electron microscopy was used to compare formation of giant fullerenes by thermal heating and electron beam irradiation, showing the former produced more isolated giant fullerene fragments >1 nm in size. The driving force for coalescence and growth by thermal heating was suggested to be vertex strain at pentagonal sites, providing a route towards the synthesis of fullerenes up to C300.

中文翻译：

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通过热处理富勒烯烟灰形成巨大的富勒烯

摘要 在气相和碳纳米管内部观察到富勒烯聚结成巨富勒烯 (Cn > 100)。在这项工作中，我们展示了通过加热富勒烯烟灰形成巨型富勒烯。提取大部分幻数富勒烯（C60 和 C70）可以测量固态富勒烯的基本分布。在真空下在 800-1000°C 下加热 30-60 分钟后，发现富勒烯的质量分布向更大的质量转移。高分辨率电子显微镜用于比较通过热加热和电子束照射形成的巨型富勒烯，表明前者产生了更多孤立的大于 1 nm 的巨型富勒烯碎片。通过热加热聚结和生长的驱动力被认为是五边形位置的顶​​点应变，